Henry Ford was a complicated man. Most people think of him as the guy who put the world on wheels, the visionary behind the Model T and the assembly line. But there is a much darker side to his story that most textbooks tend to gloss over or ignore entirely. He wasn't just obsessed with engines and efficiency; he was deeply, dangerously obsessed with a very specific kind of propaganda. Between 1920 and 1922, Ford used his massive wealth and his personal newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, to publish a series of articles known as The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem.
It’s hard to wrap your head around the scale of it.
He didn't just write a few editorials. He published ninety-one consecutive issues attacking Jewish people. He blamed them for everything from the decline of American theater to the high price of sugar and the start of World War I. Honestly, it’s one of the most aggressive and well-funded campaigns of prejudice in American history. And because it was Henry Ford—the man who basically built modern America—people listened. They believed him.
The Printing Press of Prejudice
Ford bought The Dearborn Independent in 1918. He didn’t want to sell cars in the paper; he wanted to sell ideas. He felt that the mainstream press was controlled by "interests" that were out to get him. To him, the newspaper was a megaphone. By 1924, the paper had a circulation of about 700,000. That’s massive. To put that in perspective, it was one of the largest newspapers in the entire country at the time. He made sure every Ford dealership in America carried copies. If you bought a car, you often got a subscription.
The series, The International Jew, was essentially a repackaging of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. If you aren’t familiar, the Protocols was a forged document that surfaced in Russia claiming there was a secret Jewish plan for world domination. It was a total fake. A hoax. But Ford treated it like gospel truth.
He didn’t just keep it in the newspaper, though. He eventually compiled the articles into four volumes. These books were translated into sixteen languages. They traveled across the Atlantic and landed right in the hands of some of the most dangerous people in history.
The Connection to Germany
You’ve probably heard rumors about Ford and the Nazis.
They aren't just rumors.
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Baldur von Schirach, the leader of the Hitler Youth, later testified at the Nuremberg trials that reading The International Jew was what turned him into an antisemite. He said Ford’s books had a "decisive influence" on his generation. But it goes deeper than that. Adolf Hitler himself was a huge fan. In the early 1920s, Hitler had a large picture of Henry Ford on the wall of his office in the Brown House in Munich.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler actually praised Ford. He wrote, "It is only one great man, Ford, who, to the fury of the Jews, still maintains full independence." Ford is literally the only American mentioned by name in Hitler’s book.
In 1938, the German government awarded Ford the Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. It was the highest honor Nazi Germany could give to a foreigner. Ford accepted it. He didn't send it back. He didn't apologize. He wore it. It’s a chilling detail when you consider that while Ford was perfecting the assembly line in Detroit, he was also fueling the ideological engine of the Holocaust in Europe.
Why Did He Do It?
It’s a question historians still argue about. Some say it was his rural upbringing; he grew up in a world where "international bankers" were the bogeyman of the farmer. Others think it was his ego. He was a billionaire who thought he knew everything about everything. When things went wrong in the world—wars, economic shifts, cultural changes—he needed a villain.
He chose the Jewish community as his scapegoat.
He claimed that "the Jew" was a "riddle" that needed to be solved. He attacked everything from jazz music (which he hated) to the way people dressed, claiming it was all part of a Jewish plot to corrupt American morals. It was weirdly specific and incredibly broad all at the same time. One week he was complaining about the gold standard; the next, he was complaining about the movies in Hollywood.
The Lawsuit That Finally Stopped the Presses
For years, people tried to ignore him. They figured he was just a cranky old man with too much money. But eventually, the legal system caught up with him.
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Aaron Sapiro, a Jewish lawyer and organizer of farm cooperatives, sued Ford for libel in 1927. Sapiro was tired of the Independent attacking his work and his character. The trial was a media circus. Ford did everything he could to avoid testifying. He even staged a car accident—or at least, that’s what many believe—to get out of appearing in court.
He realized he was going to lose.
Fearing a massive payout and more bad PR, Ford suddenly shut down The Dearborn Independent. He issued a public apology. He claimed he was "shocked" to find out what had been published in his name. He said he hadn't really been paying attention to the content of his own newspaper for seven years.
Nobody really believed him.
How could the man who micromanaged every bolt on the Model T not know what was on the front page of his own paper? Louis Marshall, the president of the American Jewish Committee, accepted the apology publicly but remained skeptical. The damage was already done. The books were already out there. The ideology had already crossed the ocean.
The Lingering Ghost of the 1920s
The weirdest thing about The International Jew is that it didn't die in 1927.
Even today, you can find these texts on extremist websites. They are still used by hate groups as "evidence" of global conspiracies. Ford’s name gives these lies a sense of legitimacy. Because he was a "great American," people assume there must be some truth to what he said.
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It’s a reminder that technological progress doesn't always mean moral progress. Ford could build a tractor that changed agriculture forever, but he couldn't see past his own prejudices. He was a man of the future in terms of industry, but a man of the dark ages in terms of human rights.
Understanding the Impact Today
If you’re researching Ford, you have to look at the whole picture. You can’t just talk about the $5 day or the V8 engine. You have to talk about the warehouse in Dearborn that was filled with anti-Jewish pamphlets. You have to talk about the fact that his company’s German subsidiary used forced labor during World War II.
It’s uncomfortable. It’s messy. But it’s the truth.
The Ford Motor Company has spent decades trying to make amends for this. They’ve funded countless programs for tolerance and education. They don't hide this history anymore; they acknowledge it as a way to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Actionable Steps for Navigating This History
If you want to dig deeper or if you're writing about this period of history, here is how you should approach it:
- Primary Source Verification: Don't just take a quote from a blog. Go to the digital archives of The Dearborn Independent. Look at the actual layout of the paper to see how Ford mixed "wholesome" farm news with vitriolic attacks. It’s jarring.
- Trace the Lineage: Look at how the themes in The International Jew mirror the rhetoric used in modern conspiracy theories. You'll notice that the "globalist" narratives of today often use the exact same vocabulary Ford used 100 years ago.
- Visit the Sources: The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn is an incredible place, but also look into the American Jewish Historical Society records regarding the Sapiro lawsuit. It provides the legal context for how Ford was finally held accountable.
- Contextualize the "Apology": When reading Ford's 1927 apology, compare it to his private letters from the 1930s and 40s. Many historians, including Max Wallace in The American Axis, argue that Ford never truly changed his mind; he just changed his publicist.
The story of Henry Ford and his publication isn't just a "business" story or a "history" story. It's a cautionary tale about the power of the media and the responsibility of the wealthy. When someone with that much influence decides to punch down, the echoes can last for a century.