Henry Ford to Earl J. Davis, Detroit, Mich., June 30, 1927. Henry Ford's "apology."

Henry Ford's Apology

On May 22, 1920, Henry Ford launched a series of attacks on Jews based on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a scurrilous anti-Semitic work concocted by members of the Russian secret police. The series described Jews as secretly plotting world revolution and controlling the world's financial markets. Ford's anti-Semitic tirades found a ready audience, with circulation increasing tenfold from about 70,000 in 1920 to a peak of 700,000 in 1924, with many of the copies distributed free of charge. The articles were also compiled into a series of widely-circulated books. In 1927, as part of an out-of-court settlement of damage suit brought against him, Ford offered an "apology" to the Jewish people and promised to cease his attacks. Ironically, the apology was largely penned by Louis Marshall.