As I See it
(New York): Jewish Opinion Publishing Corporation, 1944. First edition. 8vo, 285pp; cloth. Tips and spine-ends abraded; sun fading to cloth, without dust jacket. Item #204860
Essays by the prominent reform rabbi and activist, here in a significant association copy, inscribed: "To Ruth Gruber, PhD, with deepest appreciation of a great job grandly done, Stephen S. Wise, September 1, 1944." The recipient, the prolific journalist and photographer who first earned widespread notice as the youngest recipient of a PhD in 1932, had just weeks earlier completed the task alluded to in Wise's inscription. At the time she had been working as special assistant to Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, reporting from the Alaskan territory. In a move that would forever alter the course of her long life she was summoned by Ickes to conduct a secret mission for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, escorting the only Jewish refugees from Europe to be admitted to the United States during the war. She successfully brought the group of nearly 1000 to safe haven in upstate New York. The experience led to her lifelong dedication to the cause of refugees and steadfast support of the new state of Israel.
Price: $200.00