1939

During the mid-1930s, in response to anti-Semitic activities in Cincinnati and the expansion of Nazism and Fascism in Europe, a small group of Jewish leaders in Cincinnati began to meet informally to devise methods of combating these threats to the Jewish community and American democracy.

Without a formal organization or name, these community leaders kept informed on the growth of antisemitism and monitored Nazi activities in Cincinnati throughout the 1930s. Eventually, the group realized their mission could not be accomplished by volunteers alone. In 1939, they formed the Public Relations Committee, today’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC).

Since its inception, JCRC has been concerned for the security and fate of the Jewish people in Cincinnati, in Israel and around the world. Israel, anti-Semitism, threats to overseas Jewish communities, terrorism, separation of church and state, civil liberties and civil rights are among the issues that JCRC addresses today.