Jewish Boyle Heights: "Remembering the Anti-Nazi Parade of 1938" (December)

At one time people of dozens of nationalities and languages called this neighborhood home, and Boyle Heights was once the largest Jewish community west of Chicago.
We will visiting just a few vital sites that tell the story of the area’s Jewish history:

The Breed Street Shul – we will start our tour in front of the grand synagogue that was once the most respected Jewish house of worship on the west coast. It was one of more than 30 Jewish houses of worship in the neighborhood. We will also see the location of the first Jewish religious education institutions in Los Angeles.

Rediscover the former location of the National Theater, the starting point of the Anti-Nazi parade that drew more that 15,000 people of all races to  protest on behalf of Jewish refugees.

The Old Mount Sinai Clinic – learn about the early history of the two hospitals on the eastside, that would one day become today’s Cedar-Sinai Medical Center.

The original location of Canter’s Deli, as well as the location of other local Jewish bakeries and delis.

The location of the Russian Turkish Baths.

Jewish labor socialist organizing locations: Including the Jewish Labor Committee, Workmen’s Circle, International Ladies Garment Workers Union, as well as local anarchist and communist headquarters.

*Note: We will not be going inside of the Breed Street Shul, but instead focusing on the community surrounding this site.
We will also be walking old Brooklyn Avenue – today’s Avenida Cesar E. Chavez. Where we will trace the steps of the Anti-Nazi Parade of November 1938 - to talk about the threat of Nazism that was not just present in Europe, but was also being spread by American Nazis from their downtown headquarter; spreading anti-immigrant/anti-refugee hate and plotting white nationalist violence in our very own city.
We will then talk about the connection of the historical united anti-fascist and Yiddish labor movements to the empowerment of the Mexican-American civil rights movement, all of which happened in this very neighborhood; and the stream of continuity that connects all this to today’s resistance movement in Boyle Heights.
Tickets are $18 + Eventbrite fees. Children 13 and under are free, please contact me to add them to my guest list. For Boyle Heights residents, educators, and community activists, I will be offering a few spots on my guest list once again; please contact me at shmuel.gonzales@outlook.com, as spaces are limited.
We will be limiting this group to a maximum of 20 participants, and will once again fill-up quickly. So please sign up today!