Simon Gilbert (journalist)

Simon Gilbert (born July 11, 1870 in London , † October 9, 1946 ibid) was a British journalist and publicist.

Life and activity

Gilbert grew up in the East End of London. He attended Stepney Jewish School, Jew College and University College London , where he earned a BA in Semitic Studies (Semetics).

Recognized as a talent by the journalist Israel Zwangwill , Gilbert had been part of the editorial team of The Jewish Chronicle , the most important journalistic organ of the Jewish minority in Great Britain, since 1897 . He has also worked for The Morning Leader , Daily News and Star newspapers. He made a name for himself in the years leading up to the First World War, in particular through his emphatic publicity against the Aliens Act of 1905, a law which aimed in particular at the immigration of Jews from Eastern Europe - in the 1880s as a result of the persecution of Jews In the areas of Eastern Europe ruled by Tsarist Russia, a strong migration to western countries and also to Great Britain began - to severely restrict and push back to Great Britain.

In line with his self-image as a "man of the people" ("I am a proletarian of the proletarian"), Gilbert cultivated a blunt writing style and a confrontational disposition.

From 1921 Gilbert turned away from journalism for a few years to work instead for the film and entertainment industries.

In 1931 Gilbert returned to the Jewish Chronicle, whose associate editor he was. From 1932 onwards, as the successor to Leopold Greenberg , he wrote the newspaper's weekly opinion column, "In the Communal Armchair", which has been part of the Chronicles since 1909. This also appeared after Gilbert took it over under the pseudonym Mentor used by Greenberg . He was also responsible for much of the Chronicle's editorials.

Politically, Gilbert also emerged through a candidacy for the London County Council for the Liberal Party .

In the event of a successful invasion and occupation of Great Britain by the Wehrmacht, Gilbert as one of the most famous Jews in Great Britain's public life, like his partner as the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Ivan Greenberg, was put on the so-called special wanted list by the Reich Main Security Office in the spring of 1940 by persons who were supposed to automatically and with priority locate and arrest SS special commandos after the Nazi regime took control of the British Isles.

literature

• David Cesarani: The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841-1991 , 1994.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Life data from: Cyrus Adler: The American Jewish Year Book , Vol. 49, p. 621.
2. ^ Entry on Simon Gilbert on the special wanted list GB (reproduced on the website of the Imperial War Museum in London) .