A Tale of the Cold War: Jews, Catholics, and Black Market Babies*

Abstract

Memories of the Cold War are virtually inseparable from those of several trials and Congressional hearings that took place around 1950. Following one another in rapid succession, all reflected, and fueled, what has been called the Great Fear of the era. But concerns and targets varied. Some—like the trials of Alger Hiss (l950) and of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (l951)—were focused on spies and spying; others—like the hearings launched in the late 1940s by HUAC (the House Committee on Un-American Activities) and those held by the Tydings Committee (1951)—were designed to root out subversion in worlds as diverse as those of entertainment and the State Department. In a somewhat different vein, the Congressional hearings led in 1950–1951 by Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee were charged with investigating the role of organized crime in America. Speaking of the gangsters who paraded before Kefauver and his committee, in a vivid passage Eric F. Goldman writes that the televised hearings, with their parade of endless “shadowy figures that obviously controlled so much, catalyzed the whole vague feeling that corruption was moving through all American life like a swarm of maggots.”1 This article would like to explore still another trial of the era that, like the Kefauver hearings, was haunted by the threat of gangsters and of moral corruption. In this case, the principal defendant was a thirty-eight year old Jewish New York attorney, Irwin Slater, who, in 1950, was accused of what was popularly known as “baby-selling” or “black market baby racketeering.” Indicted along with Slater were two Jewish colleagues: Harry Wolfson, a fellow attorney and friend, and Bess Bernard, a homemaker who had served for twelve years as executive director of the Hebrew Kindergarten and Infants Home in Queens. On December 4, 1949, the three became the first persons to be indicted under a New York State law mandating that only parents or legal guardians could “place out” babies for adoption. The charges against them included conspiracy, the illegal or “unauthorized” placement of children, and receiving compensation for such placements. By the end of the trial that took place six months later, Slater had been found guilty on two counts of illegal placements and on one count of receiving compensation. Bess Bernard was convicted on similar grounds, while Harry Wolfson (who worked on legal papers for Slater and never handled the babies who were “placed out”) was acquitted on all counts. Unlike the Kefauver hearings—or the other famous trials and hearings of the era—the Slater case has receded into the darkest corners of the past. However, it deserves to be revisited for in its way, it, too—to borrow a term that Cold War historian Ellen Schrecker applies to the trials of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs—was “iconic” of an important constellation or cluster of fears and beliefs.2 Set in the fraught landscape of adoption, it revealed how deeply this landscape—like so many aspects of life at mid-century—was infected by the paranoia and heated religious passions of the era. Deeply imbued with tensions between Catholics and Jews, it pointed to the contrasting images and roles assigned to these two religious minorities in the postwar era. In terms of Catholics, it suggested the power of the to and as as religious as were it revealed how and the of and the of In so the HUAC it a of a by In a a at the of the Cold that, War paranoia had as one of its called the “iconic” of the as as the of that around it, in from a of it was only that and it was that his of babies who were of with parents who were This an on the of his Jewish that while babies were the of Jewish babies principal of babies for that were never Jewish babies to the for Ellen in a of in the were Jewish to had Jewish by a of to historian that while Jewish parents to a through Jewish for of a in the with a of out of to were the first to the that would to Jews, an Slater, or like would been to at But his In this of his to in the of and to been the law suggested that it was to place with it a that it that be with parents of their But such placements were legal or were out of with the of the the and paranoia of the had to their in as the to its as a the and had would be a a the were from the somewhat in terms of had been to these the in Ellen that was the only out for by in the late and only to place babies and with were along religious In New York religious were so that a of would be to or the that a of the Jewish were from the of in from the by to the religious and at in the of adoption. was still another to the of for Catholics his from the in On the in their Slater was from the of the of to Ellen that such tensions between Catholics and In of Jewish babies and the by Jewish were that were as important in such tensions as Catholics and had different on a of tensions between the two were in New York for and But it that the to its on babies and was by one to them be from been to babies to them be from This was so that it important the of babies and and in a to an of of for was it was for to in to them to The to all the been the important in was a of the who first the and to it was of by that the of had to the But the to its on babies in a The on by would been were it for the months before mandating that only parents or legal guardians had the to “place out” these in were the of an for or that was with in the years War the religious adoption, it into a for that held that parents and as as this it was could be into place only by such as and of baby like to be The for that the postwar era were it as as the that only who was for adoption. this a passage from the first The was in at what would a of it for parents to a to and them a or to a baby from the in was under the of for a to the baby and and had the for in the that could by the of that for a of and in the postwar In this the that were and the of were from and found on their as as the of babies who were out for adoption. in a New the by that in along with the of babies a in this in to what the between and that the baby Ellen that in the the to as the role the by to the and of the the became only the of American and a a to against the of it a and to this the of from to the postwar for In this the the of the as those against and it, was on and in and the took and the these to and in the to of and of the of of and for babies that had been all of of babies with and that to the that in the that of babies who in the of the or article in the New York in of was that babies out to be or or with the of babies still another designed to the of This it was an that would a on that of the baby as the had it, the “black market baby the of were for by and or by and in the of all the that the of were a of moral one of the gangsters who paraded before Kefauver and his and who haunted the of the era. one had it, were who in on the of and the of on case of baby as the to be in the baby that in New York to be the and baby of in babies at The of was such that the who had in the were into the of the be their of as an article in the that for babies who out to or or was the between gangsters and baby in a by a known for and the was by a article with the that had been the in Home the was in in the of the the that many of the of in were out by or at this to for In the the by to the of a who, with an on the has the of a that to their babies to the the of his to an the baby had them his in the of a and who, as the to a a on the for to adoption. The of the for of at the of the for along with their for many a for to be into place by by with the of the of and in as could out the of could that babies were as as still that parents and as as In this of so by But so were other such as and and could for a baby with and to the with adoption, this for adoption, to borrow a term from Ellen to what as a designed that was so that it became a against all were was never as on to that the in or was it as late as were still of But to those who for was only the the of had the to and and it with images of the American at the In an era it as that the in could be known and in a or it or was in it held out the that would be New York the place for a to his In this like those by Slater had to be only the of the by the the and the of the American By 1949, the year of the fears market as for a of On of that an article in the New York by that the “black market in babies so that and called for by the State to the in later, the New York a a of were who had babies that as a of months later, in the New York a of in to the by of the that such while babies had been with parents who out to be and still other babies were could only with the of one to their to for an baby who was with these and with for the New York took years of it with a designed to what was as the market in by in of 1949, it principal only could for a only and legal guardians could place had to be before a all had to be to the State of one would that the the in it to a case against Slater and his six months the was Slater, along with Bess Bernard and Harry Wolfson, was months later, on December 1949, became the first indicted on charges from the that with the illegal placement of babies were legal and with receiving compensation for such In of the fears and passions the of what was called “black market baby it that Slater and the were indicted the the of all of what were New many it that the case fears of and of of and the “black as in York In several of the or “black market baby and on the fears for that were the The it important the trial of Alger The it a on the of to the in the of The it took the The by the their was a that, in one the of the case by the in attorney by what a a case to the or by the for the of the of was a it the of its that had Slater, Bernard and Wolfson were of a of organized charged that were in on an with Slater in of Wolfson as his and Bernard in of placement and of the of this the case against that Slater would by in place a for it the placement of in such as The and the as as the Jewish these and were to their babies Slater would a with would for their and as as for in for would their babies to would the babies to or to for a that was in would the babies to their who were in the New York as an and or for legal the that would to Slater at the that the of his the of the this was in a in had a The article to the in the of the that included of and of the who would the case in a with the of with to of the charges against by and the article was in a crime to on several it and and as it indicted Slater by The from a that its through the a had to the the the of the with that of the baby it in the called Slater to the of the by in famous a and in babies to by on who and in the of New entertainment them into his them into their this his for as the in case to the to as a that Harry was in on a the with and through with and a of by and with a for the But and between Slater and his Harry in had a for his for the of the case against Slater, that the of his never the or a of what at that the parents for a a for an of their and religious that the who handled these for to at a of of the in between the and the By the the of Harry his that of By the end of the the and the one and the By the between the and the Slater with the of a this a still at the of his one of In a a of baby that, like Slater, babies from to the New York this with in from different to a in the at and babies by to by a of and New in several to the that the of would the case was in it that Slater had been in the of before the trial the it the of diverse and against the of the to the role of a and its with a to at all the assigned to the in the In of all these it all the that in all Slater would been indicted and were it for the of a that to the role by the in a for role by and tensions between Catholics and was the the in New it was a of the a and with a in and the who worked as the executive in of and of in the of had to Slater and only was babies with of on a was obviously on as and in their on the of the was in to the important role in the only the a role as it took its the in New York to for the to the between the and the or the in it the between and it was to that had the of in the of York to a that the case, and the papers found in the in role in the in a On 1949, an known as later, as who had baby to Slater, the in to that for old while was in the had a for that included for and that the had with it to the at them the with and in New York that had Slater, had to that was an attorney from New York who to place with of In of the that virtually launched the one would to the that at for a from with Slater as had to to to the had through and in the obviously for But or led to with Slater to the at had a that the of and into a with a to an end to Slater and his to to a with on 1949, another of a by the of to Slater in to the that had had with Slater to In to was Slater suggested baby to that to the to to to out on this But it that for several one the was for was a of would be at his the of was in the But in the case that this was into on several a that would the by a to the New York of in them to the case with the the through of other who were in with out the and of in and an that Slater had in a The Jewish In the of the of the case took a that with the of the in New the are with and from as as of with or how their that the of through the of and to But it it that by of a in a with executive of the of had to a the in could a or one had an for to the of a or that of a to the was obviously on by a of the of babies with Jewish with and to what as for the of a at the a baby as that of was to its parents as and the that the a a had it with an was with with like a Jewish first The first Jewish and that be to out baby this that with or with the of the the that only was in a to of in that could the case the were against Slater and his to had to on that only their in could that the the or had an role in the babies out for adoption. it in a had to be in the handled the of the and controlled the of the In with this in a on to to the case of would important at the to all the through to the in the of all the Slater, and role was so in that at it as the in New were in of the the in one to before with the The to the so are on that for the In still for the and of a baby so could a of obviously took in and in with the one as the of a to by Slater and how this to an be the one as on the to the would and would be all that this to the of the was for and that Bess in in this Bess Bernard and the from and role as the role of of of a that of to the of the in was a between the of and by religious and by The of to was a of the through at a of the and the that to one the of a that, in was and of other it The that for of with Jewish obviously and by a that still it a for Catholics to a a and that at in to its the of and the of the Cold the of the as as its of other were by a that had an on in the Cold War the of the that to the with what F. as the of the American it it for the a and that the for the of Senator as as that of In had a the of and while under a of of the of of their as Catholics and as American that had been to a of in took out a at the a to the to the and its to that in the the case of in a with the and of the be so to the at to the of the that to the through to the and The of the the of the it that to his to be in in for his and his to for the to the his it to how the case or the by the the case was of the and the important role it in New York a case that tensions between and Catholics in a such tensions were his that that, and the was to the Slater to his the was under on the of had had a from the Slater that would be his was a from the New York State that his was the and that would be to end his Slater as out of the the was to his had Slater or the by Slater, his was out in a and the with and of the of the case to the his of the case, was to that Slater was a In of the Cold War are the historian Ellen Schrecker that the trials of the an as as a legal of the in them to the could for a of the were the to that Slater had in two and in receiving compensation for one of these placements. But these were what was was to the the by to the of a Jewish attorney was on babies in Jewish of was the as his to that, from his it in his with the to that had a that had for be to of the or to the or to the of the State of New in to the of his and his to the trial to what the by the the of the role of the by different In before the trial Slater to the trial in of a to these In Slater the of the was it the first that would be under a law this law placement that had been for the his of what the trial or would in one and be a trial in the as it and by and the and and of the and the of and placements and the trial it was that, Slater the by the were to the trial into what Slater had as a trial in the were to from the trial of the that Slater had could been are to such from the the to to to the who to the of that were different from those charged by The from the had similar to in his to the them to that other had placements on the of other a of like the or of the as to by to the by the to an of the to the or by persons who to to such In to of or to of that one would was to trial that the of was in his to the its that the of placements his had been or or be into the it the were or the case was the and the the that, the law as it to on to that are the that was by the or that was or it was are called to what and was by the of the State of New and the case one another in with these for Slater attorney to that had placement with the with an the Slater are with the of the case or the or of the parents or the are with what was a of and Slater the to these an in place at one it in the the on several and by of In two the Slater charged that in been against in that the the the of his as as the of that from the and in never in his in in the the that to the of that the had his Jewish the it to images of Jewish and to his But Slater to this took the his Jewish the of his were so to at his trial that had to be with the of their all of the and had to babies in before to one or all had been by one had an another still a old was another was had a virtually all were with the babies had through one was by the of the had and the that Slater had its that of that to that another to for many that Slater had into life and that of The or of the were by the of Jewish been been to the of Jewish the that in the of the their babies became an a of the of to that placements were the the moral of the who had Slater was for from the and the the were to the charges to this the to who of the led by parents and to of the who the important role by role in the that had place the to be for The of was But this what as that the and in of was a that to a still that of Jewish that of the babies were by the case that Bess Bernard, Slater had to them what obviously to them that the baby were to in But from of as the one another it was that the of only to their case at the of the of the trial The role that this would the trial was the one of their and from New who was in with an Slater, served as his from of his that the case first who was could to at the to been at the of against who had been a in that to with the had to a to to New to to of the in and by out to and to these in the of of so that that the to a In the as a was only that would be to New York to on the at was to so that the could to in in But it the to such to only had in the of the had them their them in the and to their babies to and to On the had in the papers and with in to with a the the to their that the of all the had for a to in the case of it was designed as a of legal to Slater from charges of or on the of on the of it to the to in the be in the Hebrew this or to the the by the in to religious of and such as and the term in their on these terms had a that the that a from The of these as as the of the in two between and attorney In the first of the of the the other of Jewish that were the who of Jewish in the as the been the to of to the babies by Slater, the were a of these that were of Jewish so as to Jewish or In the papers that had was a The would be in the Hebrew The to the the of the of other the religious of all those in But similar were of virtually were their would to parents were how one Jewish and his were so in their for a Jewish baby that had one baby it was only them the baby to Bess Bernard only that of the parents were them that it had a the other parents only the religious the that Bess Bernard had to a Jewish in the of to were to that the for a Jewish baby were to that their baby was in their or Bernard for to This was the of the of Bernard had and his that their baby was to it was The of those of the only Jewish to baby to Slater, was at one end of the was an important Slater was baby On the was that on these charges on that had to for a Jewish to that the baby by a Jewish that could of it and the what it on to that only to a that was to of the baby and it the and it were by the a In was the of that, Slater the to his all it and that was all the the who on this the from the to had the or was the of a in what called a was important to the in case, it was Bess Bernard, Slater, who was and of baby that Slater was a at the and the trial that Slater had that baby be a was a and the baby was and the baby in a that would be the were it would be that the of to be that was or with it that the two of were to the to on the But and with