Moses Moskowitz papers, 1923-1990, bulk 1942-1982

On December 15, 1910, Moses Moskowitz (1910-1990) was born in Stryi, which is located in present day western Ukraine. In 1927, his family immigrated to the United States. In June 1934, he received his Bachelor's Degree in Social Science from the College of the City of New York (CUNY), where he majored in history, economics and philosophy. He pursued further post-graduate work in International Law and Relations at Columbia University. Although he completed his PhD residence work in 1940, professional obligations and subsequent mandatory military service disrupted the full completion of his doctorate.

On January 1, 1937, Moses Moskowitz officially joined the staff of The American Jewish Committee (AJC). Except for his absence during military service (1942-1946), he worked continuously in various positions at The AJC. To illustrate, he organized the AJC's Eastern European Department and produced memoranda, newsletters, periodicals and reports about national and international issues. He also continued to write larger pieces for such AJC publications as the American Jewish Year Book and Contemporary Jewish Record. Eventually, Moskowitz became the chief assistant to the AJC General Secretary, where he performed diverse political assignments.

In November 1942, Moskowitz was drafted into military service. In May 1943, he entered the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Miami Beach, FL, where he was eventually commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. While at the OCS, Moskowitz specialized in intelligence. He was appointed, in turn, to the Military Government School, Fort Custer, MI. Later, he attended the School for Overseas Administration at Harvard University for eventual assignment in Italy. Moskowitz saw distinguished military service in England, France, Germany, Italy and North Africa. His last assignment was as the Chief of Political Intelligence, U.S. Military Government for Wuerttemberg-Baden, Germany.

Upon his military discharge in April 1946, Moskowitz rejoined The American Jewish Committee as a Foreign Affairs Department staff member. In July 1946, he took over the section in charge of the United Nations and International Organizations and was accredited to the U.N. Section on Voluntary Organizations. He also represented The AJC at the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. as one of the forty-two consultant organizations to the U.N. Delegation in San Francisco.

In August 1946, Moskowitz with others organized the Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations (CCJO), an international organization composed of The American Jewish Committee, USA; Alliance Israelite Universelle, an international organization with headquarters in Paris; and the Anglo-Jewish Association, Great Britain. The CCJO was organized for the specific purpose of consultation with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in order to encourage the recognition of human rights for all people and to ensure the input of the Jewish ethical tradition in the development of international human rights law. Moskowitz was elected CCJO secretary general. In 1958, Moskowitz received an award from the Mexican Front for Human Rights for his proposals to the United Nations Human Rights Commission on behalf of the CCJO.

In the course of his long career, Moses Moskowitz wrote articles for such journals as Commentary,Jewish Social Studies,Political Science Quarterly, and La Revue des Droits de l'Homme. Moskowitz also authored four books about the United Nations and human rights. These volumes include: Human Rights and World Order: The Struggle for Human Rights in the United Nations (1958), The Politics and Dynamics of Human Rights (1968), International Concern with Human Rights (1974), and The Roots and Reaches of United Nations Actions and Decisions (1980). On March 19, 1990, Moses Moskowitz died of complications from pneumonia.