So in the early 1910’s, Henry Ford lived on the same block in Detroit as Rabbi Leo Franklin. The two of them struck up a friendship, and in 1913, Ford asked Albert Kahn, one of the congregants of Franklin’s synagogue and a former Ford employee, to ask Franklin if Franklin wanted a car for use in his rabbinical duties (e.g. visiting the sick). Franklin accepted, and for the next seven years, Ford provided Franklin with a new car every year.

That lasted until 1920, when Ford started publishing “The International Jew” in his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. This was a highly antisemitic series of articles that promulgated hideous lies regarding the role of Jews in the world. The American Jewish community was horrified, knowing full well that spreading such vicious lies about Jews had historically led to mass murder of Jews. Knowing Ford personally, Franklin was ideally suited to try and convince him to stop publishing the articles — and make that attempt he most certainly did.

Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed. Ford kept running the articles, and Franklin responded by returning the car Ford had given him. Ford was shocked by this, and called Franklin on the phone, wondering why a “good Jew” like Franklin would have any issues with what was being published in The Dearborn Independent.

Ford kept running the articles in the Independent for the next seven years, and when slapped with a libel suit, chose to close the newspaper rather than defend himself. He also kept publishing The International Jew in book form after that point. He only stopped in 1938 after his acceptance of Grand Cross of the German Eagle from Nazi Germany led to a firestorm of protest that negatively impacted sales of Ford cars.