Jacob Schiff - Last Years

Last Years

The Action Française movement and its leader, Charles Maurras, claimed that Schiff was thoroughly pro-German and had worked to prevent American entry into World War I. Maurras went so far as to suggest that a telegram from Schiff and other prominent American Jewish leaders convinced President Wilson to give in to certain German arguments at the post-war peace negotiations – including allowing Upper Silesia to have a plebiscite rather than being ceded to Poland. The telegram is not known to have actually existed. Moreover, it has been argued that Schiff stopped financing transactions for Germany or the Central Powers as of 1914, stopped speaking German in public and was eager to demonstrate his moral and financial commitment to the Allied cause.

As an observant Jew, Schiff supported political, secular Zionism. Despite not agreeing fully with the ideas of Theodore Herzl, and in fact believing that Zionism would cause Americans to question his loyalty, he donated to many Jewish projects in Palestine, including the Technical Institute of Haifa. As the situation for Eastern European Jews grew more dire, with the Russian Revolution, and pogroms in Ukraine, Schiff made more considerable contributions to the Zionist effort; he even offered to join the Zionist organization, provided he could publish a statement he'd prepared. This offer was denied, and so he never formally joined the Zionist camp.

Schiff died in New York City on September 25, 1920. His estate was estimated at about $50,000,000. He bequeathed $1,350,000 to various institutions, most of which had received benefactions during his life. The largest bequests were $500,000 to the Federation for the support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies of New York City and $300,000 to the Montefiore Home. He was succeeded as head of Kuhn, Loeb & Company by his son, Mortimer Leo Schiff (1877–1931).