In 1906 , Russian-Jewish immigrant and Fairbanks resident Abe Spring proposed that Jewish refugees fleeing Russian pogroms be settled in Alaska . Spring 's idea was soon rejected by the U.S. Congress and was not seriously considered for decades . Over 30 years later , in the face of Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany , a similar idea was considered . Following Kristallnacht , the Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes proposed a Jewish settlement in Alaska with the aim of both building up Alaska and its industry and creating an opportunity to allow in more German Jewish refugees . The resulting Slattery Report and the introduction of a bill to make the idea possible were roundly rejected by the Alaskan public who did not think that such " aliens " would fit in well . While the bill died in subcommittee in 1940 and the plan never came to fruition , the subject garnered fresh interest in 2007 with the publication of the bestselling novel '' The Yiddish Policemen 's Union '' by Michael Chabon
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
History of the Jews in Alaska