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In 1906, Russian-Jewish immigrant and Fairbanks resident Abe Spring proposed that Jewish refugees fleeing [[Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire|Russian pograms]] be settled in Alaska, Spring's idea was soon rejected by the [[U.S. Congress]] and was not seriously considered for decades.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alaska's Jewish community predates US settlement |url=https://www.adn.com/features/article/alaskas-rich-jewish-past-0/2012/02/12/ |website=Anchorage Daily News |publisher=Anchorage Daily News |accessdate=10 October 2018}}</ref> Over 30 years later, in the face of [[Nazi]] persecution of Jews in Germany, a similar idea was considered. Following [[Kristallnacht]], the [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]] [[Harold L. Ickes]] proposed a [[Proposals for a Jewish state#Modern times|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.<ref name="Nazi_plan">{{cite web |last1=Kizzia |first1=Tom |title=Part 3: 'Alaska wants no misfits' Sanctuary- Alaska, the Nazis and the Jews |url=https://www.adn.com/past-projects/article/alaska-wants-no-misfits/1999/05/18/ |publisher=''Anchorage Daily News''|accessdate=October 7, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berman |first1=Gerald S. |title=Reaction to the Resettlement of World War II Refugees in Alaska |journal=Jewish Social Studies |date=Summer–Autumn 1982 |volume=44 |issue=3/4 |pages=271–282 }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="ADN_Jews" />
During [[World War II]], Jewish GIs were among the tens of thousands of service members who were stationed in Alaska. The [[Elmendorf Air Force Base]] near Anchorage retained a Jewish chaplain between the 1940s and 1980s, changing every two years and rotating between [[Reform Judaism|Reform]], [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]], and [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] leaders.<ref name="OrHatzafon" /> In 1974, Alaska’s only [[
[[Zachariah J. Loussac|Zachariah "Zach" J. Loussac]] was the mayor of Anchorage from 1948 to 1951. A Jewish immigrant from Russia, he became a local philanthropist after selling his business and contributed greatly to Anchorage’s first purpose-built library. While the library building he helped make a reality no longer exists, the main branch of the Anchorage public library system is still named in his honor.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Musgrave |first1=Jackie |last2=Stockert |first2=Clare |title="Our History 1917–2011" |url=http://www.anchoragelibrary.org/media/1201/aplhistory_dec2011lowres-2.pdf |publisher=Anchorage Public Library|accessdate=October 7, 2018}}</ref>
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