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wave that began in the 1880s, the Jewish population in the United States grew by about two million people. Some Americans worried about competing with Jewish immigrants for jobs, housing, and other resources. Across the United States, communities passed laws limiting the rights of Jewish people. Some laws prevented them from buying houses in certain neighborhoods. Others banned them from country clubs and hotels. Then, in the 1930s, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and inflicted horrific violence upon German Jews. Many fled for their lives, and over 300,000 Jews sought refuge in the United States. But by 1938, after decades of trying to discourage immigration, the United States government would allow only 27,370 German immigrants a year to enter the country. Against this backdrop of anti-Semitism (discrimination against Jewish people), Detroit’s Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg, the first Jewish American player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, became a legend. Hammerin’ Hank was a bona fide power hitter. In his 13-season career, he racked up 331 homers and 1,274 RBIs. He led the American League in home runs four times in his career (1935, 1938, 1940, and 1946), and he won the Most Valuable Player award twice (in 1935 and 1940). His skills with a bat made him one of the
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