1. Events and Ideas #3 The U.S. and Europe's Jews
U.S. History

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3. Essential Questions
Analyze Americas policy regarding Jewish immigration
Discuss the reasons for Americas Anti-Semitism attitudes
Explain the causes and effects of these beliefs and policies

4. United States Immigration Quotas
In 1938, more than 300,000 Germans-mostly Jews applied for U.S. visas.
In 1939, the quota allowed for 27,370 German citizens to immigrate to the U.S.
U.S. denied visas immigrants who were "likely to become a public charge.“
This left most Jews unable to immigrate having lost everything to the Nazi’s.
America's immigration laws placed quotas on the number of people allowed to enter the United States from other countries. In 1939, the quota allowed for 27,370 German citizens to immigrate to the United States. In 1938, more than 300,000 Germans-mostly Jewish refugees-had applied for U.S. visas (entry permits). A little over 20,000 applications were approved. Beyond the strict national quotas, the United States openly denied visas to any immigrant "likely to become a public charge." This ruling proved to be a serious problem for many Jewish refugees. Most had lost everything when the Nazis took power, and they might need government assistance after they immigrated to the United States.
Kristallnacht,
the "Night of Broken Glass,"

5. Denying Jewish Refugees
The Secretary of Labor, proposed to FDR an executive order giving priority to immigrants seeking refuge from racial or religious persecution.
The State Department objected not wanting to antagonize Germany and alienate jobless U.S. citizens.
FDR never issued the order and the U.S. continued to reject visa applications of Jewish refugees.
Jewish Refugees
Shortly after she was appointed to the cabinet, Frances Perkins, President Roosevelt's secretary of labor, proposed an executive order on refugees and immigration. Perkins suggested that the State Department should give priority to immigrants seeking refuge from racial or religious persecution. The State Department objected to this order because it would antagonize relations with Germany and alienate jobless American citizens. FDR never issued the order, and State Department officials in Europe continued to reject many visa applications from Jewish refugees.

6. American Public Against Jewish Immigrants
In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws were passed.
In 1936 the U.S. approved 7,000 visas for German Jews.
In 1938 the U.S. allowed 20,000 to come into the country.
An opinion poll taken in the U.S. revealed the 82% of the American public opposed admitting large numbers of Jewish refugees.
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating antisemitism as a form of scientific racism.
The Nuremberg Laws classified people with four German grandparents as "German or kindred blood", while people were classified as Jews if they descended from three or four Jewish grandparents.
A person with one or two Jewish grandparents was a crossbreed, of "mixed blood".
The Nuremberg Laws classified people with "German or related blood" as "racially acceptable" .
These laws deprived Jews and other non-Aryans of German citizenship and prohibited racially mixed sexual relations and marriages between Germans and Jews.
On 26 November 1935, the laws were extended to "Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring".
With so many Germans fleeing their homeland, the State Department temporarily eased immigration quotas. In 1936, the State Department approved visas for about 7,000 German refugees. By 1938, that number had increased to more than 20,000. But an opinion poll revealed that 82 percent of Americans still opposed admitting large numbers of Jewish refugees into the United States. Despite pleas by American human-rights organizations, the U.S. State Department refused to increase the German quota any further.
Nazi Party Rally in
Nuremberg 1935

7. Breakdown of % Jewish
People with four German grandparents (white circles) were of "German blood", while people were classified as Jews
If they were descended from three or more Jewish grandparents (black circles in top row right).
Either one or two Jewish grandparents made someone a Mischling (of mixed blood).
The Nazis used the religious observance of a person's grandparents to determine their race

8. Refused Entry
In 1939 a passenger ship called the St. Louis left Germany carrying 1, mostly Jews.
Many qualified for visas, but had not yet received them.
The State Department refused to allow the refugees to land without special legislation by Congress or an executive order from the president
In May 1939, only a few months before war began in Europe, a passenger ship called the St. Louis left Germany carrying nearly a thousand refugees, most of them Jews. Many of these people had already qualified for, but had not yet received, American visas.
The State Department refused to allow the refugees to land without special legislation by Congress or an executive order from the president. Efforts by American Jewish organizations to work out a compromise failed. The desperate passengers aboard the St. Louis sent President Roosevelt a telegram pleading their case. He never replied.
Political realities may have influenced Roosevelt's decision to remain silent. Most Americans opposed entering the approaching European war. Many felt that America's best interest lay in avoiding foreign conflicts. Others were disillusioned by the U.S. intervention in World War I and wanted to avoid the loss of American lives. These views had strong support in Congress. In addition, Roosevelt knew that the United States was not yet prepared for war and was reluctant to antagonize the Nazi regime.
Finally, the St. Louis returned to Europe and several nations granted asylum to the refugees. But when Hitler's troops marched through Europe, the Nazis eventually caught most of the St. Louis' ill-fated passengers and sent them to concentration camps.
Refugees on the St. Louis

9. Refused Entry FDR ignored a telegram pleading their case.
St. Louis returned to Europe and were granted asylum in several nations.
When Hitler's troops marched through Europe, the Nazis caught most of the St. Louis' passengers and sent them to concentration camps.
In a highly publicized event in May–June 1939, the United States refused to admit over 900 Jewish refugees who had sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on the St. Louis. The St. Louis appeared off the coast of Florida shortly after Cuban authorities cancelled the refugees' transit visas and denied entry to most of the passengers, who were still waiting to receive visas to enter the United States. Denied permission to land in the United States, the ship was forced to return to Europe. The governments of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium each agreed to accept some of the passengers as refugees. Of the 908 St. Louis passengers who returned to Europe, 254 (nearly 28 percent) are known to have died in the Holocaust. 288 passengers found refuge in Britain. Of the 620 who returned to the continent, 366 (just over 59 percent) are known to have survived the war.
Over 1/4 of the passengers
on the St. Louis were later killed
in concentration camps

10. Jewish Refugee Children
A bill to admit Jewish refugee children above the regular quota was introduced in Congress.
FDR allowed the bill to die in committee.
Polls indicated that 2/3 of Americans opposed taking in Jewish children.
In the beginning of the war the U.S. government did not believe that Hitler was planning on a genocide of the Jews.
On the eve of World War II, a bill that would have admitted Jewish refugee children above the regular quota limits was introduced in Congress. President Roosevelt took no position on the bill, and it died in committee in the summer of Polls at the time indicated that two-thirds of Americans opposed taking in Jewish refugee children.
At the beginning of World War II, the U.S. government did not believe reports that Hitler was carrying out a plan to murder millions of European Jews. But by November 1942, the evidence was overwhelming. Once again, American Jewish leaders appealed to Roosevelt: If the president would ask Congress to change the immigration laws, more refugees could escape the Holocaust. Again, FDR refused. Instead, he joined the British in condemning the Nazi genocide (mass killing) of Jews.

11. Still No Help
U.S. imposed even stricter visa regulations fearing enemy spies.
By 1943 the American public became aware of the enormity of Nazi atrocities.
They began to demand that the U.S. rescue the remaining Jews in Europe.
In 1943 another resolution came before congress to give refuge the Jews – the State Department again objected.
Wartime brought on a sharp decline in immigration when the government imposed even stricter visa regulations. Officials feared that enemy spies and saboteurs might enter the country in the guise of refugees. But as the American public became aware of the enormity of the Nazi atrocities, people began to demand that the United States do something to rescue the remaining Jewish people of Europe. In November 1943, the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe introduced a rescue resolution in Congress.
Once again, the State Department objected. This angered Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr., a Jew, who was appalled by the Nazi mass killings. Since 1933, the State Department had opposed nearly every attempt to help Jewish refugees. On January 16, 1944, Morgenthau met with FDR and summarized a report prepared by his department. The report documented the long history of State Department obstructionism in refugee matters. (This report was originally titled, "Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews.")

12. The War Refugee Board
Angered with the administrations lack of compassion for the Jews, Jewish Secretary of Treasury, Henry Morgenthau wrote a report outlining the long history of the State Departments obstruction to allow Jewish refugees into the U.S.
It was called, “Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews.”
In response FDR created the War Refugee Board and signed an executive order to “rescue the victims of enemy oppression in imminent danger of death.”
Henry Morgenthau
This angered Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr., a Jew, who was appalled by the Nazi mass killings. Since 1933, the State Department had opposed nearly every attempt to help Jewish refugees. On January 16, 1944, Morgenthau met with FDR and summarized a report prepared by his department. The report documented the long history of State Department obstructionism in refugee matters. (This report was originally titled, "Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews.")
In response, Roosevelt signed an executive order instructing Congress to implement most of the provisions of the rescue resolution. The order created a War Refugee Board "to take all measures within its policy to rescue victims of enemy oppression in imminent danger of death."

13. The War Refugee Board The WRB mobilized rescue activities.
It issued war-crimes warnings and sent food parcels into concentration camps.
In 1944 the WRB sent a Swedish businessman, Raoul Wallenberg to implement a plan to rescue Hungarian Jews who were about to be deported to Auschwitz.
Wallenberg's efforts saved more than 20,000 lives.
Wallenberg was captured
by the Soviet Union at the
end of the war and died in
prison in 1947
The War Refugee Board
Soon after its creation, the War Refugee Board (WRB) aggressively mobilized rescue activities. It issued war-crimes warnings and sent food parcels into concentration camps. In the summer of 1944, it launched a dramatic operation.
With the cooperation of the Swedish government, the WRB sent a Swedish businessman, Raoul Wallenberg, to Hungary to work as an embassy official. Wallenberg was to implement a plan to rescue 200,000 Hungarian Jews who were about to be deported to the Auschwitz death camp. He rented buildings and placed them under Swedish diplomatic protection. Wallenberg let thousands of Jews stay there in this safe haven. He issued special protective passports to many others. With WRB support, Wallenberg's efforts saved more than 20,000 lives. Wallenberg disappeared when the Soviet Army occupied Hungary at the end of the war. His fate is unknown, although in 1956, the Soviets claimed that they had discovered a report of Wallenberg's death in 1947 in a Soviet prison.

14. American military police admit a Father & daughter, to the refugee
The War Refugee Board
The WRB established sanctuary outside of Europe for rescued refugees
The War Refugee Board saved an estimated 200,000 Jews the few months of the war.
The WRB also established sanctuary outside of Europe for rescued refugees. Fighting opposition from the State Department, Congress, and the public, the WRB convinced FDR to allow one group of Jewish Italian refugees to occupy an old army camp near Oswego, New York. To avoid violating the immigration laws, the WRB brought these victims of Nazi persecution into the country as prisoners of war.
The War Refugee Board has been credited with saving perhaps 200,000 Jews during the final months of the war. "What we did was little enough," said WRB director John Pehle. "It was late. Late and little, I would say." Yet others believe that, given the circumstances before the war and even during the war itself, the Roosevelt
administration cannot be blamed for failure to rescue more victims of the Holocaust. The question remains a topic of debate, even today.
American military police admit a
Father & daughter, to the refugee
shelter in New York, 1944.

15. Could we have done more? Killed in the Holocaust: Left homeless:
1.2 million Jewish children
4.8 million Jewish adults
Left homeless:
Two years after the war 850,000 were still homeless

16. Pastor Martin Niemoller
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
From
When you walk down the halls of this school and see a big guy picking on a small guy and you do nothing, hate grows.
When you walk or drive home and you see 4 people beating the heck out of a kid by the old Java hut and you do nothing, hate grows.
When you hear someone say really bad, dehumanizing things about gays, blacks, whites, or Mexicans and you say nothing, hate grows.
When you allow somebody to dehumanize another person or class of a people you allow that person to dehumanize everybody, including yourself.
We are all just people trying to get by in the world and when you let hate go unanswered, you allow hate to grow, and sometimes it grows large enough that it turns on you!

17. Essential Questions
Analyze Americas policy regarding Jewish immigration
Discuss the reasons for Americas Anti-Semitism attitudes
Explain the causes and effects of these beliefs and policies