SOME THOUGHTS ON Problems in U.S. Policy During the Era of the Holocaust

SOME THOUGHTS ON Problems in U.S. Policy During the Era of the

Holocaust

Peter Black, Senior Historian

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

April 28, 2011

Reference Copy.

For additional uses please contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

INTRODUCTION: Three Problems:

1.Immigration & shelter to refugees

2.Knowledge of Holocaust

3.Action to Stop Holocaust

U.S. IMMIGRATION Policy, 1919-1941

I. 1924 Immigration Act A. Hostility to Immigrants 1. Hostility to Jews & Catholics 2. Asian entry banned in 1882 3. Africans not permitted to

enter

U.S. Immigration Policy, 1919-1941

B. Mistrust of Europe & Europeans 1. Concern about Communism

2. Struggle Between Management &

Left-Wing Labor Unions 3. Ceiling Quota, 1929: 151,774

per year 4. 309,782 Germans, Austrians & Czech Jews applied for visas

U.S. Immigration Policy, 1919-1941II. IMPACT OF DEPRESSION

A. Concern about Jobs B. Concern about Communism 1. Sympathies in U.S. with stand of Fascist

Italy & Nazi Germany on Communists 2. Willingness to buy Nazi & Fascist propaganda on getting out of Depression a. Class reconcilation—workers should know their place b. Depression broke left-wing labor

movement

U.S. Immigration Policy, 1919-1941 C. LPC Clause of 1917 Immigration Act

1. Likely to Become Public Charge Clause a. directed at persons lacking mental & physical skills for employment b. Possible interpretation: unable to get a job under current market conditions

2. September 1930—President Hoover announced application of this interpretation to restrict inflow of immigrants

U.S. Immigration Policy, 1919-1941D. Attitude toward minorities

1. Anti-Semitism a. 1920: 3,2 Million Jews in U.S. 1930: 4.4 Million (out of 122,775,000,

just under 3.6% of population) b. 2,885,000 had immigrated, 1881-1930 (87% from Eastern Europe) c. Link with Communism—Red Scare &

Labor Unrest of 1918-1919 d. Sons of 19th Century immigrants entering Protestant society


2. Hostility & indifference to Afro- Americans a. 1920s: Jim Crow legislation still being passed b. 1937-defeat of Law Requiring Federal authorities to investigate race murders when locals would not investigate

JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S. 1914-1937• 1914: 1,218,000 (Jews: 138,051—11.33%)

– 1921: 119,036 Jewish immigrants– 1922: 54,000 Jewish immigrants– 1923: 50,000 Jewish immigrants

• 1924: 707,000 – 1925: 10,267 Jewish immigrants– 1926: 11,483 Jewish immigrants– 1927: 11,629 Jewish immigrants

• 1928: 307,000 (Jews: 11,639--3.79%)• 1929: 279,678 (Jews: 12,479--4.46%)• 1930: 241,700 (Jews: 11,526--4.77%)• 1931: 97,139 (Jews: 5,692—5.86%)• 1932: 36,576 (Jews: 2,755—7.53%)• 1933: 23,068 (Jews: 2,372—10.3%)• 1934: 29,470 (Jews: 4,134—14.3%)• 1935: 34,956 (Jews: 4,837—13.8%)• 1936: 36,329 (Jews: 6,252—17.2%)• 1937: 50,244 (Jews: 11,352—22.6%)• 1933-1937: 28,947 (16.62% of immigrants)

JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S. 1914-1937

•1938: 19,736 Jews (30% of immigrants)

•1939: 43,450 (52.35% of all immigrants)



1938-1941: 123,868 (45.3% of immigrants)

JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO THE U.S. 1938-1945

1939-1945: appr. 140,000 Jewish immigrants

1942-1945: appr. 35,868

POST-WAR JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO U.S.

•1946: 15,535 Jewish immigrants



•1948-1952: appro. 80,000 Jewish immigrants under DP Act

Total, 1946-1952: 133,720

U.S. Immigration Policy, 1919-1941 IV. Weakness of Roosevelt administration

A. 1938/1942 elections: Republicans

win B. 1937—Court Packing C. 1940—Roosevelt, 3rd Term D. Enemy Aliens after 1941 E. U.S. Self-image: A world power?


V. Wagner-Rogers Bill

A. Feb 1939, rejection of Wagner-Rogers bill to bring in 20,000 children above quota

U.S. IMMIGRATION POLICY

VI. S.S. ST. LOUIS A. 938 passengers (one died en route)

1. 743 had applied for U.S. visas

2. 22 had U.S. visas & could disembark 3. 6 more could legally disembark

Emigration

Passengers aboard the "St. Louis." These refugees from Nazi Germany were forced to return to Europe after both Cuba and the U.S. denied them entry. May or June 1939.

U.S. Immigration Policy, 1919-1941VI. S.S. ST. LOUIS—June 1939 B. 908 returned to Europe (JDC

Negotiations) 1. 1 non-refugee returned to Hungary 2. 288 to Great Britain 3. 620 returned to continent (254 died)

a. Belgium: 214 (died: 84) b. Holland: 181 (died: 84) c. France: 224 (died: 86)

C. 87 emigrated before May 1940 D. 278 survived the Holocaust in Europe


VII. How Many Jews in Danger? A. 213,000 Jews left Germany in May

1939. B. 94,601 Jews left in Austria in May 1939

C. Increasing concern that general public

believed that arrival of more Jews would increase pressure for U.S. involvement in war, 1939-1941.D. Polish & Romanian Jews seeking religious freedom & economic

opportunity

POLLING DATA: ATTITUDES

TOWARDS JEWS IN THE U.S.

Source: Charles H. Stember et al., Jews in the Mind of America (New York:

Basic Books, 1966).

IS PREJUDICE AGAINST Jews Increasing or Decreasing in U.S.?

Increasing (%) Decreasing (%)

Aug-37 29 23

Nov-38 37 18

Dec-38 33 46

Mar-39 45 17

Sep-39 42 11

Apr-40 48 13

Feb-41 48 15

Oct-41 43 16

Dec-42 47 12

Jun-44 56 10

Mar-45 58 8

Feb-46 58 7

Nov-50 16 20

Are Jews as patriotic, more patriotic, or less patriotic than

other U.S. citizens?

3/38-10/41: Less patriotic: Between 25% & 31%

More patriotic: Average of 5%

As patriotic: Average of 67%

Do Jews have too much power in the United States?

Yes (%) No (%) Don't Know (%)

Mar-38 41 46 13

May-38 36 47 17

Nov-38 35 49 16

Feb-39 41 48 11

Apr-40 43 40 17

Aug-40 42 42 16

Feb-41 45 41 14

Oct-41 48 37 15

Feb-42 47 38 15

Dec-42 51 33 16

May-44 56 30 14

Mar-45 56 29 15

Jun-45 58 29 13

Feb-46 55 33 12

Jun-62 17 66 17

What is your attitude to allowing German, Austrian, & other political refugees to come into

U.S. (July 1938)

• “encourage them to come even if we have to raise immigration quotas” 4.9%

• “we should allow them to come but not raise immigration quotas” 18.2%

• “with conditions as they are, we should try to keep them out” 67.4%

• “don’t know” 9.5%

When asked whether the U.S. government should permit a “larger number of Jewish exiles to come

to the United States”:

March 1938Yes: 17%No: 75%

Don’t Know: 8%

November 1938Yes: 21%No: 71%

Don’t Know: 8%

Gallop Poll, January 1939: “It has been proposed that the government permit 10,000 refugee children from

Germany to be brought into this country and taken care of in American homes. Do you favor this plan?”

• Supported: 26%• Opposed: 66%• No opinion: 8%

Supported: 30%Opposed: 61%No opinion: 9%

When refugees were specifically identified as Jewish:

If you were a member of the Congress would you vote “yes” or “no” on a bill to open the doors of

the U.S. to a larger number of refugees than now admitted under our immigration quotas?

Vote for: 8.7%Vote against: 83.0% Don’t know: 8.3%

In your opinion, what nationality, religious, or social groups in this country [U.S.] are a menace to America? Choices: “Jews, Negroes, Catholics,

Germans, Japanese.”

Jews Germans Japanese Catholics "Negroes"

Aug-40 17 14 6 6 2

Feb-41 18 14 6 5 3

Oct-41 20 16 4 4 2

Feb-42 15 18 24 5 2

Dec-42 15 14 19 3 4

Jun-44 24 6 9 5 11

Mar-45 19 4 5 3 11

Feb-46 22 1 1 9 15

Nov-50 5 1 0 6 6

Jun-62 1 0 0 0 16

U.S. Knowledge of holocaustI. Allies “Knew Early and Did Nothing about

the Holocaust” When did the Allies Know? A. What was known? Need to define.

1. Germany a. Persecution of Minorities (1933) b. Violation of Civil Rights, including murder

(1933) i. Response of Black & White-Owned

Newspapers in the South (1934)

c. Sporadic Violence against Jews (1933, 1935, 1937-

1938)

d. Kristallnacht Violence (91 killed) (1938)

U.S. Knowledge of holocaust2. Poland a. Indiscriminate murder of civilians (Poland, 1939) b. Systematic Persecution & Physical

violence against Jews (1939-1940) c. Systematic mass murder of civilians

(Polish elite, 1940)3. USSR a. Soviet Jews, Communists & others,

1941 b. plan to eliminate European Jews

(August 1942—confirmed Nov 1942)

U.S. Knowledge of holocaustII. When was military intervention possible? What kind of intervention? When was political intervention possible? A. Prioritization of European Theater B. Allied statement of Dec 17, 1942 C. Development of rescue infrastructure: “a statecraft of carefully calibrated compassion.”

Report of H. Höfle, 1.43

U.S. Rescue OperationsII. When was military intervention possible? What kind of intervention? D. Bermuda Conference on Refugees, Apr 1943

1. strong opposition in U.S. & Great Britain to accepting large numbers of refugees.

2. unwillingness to emphasize Jews specifically as priority refugees, for fear of stirring ethnic hatred at home and undermining

will of others to fight for the Jews.

U.S. RESCUE OPERATIONS 3. Achievements: a. reactivation of Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees b. Recommendation to establish refugee camp in North Africa for refugees trapped in Spain

E. U.S. & U.K. never willing to relax immigration

quotas. 1. U.S. & British leery about sending funds

into Axis controlled Europe, where they could

be used to prolong the war

2. Soviets paranoid about Western intentions

U.S. RESCUE OPERATIONS F. War Refugee Board (Jan. 1944) too late; 1. impetus: failure of Treasury Department

officials to overcome British objections to sending

funds for relief of Romanian Jews returning from Transnistria in late fall 1943, when the

Antonescu regime was willing to permit the funds. 2. Significant success in Hungary a. financing activity of Wallenberg & others

in Budapest. b. assisting Red Cross in removing prisoners from concentration camps

U.S. RESCUE OPERATIONS?III. BOMBING AUSCHWITZ A. Questions

1. Militarily Feasible? 2. Saved Lives? 3. PR Effect? B. Morse-Wyman Thesis 1. Roosevelt Administration at best indifferent, at worst hostile to Jews. 2. Argument that winning war would save more people an excuse C. McGovern’s wish that he had orders to

bomb Auschwitz when he flew over in Dec. 1944

U.S. RESCUE OPERATIONS?

D. Six Chronologies

1. CHRONOLOGY: ALLIED BOMBING CAPACITY

Sep 30, 1943: Allies capture Foggia in southern Italy

Spring 1944: Allies could first hit targets in Silesia from

airstrips at Foggia, but only with RAF Mosquitoes & USAF B-25 medium bombers—problematic May 31, 1944: First aerial photograph of Auschwitz- Birkenau (April 14 for Auschwitz I).July 1944: B-17, B-24 bombing missions with

escorts possible for Silesia.July 18, 1944: Monowitz designated a targetAug 20, 1944: First bombing of Monowitz Issue of accuracy of bombing—Buchenwald, 7/7/44

Aerial view of Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. Upper left corner, bombs from US planes are visible. Auschwitz, Poland, September 1944.

2. CHRONOLOGY: DEPORTATION OF HUNGARIAN JEWS

March 19, 1944: Germans occupy HungaryApril 6-7, 1944: Germans demand 100,000 laborersApril 13, 1944: Hungarians agree to deport 100,000 JewsApr 28-9, 1944: Two trains containing political

arrestees\ go from Kistacsa to Auschwitz May 15-July 9: Deportations from provinces

(440,000)July 6, 1944: Hungarian government halts deportationsJuly 9, 1944: Last deportation train leaves for AuschwitzJuly 1944: 15,000 Jews deported, Austrian

borderJuly 15, 24, Aug 2: 3 transports to Auschwitz: 4,026

JewsOct-Nov, 1944: footmarches to Austrian border

resume

3. CHRONOLOGY: KNOWLEDGE OF AUSCHWITZApril 7, 1944: Vrba-Wetzler escape AuschwitzApril 27, 1944: Auschwitz report written in Slovakia in German language, as Vrba & Wetzler reconstruct dataLate Apr-May: report reaches Budapest, is translated into Hungarian & other languagesMay, 1944: report sent to Jewish representatives in Switzerland, Istanbul, & London--& Papal

Nuncio in BratislavaMay 1944: Jewish groups demand bombing of gas chambersJune 19, 1944: Diplomat in Romanian embassy in Bern disseminates report widely in Switzerland.July 7, 1944: Horthy announces halt of deportationsJuly, 1944: War Refugee Board gets Vrba report.Aug 9, 1944: War Refugee Board writes McCloy suggesting bombing of gas chambers as inducement to

halt killing August 14, 1944: McCloy letter, “decisive operations”

4. CHRONOLOGY: U.S. DIPLOMATIC RESPONSEMarch 7, 1944: U.S. Govt warns Hungarian govt against

taking harsher measures against JewsMar 24, 1944: Roosevelt warns the Horthy Govt.June 12, 1944: Roosevelt statement to Congress: condemns continued annihilation of European JewsJun 12-13, 1944: Senate debate & speech of Hull had impact

in Hungarian Foreign MinistryJun 22, 26, 1944: threat of Roosevelt & House Foreign Affairs Committee to retaliate with force if

atrocities not stopped.July 2, 1944: Budapest bombed by USAF; leaflets dropped, repeating warningJuly 6, 1944: Horthy orders deportations halted July 9, 1944: Last deportation train leaves

5.CHRONOLOGY: MILITARY ADVANCES

March 19, 1944: Germany occupies HungaryApril 15, 1944: Germany stabilizes Eastern Front in

East Galicia, North Bucovina & East BelarusJune 4, 1944: Allies capture RomeJune 6, 1944: Allies land in France, on Normandy

Coast June 22, 1944: Soviet offensive in Belarus beginsJuly 22, 1944: Having destroyed Army Group Center,

Soviets enter eastern PolandJuly 25, 1944: Allies break out of Normandy beachheadAugust 1, 1944: Soviets reach Vistula River, eastern

suburbs of Warsaw; Warsaw uprising beginsAugust 23, 1944: Romania switches sides; Soviets invade

Trianon HungaryAugust 25, 1944: Paris liberatedSep 16, 1944: Allies reach German border

6.CHRONOLOGY: MILITARY ADVANCES July 1944: 130,000 prisoners in Auschwitz complex Jul 12, 1944: 51,117 in Birkenau (31,406 women

&children) August 1944: 135,000 prisoners in Auschwitz complex August 7, 1944: 19,115 male prisoners in Birkenau August 21, 1944: 58,658 prisoners in Birkenau (39,234 women & children) +30,000 Hungarian Jews in transit campOctober 2, 1944: 26,230 female prisoners in Birkenau 17,202 Jewish Women in “Mexico” Oct 14, 1944: 100,000 prisoners in Auschwitz complexNov 27, 1944: 14,206 Jewish women in Birkenau January 4, 1945: 11,713 Jewish women & children in Birkenau women’s camp Jan 17, 1945: 67,000 prisoners in Auschwitz complex (15,058 in Birkenau).

In Auschwitz

Barracks, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, January 29, 1945

PERSONS MURDERED IN GAS CHAMBERS IN AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU, JUL 15-NOV 25,

1944

Gas Chamber Victims Registered Prisoners

July 15-31, 1944 3,127 9,027

August 1-31, 1944 8,921 12,203

September 1-30, 1944 7,793 7,185

October 1-31, 1944 46,015 4,221

November 1-2, 1944 81 0

Total 65,937 32,636

CONCLUSION: what can be done?I. NO ONE CAN PREDICT FUTURE

A. Example of Libya today

II. WHAT CAN BE DONE? A. More open borders--populations in

danger. 1. U.S. could have allowed in more

Jews & political refugees

B. Earlier stand vs. intl aggression 1. Example of first Gulf War, 1991

CONCLUSION: what can be doneIII. MORE RESPONSIVENESS TO EFFORTS OF

RESCUE SMALLER, MANAGABLE GROUPS, WHEN

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKSA. Failure to pass special legislation to bring in

children to U.S. in 1939 B. Antonescu’s efforts to sell Jewish childrenIV. EARLIER ESTABLISHMENT & BETTER FUNDING FOR REFUGEE AGENCIES (WRB) A. Success of WRB through neutral legations in protecting Jews of Budapest

CONCLUSION: what can be done?V. NEGOTIATIONS & PEACEKEEPERS

A. Probably inapplicable to Nazi regime— bent on world conquest. B. Strong peace-keeping force on ground in Rwanda 1. Talks between factions may have prevented genocide in Angola in

1990s 2. Negotiated settlement of Southern Sudan’s separation from Sudan.

CONCLUSION: what can be done?

C. Int’l criminal jurisdiction 1. Agreed to & adhered to by all D. Reacting to mass murder despite

perceived national interests. 1. U.S. support of murderous Khmer Rouge regime against Vietnamese invasion.

CONCLUSION: what can be done?VI. BOMBING KILLING CENTERS?

A. Four dismantled before Allies could hit them B. Bombing Auschwitz carried costs without guaranteeing success. 1. bombing Budapest may, however, have some effect. 2. would it have been effective in Darfur to bomb villages from which the innocent victims were being expelled or put to death?


C. Invasion w/ground forces difficult without international consensus 1. Most chance of success when criminal regime seeks to impose will on neighbors. a. Missed opportunity: Munich,

1938 b. Successful response to Iraq,

1991


VII. SUCH MEASURES REQUIRE BROAD POPULAR CONSENSUS IN DEMOCRACIES A. Consensus that murder & abuse of civilians or unarmed soldiers is against our interests— regardless of more narrow economic & strategic interests B. Consensus on prosecuting those who use state security to justify criminal acts, including our own—no matter how long it takes.

Documents

SOME THOUGHTS ON Problems in U.S. Policy During the Era of the Holocaust