2. What facts did President Roosevelt have in making his decision on the St. Louis incident?

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1 Sometimes seemingly insignificant incidents have enormous implications for the future. The St. Louis incident is such a case. Read the brief explanation and analyze it using the questions that follow. 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 whom were Jews. Many of these people had already qualified for, but had not yet received, American visas. They arranged for temporary Cuban tourist visas that would enable them to wait outside of Germany for U.S. visas. By the time the St. Louis reached Havana, however, the Cuban government had changed its visa regulations. It refused to allow most of the refugees to land. Forced to leave Cuban waters, the St. Louis sailed up the Florida coast. The U.S. Coast Guard followed close behind to prevent any passengers from swimming ashore. The State Department refused to aflow the refugees to land without special legislation by Congress or an executive order from the president. Efforts by Ainerlcan 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 were anxious to stay Out of the approaching European war. Many felt that America s best interest lay in avoiding foreign conflicts. Others were disillusioned by the experience of 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, President 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, most of the St. Louis ill-fated passengers were eventually caught by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps, 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. 1 What is the question at issue? 2. What facts did President Roosevelt have in making his decision on the St. Louis incident? 3. What broad concepts are involved in this issue? Constitutional Rights Foundation (Spring 1994, Vol, 10, No. 2), Bill of Rights in Action (1-3). COPYRIGHT, The Center for L~arning. Used wifh permission. Not for resale,

2 4. What factors probably influenced FDR the most when he made his decision on this issue? 5. What assumptions do you surmise he was making at the time? 6. What were the president s primary foreign policy goals at the time? 7. What was the president s solution to the problem in 1939? 8. What were the consequences of his decision for each of the groups below? a. The children b. U.S. foreign relations c. President s political fortunes d. President s reputation as a humanitarian COPYPJGHT, The Center for Learning. Used with permission. Not for resale.

3 The United States the Holocaust Read the selections below and"answer the questions which follow. Be prepared to discuss your responses. The Holocans~ Before 1941, Nazis enacted increasingly repressive measures against Jews, who were permitted and sometimes forced to emigrate. In 1941, the Nazi plan for invading Russia included extermination of Jews in conquered territories. 3. Also in 1941, Nazis banned Jewish emigration from German territories. 4. At the Wannsee Conference in January, 1942, the Nazis planned systematic annihilation of European Jews: "The final solution to the Jewish problem." 5. By summer, 1942, Jews were being transported from conquered territories to numerous concentration camps and to six extermination centers. Climate in United States 6. Anti-Semitism was widespread and sometimes violent during pre-war and war years, especially in Boston and New York City. 7. High United States unemployment rates stimulated anti-immigration attitudes before Pearl Harbor. During the war, many feared a new crisis would occur when servicemen sought postwar civilian employment. United States Knowledge of "Final Solution" 8. American Jewish press reported early information, obtained from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, about Nazi persecution of Jews. 9. In August. 1942, American Jewish leaders received the Riegner Report revealing the Nazi extermination plan. The United States State Department requested no publicity pending confirmation of information. Jewish leaders complied with the request. 10. In November, 1942, Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles confirmed the report to Dr. Stephen S. Wise, a prominent American Jewish leader and rabbi. Wise then gave a press conference. 11. United States media placed little emphasis on the Jewish plight in Europe. Throughout the war, newspaper stories were minimized. After August 1943, Hearst publications advocated rescue efforts. Popular magazines and radio generally avoided the subject. 12. Americans tended to be skeptical about "final solution" information, partly because atrocity reports during World War I had proved tb be inflated. American Jews 13. During the 1930s, American Jews supported restriction of immigration. 14. As a group, American Jews were staunchly committed admirers of Roosevelt. 15. Disunity characterized American Jews, with splils between uptown and downtown, reform and orthodox, Zionists and anti-zionists, Germans and Eastern Europeans. COPYRIGHT, The Cellter for Leal ning. Used with peltnlssion. Not for resale.

4 16. Jewish groups were responsible for numerous rallies and demonstrations in sympathy with European Jews. In particular, Peter Bergson s Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People, founded in July 1943, sponsored numerous successful projects to shape public opinion. American Zionists and "Bergsonites" were bitterly opposed to one another. 17. From July I, 1940, to June 30, 1941, the United States admitted only 48 percent of the immigrant quota. The next year it dropped to 19 percent, and the following three years the total was under 10 percent of the allowance. 18. Before December 1941, the United States was prone to isolationism; after the Pearl Harbor disaster, the United States was involved in war on several fronts, with victory far from certain. 19. President Roosevelt delegated communications about the Jewish plight in Europe to the State Department. His position was that American victory in Europe was the Jew s only hope. 20. Brecklnridge Long was made head of the Special War Problems Division of the State Department in 1940, a position that enabled him to make his anti-immigration position national policy. 21.Early in 1943, the British Foreign Office sent a memo to the State Department including these words: Where is a possibility that the Germans or their satellites may change over from the policy of extermination to one of extrusion, and aim as they did before the war at embarrassing other countries by flooding them with allen immigrants." 22. In April 1943, English and American officials agreed at the Bermuda Conference to recommend "that no approach be made to Hitler for the release of potential refugees." 23. In January 1944, the Treasury Department, under Secretary Henry Morgenthau, produced a "Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews." The report found the State Department "guilty not only of gross procrastination and willful failure to act, but even of willful attempts to prevent action from being taken to rescue Jews from Hitler." 24. From November 1943, to January 1944, Congress discussed a Rescue Resolution which seemed likely to pass. 25. In January 1944, Roosevelt issued an Executive Order creating the War Refugee Board (WRB), which enacted an energetic program aiming to rescue European Jews. 26. During 1944, the United States bombed strategic German targets including areas of Auschwitz, but made no attempt to hit the gas chambers. Sources: Henl3r L. Feingold, The Politics of Rescue (New York: Waldoll Press, Inc., 1970). David S. Wyman, The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, (N~vYork: Pantheon Books, 1984). COPYRIGHT, The Center for Le~a, ning. Used with permission. Not for resade.

5 In considering each of the following questions: a. Identify and discuss specific relevant points of information from the previous list. b. Formulate a concise statement summarizing your position. 1. Identify and explain cultural, economic, and political factors in U,S. policy toward tile Nazi "final solution." 2. To what extent can the United States be held accountable for the Holocaust? 3. To what extent can President Roosevelt be held accountable? 4. What should the United States have done? COPYRIGHT, The Canter fol Learning. Used with permission. Not lbr resale.