20th/Raffel America and the Holocaust: Deceit and Indifference Historical Context: Adolf Hitler s hatred of the Jews helped the Nazis come to power in the 1930s and became one of the organizing principles of their government. As Hitler s power grew, and the Nazi s anti-semitism intensified, the United States faced a moral choice: Should the Jews of Germany be given refugee in America? How America responded to this challenge reveals a great deal about how free Jews were in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Film Overview: Obstacles: Strict limits on immigration Strong anti-semitism (and its impact on U.S. immigration policy) Overcoming Obstacles American Jews act by: Raising public awareness of the Holocaust Challenging existing government laws and policies The Fate of the Klein Family Impacts/Results Creation of War Refugee Board (E.O. 9417) Decision NOT to bomb Auschwitz What if. Chapter #2 Exodus 1. How did the U.S. government respond to Kristellacht? 2. How did Germany s Jews respond to Kristellacht? 3. What problem did they face? 4. Why did America have such restrictive immigration laws? Protect jobs during the Great Depression (expel immigrants?) America for Americans (need for sponsors) Four times as many people allowed in from Ireland/Great Britain than from all of South Eastern Europe 5. What would the Wagner-Rogers bill have done?
Chapter #3 Anti-Semitism 6. Why was there opposition to the Wagner-Rogers bill? 7. What impact did the German-American Bund have on American society at this time? 8. What impact did Charles Coughlin have on American society at this time? 9. List some examples of how Jews were discriminated against in mainstream American society. Some segregation in public places (no Jews or dogs) Many professions segregated (engineering, telephone company, insurance industry, auto industry, legal profession) Jews responded by creating their own law firms, hospitals, universites 10. Describe the State Department s attitude toward Jews on the eve of World War II. No Jews or other ethnic groups worked there. Fully shared all of the anti-immigrant biases/prejudices of the period. Responsible for administering U.S. immigration policy-not going to be sympathetic to the Jews. Chapter #4 Closed Doors, (notes, film not shown) 11. How did America respond to the St. Louis? Jews from various countries received permission to emigrate to Cuba, but they were not allowed into the country when they arrived on the St. Louis. The ship remained in Havana Harbor for several days. Jews on board ultimately received permission to emigrate to Britain, France and other Western European countries, as the U.S. denied permission for the refugees to enter America. Most of the passengers died in the Holocaust.
12. How did Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long secretly and illegally limit immigration into the U.S.? He ordered U.S. diplomats overseas not to process Visa applications quickly in fact, they were to process immigration applications as slowly as possible. Later, all immigration decisions were made in Washington, not by U.S. diplomats overseas. The effect was to effectively cut off all immigration to the U.S. for several years despite the existing (low) immigration quotas. Chapter #6 Genocide 13. How did Eleanor Roosevelt respond to the developing Holocaust of Europe s Jews? 14. What important information did Gerhart Riegner pass along to the State Department? 15. How did the State Department respond? 16. When Steven Wise received the same information from an independent source, what did the State Department ask him to do? 17. What was happening to the Jews of Europe during the delay? 18. When did Steven Wise get to hold his press conference? Was it effective? 19. What two things happened to Kurt Klein in November 1942?
Task: It s late 1942, and the Holocaust is beginning in Europe. Already 2 million Jews are dead. How can America help prevent millions more from being caught up in this genocide? Your task is to make an advertisement (on butcher paper) that alerts Americans to the Holocaust and calls for changes to our immigration policy. As you complete this task, remember to use The timeline (but stop at the end of 1942 DO NOT LOOK FURTHER) The film notes Your notes from this unit Each person should then write one paragraph explaining why your poster would be effective in persuading the American people to adopt this point of view. Both the paragraph and the poster will be turned in for up to 10 points. Group Assignments: Chapter #7 Call to Action 20. How did Peter Bergson react to Wise s press conference? 21. What two major contributions did Ben Hecht make with regard to alerting the American people about the Holocaust? 22. Describe the main ideas behind the We Will Never Die pageants. Were they effective? 23. How does the Ben Hecht For Sale advertisement compare with your poster? What elements of the Hecht ad make it effective?
Chapter #8 Liberation 24. Why did Roosevelt reverse course and sign E.O. 9417, creating the War Refugee Board? 25. Who largely funded the Board? 26. Why did the War Department refuse to bomb Auschwitz? 27. Were their reasons valid? 28. Overall, what were the accomplishments of the War Refugee Board?
Reflection Question #1: Based on this film, does America as a nation have the same moral responsibility for the Holocaust as Germany? If so, why? If not, why not? Use specific details from the film as you answer this question. Reflection Question #2: How free were American Jews before and during World War II? As you answer this question, remember how Roosevelt and Rockwell defined the Four Freedoms. Did America s Jews have 1. Freedom of Speech 2. Freedom of Worship 3. Freedom from Want 4. Freedom from Fear Use specific details from the film and the Homework as you answer this question.