The Holocaust.
Jude
By: Amanda Harner, Lindsey Sieja, Katie Ruffino, Deepali Desai, Gauree Khattree, Thomas Whaley. .
The U.S. Reaction to Nazi Anti-Jewish Policies During the 1930’s
After these harsh regulations were put in place, Jewish emigration from Germany and the rest of Europe increased as more and m ore people attempted to flee from the harsh, unfair laws. On March 25, 1938 , President of the United States, Franklin Delano R oosevelt called for a meeting to discuss the issue of the increased refugees (161).
Men gathered at an America First Rally.
Above: A newspaper article saying that Germany will remove all Anti-Jewish Posters for the Olympics.
T he majority of the American public was agains t the idea of
increasing quotas even after the persecutio n of Jews began, many were not aware of the events in Nazi controlled regions (160 ). In March 1 938 , Hitler introduced more anti-Jewish laws that restricted their involvement in the eco nom y, as well as banned them from visiting cinemas, universities, and schools (160 ).
The U.S. Reaction to Nazi Anti-Jewish Policies During the 1930’s Cont’d
Un fortun ately, in the time leading up to the 1930’s, A merica’s immigration regulations were ti ghtened. Quotas were pu t in place to control the amount of immigrants that were allowed in from each country. This made it extremely di ffi cu lt for Jewish people to seek refuge from the injustice in America, but as vi olence an d discrimination against Jews spread in German y throu ghout th e 1930’s, immigration officials changed their considerations to support A merican-Jews, and in 1936, the amou nt of vi sas granted to German Jews dou bled (Beth 71).
It took place in Evian-les Bains , France, and included 32 countries with 24 other organizations being included as well (161). Although it had good attendance, it was relatively unsuccessful, the U.S and UK both had excuses for not admitting mo re refugees. The meeting was unab le to come up with a s olution to the problem , and was considered to be a failure.
American’s protest for the boycott of Nazi goods.
The S.S. St. Louis Case
The S.S. St. Louis was a German ocean liner that left Germany in May of 1939 (Wright 164). This ship was carrying between 936-943 Jewish refugees heading to Cuba (Danzer). After the ocean liner arrived in Havana, Cuba the Cuban government did not allow the refugees to come into Cuba. Most of the Jewish passengers who were aboard the S.S. St. Louis already had permission from the government to stay and live in Cuba, but after a few days were forced to return home.
After having trouble in Cuba, the S.S. St. Louis made a desperate attempt to try and talk to the Coast
What’s a refugee? A refugee is someone who has to leave their country because they are being threatened because of their beliefs.
Guard to allow the ship to dock in Florida but the Coast Guard refused to let any one of the Jewish passengers to enter America (Wright 164). There were many attempts made to try and convince the government to give help to the Jewish refugees. A telegram was even sent to the president at the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, from the passenger committee of the ocean liner but they never received a response.
Route of the S.S. St. Louis
The S.S. St. Louis Case Continued
With no other options, the S.S. St. Louis was forced to go back to Germany. While the ship was on its way back four countries said that they would temporarily take in the refugees. The countries that gave refuge included, Great Britain who took in 287 Jewish passengers, Belgium who took in 214 Jewish passengers, France who took in 224 Jewish passengers, and the Netherlands who took in 181 Jewish passengers (Resch ).
This is the S.S. St. Louis in Havana’s port.
Jewish Refugees aboard the S.S. St. Louis.
Between 30-50% of the Jewish passengers who received the temporary help from the other countries were later killed in Adolf Hitler’s concentration camps (Wright 164).
The Holocaust
During the Holocaust, one of the cruelest incidents that had occurred was the cruelty of the Nazis towards the Jewish people. The Nazis were against the Jewish people, and sent many Jewish people to concentration camps where Jews were forced to work and were also killed, and many other Jews were forced to live in the slums. After the Nazis took over Russia in 1941, they also had control over millions of non-German Jews. The Nazis decided that the only way to solve the ‘problem’ of the Jewish people was to kill them. They set up ‘extermination camps’ to kill Jews (Kindersley, “The Holocaust”). Below: Hitler at a rally in 1933.
Above: Adolf Hitler with a young boy, as people
salute Hitler.
Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazis, did not like the Jews because he thought they had a bad effect on society and humanity. He thought that he would lose power if people supported the Jews (Smelser, 92-97).
The Holocaust Cont’d
Jewish people did not have the freedom that we have today during the holocaust. They could not marry nonJews; they lost their jobs, and had to give their businesses to other nonJews. They were also sent to concentration camps, where more than six million Jews died (“Rounding Up Europe’s Jews”).
Below: A crowd of people salute Hitler.
Above: Jewish people in concentration camps watch as American solders come to rescue. them.
Fun Fact: Hitler and the Nazi party favored people that had blonde hair and blue eyes, and people who were physically healthy. (“Daily Life under the Nazis”).
After they lost World War I, Germans felt embarrassed about their loss. When Hitler spoke about the country, he was made the people feel important and excited to have their confidence again. The more he talked, the more his power increased, as more Germans supported him. His power eventually helped him to become the ruler of Germany (“Control, Persecution, and the Holocaust: The Nazi State”).
The U.S. Responses to Nazi Policies During the War
During the Holocaus t, the Nazi’s created many cha nges in the way the people of Germany lived. Unfortunately, some countries, like the United States, did not agree with the changes they made. For exa mple, one of the main differences the Nazi’s made in the Germans’ life is tha t they stopped a llowing women to get a job, however the one’s that previously had jobs were able to keep them. Once Jewish immigration was allowed in the US, many German Jews came to America as refugees to seek safety.
The immigrants lived together in communities and set up clubs for themselves.
The rea son they decided to do this is that they were afraid that women would take up too much of the workforce so they im mediately cut off fem ales from applying for a job. Considering the Nazi’s were choosing to discriminate or differentiate the wom en from male workers, the United States thought it would be a good idea to not support their doings and instead allow mor e wom en to work out of their homes and create an income for their families.
The U.S. Responses to Nazi Policies During the War Cont’d Another example of how America changed due to the Nazi conditions is when they began to allow more Jewish i mmigration into the country. At first, America limited its immigration from Germany, Italy, and Russia. However, as n ews of Nazi policies an d Jewish treatmen t came in, that began to change. Steps were taken to increase Jewi sh immigration into the coun try.
As women in Nazi Germany were being turned away from joining the workforce, more and more American women were given the chance to have a life out of their homes and get a job.
The immigrants lived together in communities and set up clubs for themselves.
War Refu gee B oard was created to help Jewish refugees. They worked to move them to n eutral countries an d set u p camps for th em so they would be safe. More Jews were able to escape the terrors of the Holocaust than ks to policies allowin g them to escape countries under Nazi control.
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