Jewish Refugees WWII
World War II prompted one of the largest displacement of human beings the world has ever seen. Millions of European Jews were displaced from their homes, however, the United States did not easily offer asylum. On of the most notorious incidents was in June 1939 when the German ocean liner St. Louis and its 937 passengers (almost all Jewish) were turned away from Miami. The ship was forced to return to Europe where more than a quarter died in the Holocaust.
In another situation, SS Drottningholm set sail to New York carrying hundreds of Jewish refugees from Sweden. Aboard the ship was Herbert Karl Friedrich Bahr a 28 year old from Germany who said he was a victim of persecution and wanted asylum from Nazi violence. During the interview process Bahr's story began to unravel and the FBI accused him of being a Nazi spy. His case was rushed to trial and the prosecution called for the death penalty. Bahr’s case was used as an excuse to deny visas to thousands of Jews fleeing the Nazis. Government officials to the President himself argued that refugees posed a great threat to national security.
Anxieties about refugees were abound. They were not only directed at ethnic Germans, but at really anyone. Richard Breitman, a scholar of Jewish history said, “All foreigners became suspect. Jews were not considered immune”. In late 1938 American consulate received 125,000 visa applications, many coming from Germany and the annexed territories of Austria. National quotas for German and Austrian immigrants had been set to 27,000. Immigration restrictions tightened as the refugee crisis raged on. Wartime measures demanded scrutiny of anyone with relatives in Nazi territories, even in concentration camps. Some disagreed with this policy but in the end were drowned out by national security. Until the very end of 1944, when photographs and newspaper reports had demonstrated that the Nazis were carrying out mass murder, Attorney General Francis Biddle advised Roosevelt not to grant immigrant status to refugees. Historian Lipstadt says that the State Department’s attitude was shaped by wartime paranoia. President Roosevelt eventually created the War Refugee Board that accepted tens of thousands of Jewish refugees. However, by that time, millions had already died in Europe.
This is a very interesting post. As everyone knows, when Jews suffered majorly during this time period loosing the lives of over millions of Jews. And the US because of its neutrality really wanted to stay isolated and away from work. This post is really good and interesting because you didn't just explain the wrongs of Germany on what they did to Jewish culture but also what America and other foriegn countries could of done better to improve the situation with Jews. I also found interesting how you talked about the wartime paranoia and the different fears countries and different cultures had. Have you ever thought about what other cultures/ ethnicity suffered went through something similar to this ? Heres an article to think about
ReplyDeletehttps://psmag.com/china-lost-14-million-people-in-world-war-ii-why-is-this-forgotten-367ca7f219d8#.ul4noo6z1
Interesting post on refugees during World War II. It is intriguing to see how, in a time of crisis, the American government decided that their own safety was worth more than those of the people trying to escape the actual danger. This migration is often compared to that which we are facing today with Syrian refugees. With the recent executive order, America seems to repeating history: denying those running away from danger asylum in order to "save" ourselves from the perils they may bring. Where is the line where we decide that our lives are more valuable than helping others? For more information on this comparison, go to: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/19/yes-the-comparison-between-jewish-and-syrian-refugees-matters/?utm_term=.737a493b83cd
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