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at the beginning of the period, about 500,000 Jews in Germany and about 200,000 in Austria
by the beginning of the war in 1939, about half had emigrated
about 150,000 emigrated before Kristallnacht and another 150,000 after that
Flow of Emigration:
1933 37,000
1934 23,000
1935 21,000
1936 25,000
1937 23,000
1938 20,000
these were not tremendous numbers
the major impediment to emigration was a deep attachment to Germany itself by German Jews
also:
-practically impossible to transfer capital outside Germany
-question of where to go
-no idea that anything worse was in store
pattern of emigration--young, Zionists, relatively well-to-do, artisans
in 1938, the pace of anti-Semitism picked up
March 1938--Anschluß--increase in emigration from Austria
Kristallnacht
November 1938--Kristallnacht--touched off by the murder of vom Rath in Paris by young Polish Jew (shot Nov. 7, died Nov. 9)
this was the second such incident, since a Jew had shot a Landesgruppenleiter in Switzerland
Ernst vom Rath, a German diplomat in Paris, was assassinated by a Polish Jewish 17-year-old student, Hershl Grynszpan, on November 7,1938
Grynszpan's parents were Polish nationals who had lived in Germany for almost a quarter-century
nearly 50,000 of these Polish nationals living in Germany were expelled by the Nazi government to provide more living space for German nationals
the government of Poland did not want to accept these Jews back into Poland, and issued a decree denaturalizing the citizenship of Polish citizens who had lived abroad for more than five years unless they were issued a special stamp
the Polish government refused to issue these stamps--as a result, these Jews were barred reentry into Poland, and were forced to live as refugees at the German-Polish border under brutal conditions
Grynszpan's action was in protest against the treatment of his parents
as vom Rath lay mortally wounded, German Propaganda Minister Goebbels encouraged party leaders to incite "spontaneous" anti-Semitic riots throughout Germany and Austria
the S.A. was ordered to incite riots against the Jews
Nazis used this as an excuse--thus, not a spontaneous uprising of the people, but rather directed by the party
during the action known as Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"), over 191 synagogues were set afire, with 76 destroyed
more than 7,500 Jewish businesses were looted and over 800 ruined
almost 100 Jews were killed or seriously injured
as many as 30,000 Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps
the Jewish communities of Germany were assessed one billion marks to pay for the damage claims of non-Jews (owners of building where Jewish businesses were located)
there was strong press reaction throughout the world to Kristallnacht, but Western democracies failed to take any action
on November 15, 1938, Jewish children were expelled from German schools
curfew restrictions were imposed on the Jews two weeks later
150,000 Jews emigrated between Kristallnacht and the outbreak of the war
roughly 200,000 were left in Germany--could not envision what would eventually happen
Refugee problem
great flow out of Poland (almost 400,000) in addition to German Jews, Austrian Jews, and Czech Jews
this was a real problem in terms of numbers
difficult to find refuge in the 1930's--economic depression, but other political and ideological factors were also working to keep Jews out
United States--not particularly receptive after the 1920's
result of increasingly intolerant and bigoted atmosphere (anti-Communist, isolationist)
xenophobia and the last immigration from southern and eastern Europe as opposed to the older immigration of north Europeans
severe curbs were fixed and unequal quotas were set, limiting the number of
immigrants from southern and eastern Europe
beginning in 1917, Congress reacted to the anti-immigration
sentiment of the American people by passing the first phase of what evolved into the National Origins Quota Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act)
this act was a revision of an earlier (Johnson Act, 1921) version of the quota principle
the number of immigrants permitted to enter the U.S. from any country in a given year was set at 3% of the number of foreign-born persons from that country counted in the 1920 census
the quotas were strictly enforces and non-transferrable
this continued throughout the 1930's
this was also a high point of anti-Semitism in the US
during the entire Holocaust period there were over one million places on the quota list that went unfilled (quotas couldn't be switched from one country to another)
State Department personnel were largely at fault
its social makeup consisted of eastern anti-Semitic elite
all liberalization attempts failed due to State Department opposition (in addition to DAR, VFW [patriotic groups], conservative congressmen, etc.)
Roosevelt was sympathetic (so was Eleanor), but he was unwilling to risk the support of conservative supporters (especially southerners)
Wagner-Rogers Bill (to let in large number of children) utterly failed
stimulated by the events of Kristallnacht, on February 9, 1939, Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative Edith Rogers of Massachusetts introduced identical bills in their respective houses of Congress to admit by special action 10,000 refugee children under 14 years of age, in 1939 and another 10,000 in 1940
to avoid labor opposition, the bill provided that the children would not be permitted to work and would join their parents as soon as safety elsewhere was assured
the American Friends Service Committee, which volunteered their services, would organize the children's movements to the United States as well as their placement
within 24 hours after the plan had become known, 4,000 American families had offered their homes to these children
radio stations and newspapers were swamped with even more offers
BUT a powerful group of isolationists and anti-Semites banded together and planned their strategy to prevent these bills from becoming law
by April, when the Congressional hearing started, the
conspirators against the Children's Rescue Bill were well organized
Francis H. Kinnicutt represented thirty 'patriotic organizations united in the Allied Patriotic Societies' of which he was president
these included the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, the Daughters of the Confederacy, and other isolationist organizations
Kinnicutt spoke up quite openly, '...this is just part of a drive to go back to the condition when we were flooded with foreigners who tried to run the country on different lines from those laid down by the old stock...Strictly speaking, it is not a refugee bill at all, for by the nature of the case most of those admitted would be of the Jewish race'
the was more activity on the part of those united to prevent the bill from becoming law--there was heavy lobbying in Congress
Colonel John Taylor lobbied for the American Legion against the bill and in support of a bill by North Carolina Senator Robert Reynolds which would abolish all immigration to the United States for the next ten years
Mrs. Agnes Waters, representing, as she claimed, the Widows of World War I veterans, testified, that if the Children's Rescue Bill should pass, the United States 'would be made helpless to guarantee our children their rights under the Constitution to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...if this country is going to become the dumping ground for the persecuted minorities of Europe. The refugees...can never become loyal Americans.'
because the lobbying in Congress was going well, those who supported the bill hoped that the President might make his influence felt
Congresswoman O'Day of New York wrote to Mr. Roosevelt hoping to obtain a statement in favor of the bill
but the President refused to become involved in a subject opposed not only by many Republicans but bitterly resented by the conservative Democrats of the solid South
O'Day's letter forwarded to Mr. Roosevelt by his secretary carries on the margin in his own handwriting the notation" 'File - No action.'
Mr. Pierrepoint Moffat, chief of the State Department's Division of European Affairs, reports in his diary, now in the National Archives, about a cocktail party which points out clearer than the official debates the true nature of the attitude of the insiders toward this rescue attempt
Mrs. James Hougheling, wife of the all powerful Commissioner of Immigration said: 'The trouble with the Wagner-Rogers bill was that 20,000 children would all too soon grow up into 20,000 ugly adults.'
as a result of such resistance, the bills never left the committee--the conspiracy of anti-Semites and isolationists succeeded in torpedoing the rescue bills
[Perl, William R. The Holocaust Conspiracy: An International Policy of Genocide. New York: Shapolsky Publishers, 1989]
Nazis pressed for emigration of Jews even after 1939 (in 1940, 36,000 went to the US)
after 1940, the US refused to receive any more Jewish emigres
US unwilling to make exceptions to immigration laws to accommodate Jewish refugees
quota set immigration at 20,000 Germans a year
based on fear of foreigners--xenophobia
The "St. Louis" Voyage
on May 13, 1939, a cruise ship carrying 937 Jewish refugees left Hamburg, Germany, seeking freedom from Nazi terror
almost all had paid for both passage and papers which would legally entitle them to disembark in Cuba
when the ship reached Havana, it was not permitted to dock
setting sail for Miami, the ship was intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and warned to sail on
the ship was forced to return to Europe
more than half of the passengers died in the Holocaust
the story of the St. Louis was immortalized in the movie, "Voyage of the Damned"
the situation in Canada was certainly as bad
internal politics and especially the anti-semitic views of some highly placed civil servants were instrumental in Canada's keeping its doors virtually shut to the Jewish refugees
this is well documented in None Is Too Many (2nd ed. 1991) by Irving Abella and Harold Troper
"During the twelve years of Nazi terror, from 1933 to 1945, while the United States accepted more than 200,000 Jewish refuges; Palestine, 125,000; embattled Britain, 70,000; Argentina, 50,000; penurious Brazil, 27,000; distant China, 25,000; tiny Bolivia and Chile, 14,000 each, Canada found room for fewer than 5,000."
Western Europe--more receptive than the US, despite the fact that the latter had greater resources
England accepted some Jewish children
also some illegal migration; the most accepting country was Belgium, the least benign was Switzerland, where the Swiss police chief asked the Germans to stamp Jewish passports so that they could be identified and sent back
nations in Europe were more amenable in spite of fewer resources
between 1933 and 1939 the US took in 57,000 refugees, England 50,000
some who went to these countries became refugees a second time
in 1940 36,000 Jews entered the US--a small proportion of the Jews who wanted to escape from Europe
after the outbreak of war, England accepted fewer refugees--afraid of spies
Evian Conference
an international conference with 32 nations participating was held at the resort town of Evian, France in July 1938
the focus of the conference was to discuss the plight of refugees, many of whom were Jews escaping Nazi Germany
at a time when thousands of lives were endangered, the countries agreed only to uphold their existing immigration quotas
no additional spaces were to be made available in response to the crisis
Martin Gilbert writes in The Holocaust,
"The international community, which at Evian had been presented with an opportunity to keep open the gates of refuge, chose that moment, so desperate for the Jews already under Nazi rule, to signal its own hesitations and reluctance. It was a neutral stance, not a hostile one, but this neutral stance was to cost a multitude of lives."
April, 1943--Britain and the US had a similar meeting in Bermuda--nothing happened
only Palestine was willing to accept Jews
BUT, it was controlled by Britain, which wouldn't allow more Jewish immigrants
in 1920 Britain had received a mandate over Palestine
by the late 1930's, it repudiated a commitment to a Jewish national state
much opposition on the part of Arabs
in the late 1930's, the Axis encouraged Arabs to revolt against the British
Britain was concerned about losing control over the Middle East and limited Jewish settlement
thus, when Jews needed refuge most, they were denied it
May 17, 1939--British "White Paper"--75,000 Jews to be allowed into Palestine between 1939 and 1944
abrogated the British obligation to provide a Jewish homeland in Palestine (i.e. the Balfour Declaration).
the paper did, however, provide for the immigration of 75,000 Jews between 1939 and 1944, although the British did everything in their power to prevent this
"...Typical examples of this were the refusal to save thousands of children from the eminent danger of murder. In 1943, when the Germans wanted to exchange German civilians who had been interned by the British at the start of the war for 5,000 Jewish children in German controlled lands, the British refused that offer on the grounds that those children were not citizens of the British Empire." (Hilberg, Destruction of the European Jews, 721)
a year later, in 1944, the Joint Distribution Committee [a major Jewish welfare organization concerned with resettlement] persuaded the Swiss to accept 5,000 Jewish children from France against guarantees that these children would leave Switzerland at the end of the war
however, the British accomplices to the Holocaust refused to promise to grant those children entrance certificates to Palestine valid after the war's end even though, according to the White Paper, 75,000 were admissible
in the case of the children, the British could not even apply their standard argument that admission would involve security risks for the country because the Germans used such opportunities to smuggle spies in with the refugees
this argument, which made those still insisting on rescue action appear unpatriotic, was entirely fraudulent
it was one thing by Britain to declare the gates of Palestine barred (except for the pittance of certificates which it was ready to issue while making certain that Palestine could not become a Jewish state), and it was quite another matter to keep the doors really so tightly blocked
in a House of Commons debate on July 20, 1939, Mr. Malcolm MacDonald, the Colonial Secretary, had to admit that a 'Division of Destroyers' supported by five smaller launches was being employed to ascertain that those who had escaped Hitler did not escape the British capture as they approached Palestine [PRO House of Commons Debates, July 20, 1939]
the ships had been authorized to open fire at or into any ship that was suspected of having illegal immigrants on board and that did not obey the warning to stand by
on the very first day of World War II, on September 1, 1939, while German dive bombers rained death on Warsaw and a dozen other Polish cities, His Majesty's ship Lorna opened fire on a rickety overcrowded refugee ship, Tiger Hill, as she approached the Palestine Coast to unload her cargo of misery, 1417 survivors
it did not heed the order to turn back toward Germany
the encounter between HMS Lorna and the Tiger Hill ended with a victory for the Royal Navy
the first two persons killed by British bullets during World War II were not Germans but Jewish escapees from Europe
[Work Cited: Perl, William R. The Holocaust Conspiracy: An International Policy of Genocide. New York: Shapolsky Publishers, 1989]
thus, Palestine effectively closed to Jewish immigration
William Perl (The Holocaust Conspiracy, 1989) holds that it was concerted and deliberate action, taken by many of the nations of the world, that made it impossible for the Jews of Europe to escape Hitler's Nazi government
this, he says, directly led to the Holocaust
there aren't very many countries with good records for helping refugees during the pre-war period, and things got much tougher during the war, when arguments in favor of helping refugees (Jewish and gentile) were usually refuted with reference to the war effort
clearly, the Allied nations had other priorities than saving Jewish lives
