Being Jewish anywhere in the world was hard in the 1930s and 40s. Almost all know about German jewish hardship, the systematic slaughter of millions of jews in death camps across Hitler’s empire, but what many do not understand is that antisemitism was incredibly strong in the United States as well. However, in a time when almost none stood by their side, Franklin Delano Roosevelt seemed the only world leader who cared. However, his cabinet did not share his welcoming attitude, and attempted to sabotage him.
Although Roosevelt demonstrated that he did care about saving the Jews, his administration perpetrated systematic denial of Jewish entry to the country. Because he did not do enough to investigate this until it was too late, he is held responsible for the lives of those who could have been saved. Roosevelt demonstrated that he did care about saving jews. In his 1935 letter to New York Governor Herbert Lehman, who asked him about allowing more jews in, he explained that they already were, and, “[C]onsular officers have been instructed that in cases where it is found that an immigration visa cannot obtain a supporting document… he requirement of such document may be waived” (Document 1).
Roosevelt specifically instructed his officers to grant visas to those who were lacking sufficient paperwork. He obviously did care enough to try and ease entry into the United States. Not only that, but he also made sure no special preference was given to christians over jews. In 1936, Roosevelt gave his signature of approval to a statement that, “[I]t would not be appropriate for the president to support one particular class of Refugees” (Document 2).
The corollary that Roosevelt had signed off on was specifically designed to block any attempt to ive preferential treatment to christian refugees over jewish ones. He attempted to give jews a fair chance. In addition, after Kristallnacht, a night in November 1938 in which almost 100 jews were killed and thousands of jewish business where torched and looted in Nazi Germany, he gave a condemning public statement denouncing Germany for its actions, writing in the margins, “I myself could scarcely believe that such things could occur in a Twentieth Century Civilization” (Document 4). Roosevelt obvious cared deeply about the atrocities being committed in Germany, on a higher level than just accepting refugees.
He was deeply disturbed by the actions of the Nazi party, and he was determined to do what he could to save as many as he could. However, his personal beliefs did not extend to his administration. Roosevelt did not do enough to know what was happening in his administration. In aforementioned letter to Governor Herbert Lehman, he foolishly wrote, “I believe that the department of state have had no other desire than to carry out the immigration duties placed upon them by the immigration acts of 1924” (Document 1).
Roosevelt, as of 1935 when this letter was written, believed that the state department was doing every possible thing it could to save jews in Europe. This could be true, but even without Breckenridge Long, the anti-semitic assistant Secretary of State that would later be appointed and intentionally deny visas to jews based on red tape, the State Department was still remarkably anti-semitic. The fact that the president wrote that he merely “believed” the state department was not up to no good leads one to believe that he did no verification while looking into them.
He simply operated on a false assumption that all would comply. And this assumption cost millions their lives. Once Breckenridge Long was appointed in 1940, the denial of visas became verified and systematic. In a damning memo, written soon after he was appointed in 1940, but hidden from all but the state department, he advised to, “[P]ostpone and postpone and postpone the granting of the visas” (Film) in order to keep out. This was a major scandal in the administration, but it should have been seen coming, given Breckenridge’s history.
Edward Stettinius, Undersecretary of State at the time, in a meeting in 1944, said, regarding Breckenridge’s recently uncovered blockage of jewish visas, “[H]e was not surprised about Breckenridge Long since Long had fallen just as badly and in an equally shocking way in the handling of the exchange of prisoners” (Document 7). Not only did Roosevelt unrealistically elieve that all in the state department would be happy to let jews in, but he ignored clear warning signs that Breckenridge Long was not to be trusted.
It was this lack of judgement that casts the blame fully on him Once this roadblock was removed, jews did start to be saved. In a 1944 letter from John W. Pehle, the President of the newly created War Refugee Board, he expressed that actual action was being taken to liberate Jewish prisoners, stating, “[T]he War Refugee Board … has developed a special program calculated to benefit certain of persons in enemy territory” (Document 10). Once Breckenridge Long was removed and a special taskforce was commissioned to specifically tackle the problem of jewish immigration, real efforts started to be made to save jews.
However, this was too little too late, as American soldiers were currently fighting through Europe, and many individuals, including Roosevelt himself, were more concerned with winning the war than saving jews. This line of thinking can be found in his second public denunciation of the Nazis in 1944, in which he says, “It is, therefore, fitting that we should again proclaim our determination that none who participate in any of these acts of savagery shall go unpunished” (Document 8).
Nowhere in his speech does he reference saving jews, only punishing those involved in their determination. However not just in his speeches was he only concerned with winning the war, it was reflected in his military actions as well. Roosevelt refused to bomb railway lines transporting prisoners to Auschwitz for extermination on the grounds that, “It could be executed only by the diversion of considerable air support essential to the success of our forces now engaged in decisive operations … ” (Document 9).
Noone is arguing that Roosevelt should not have been aiming to win the war. It would not matter how many jews he saved during the war, if the Nazis ended up victorious they would go on to kill countless more. He could not bomb these rail lines because he could not jeopardize the war effort. His hand was forced by the fact that none of these jews scued when it was easy to extract them, and now they had to be left by the wayside in order to push for total victory. Although jews did start being saved towards the end of the war, it was too little too late.
Roosevelt always was in favor of accepting in and taking in jews, but his administration was not. However, he missed obvious warning signs about Breckenridge Long perhaps not being the best fit, and that casts the blame of Roosevelt. Despite his own beliefs, he was responsible for those he appointed and making sure that they did not spread toxic policies throughout his administration. Because of his lack of judgement in the case of the State Department, the blood of thousands remains on his hands.