Jews during the Holocaust?

Question

When the Holocaust began, Jews tried to go to the US, France, England, etc. Most were turned away. I believe most of the world was aware the Jews were being persecuted and slaughtered in Germany, so why were they rejected in almost every other country? To protect those countries' own interests? I don't see how millions of Jewish refugees were denied a temporary haven. What do you think?

Answer 1

"For example, in 1939 the quota allowed for 27,370 German citizens to immigrate to the United States. In 1938, more than 300,000 Germans —mostly Jewish refugees —had applied for U.S. visas (entry permits). A little over 20,000 applications were approved. Beyond the strict national quotas, the United States openly denied visas to any immigrant "likely to become a public charge." This ruling proved to be a serious problem for many Jewish refugees who had lost everything when the Nazis took power and might be in need of government assistance after they immigrated to the United States."

"Shortly after she was appointed to the cabinet, Frances Perkins, President Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, proposed an executive order regarding refugees and immigration. Perkins suggested that the State Department should give priority to immigrants seeking refuge from racial or religious persecution. The State Department objected to this order because it would antagonize relations with Germany and alienate jobless American citizens."

"In 1936, the State Department approved visas for about 7,000 German refugees. By 1938, that number had increased to more than 20,000, but an opinion poll revealed that 82 percent of Americans still opposed admitting large numbers of Jewish refugees into the United States. Despite pleas by American human rights organizations, the U.S. State Department refused to increase the German quota any further."

"In May 1939, only a few months before war began in Europe, a passenger ship called the St. Louis left Germany carrying nearly a thousand refugees, most of whom were Jews. Many of these people had already qualified for, but had not yet received, American visas. They arranged for temporary Cuban tourist visas that would enable them to wait outside of Germany for U.S. visas. By the time the St. Louis reached Havana, however, the Cuban government had changed its visa regulations. It refused to allow most of the refugees to land."

"Forced to leave Cuban waters, the St. Louis sailed up the Florida coast. The U.S. Coast Guard followed close behind to prevent any passengers from swimming ashore. The State Department refused to allow the refugees to land without special legislation by Congress or an executive order from the president. Efforts by American Jewish organizations to work out a compromise failed. The desperate passengers aboard the St. Louis sent President Roosevelt a telegram pleading their case; he never replied."

"Political realities may have influenced Roosevelt's decision to remain silent. Most Americans were anxious to stay out of the approaching European war. Many felt that America's best interest lay in avoiding foreign conflicts. Others were disillusioned by the experience of the U.S. intervention in World War I and wanted to avoid the loss of American lives. These views had strong support in Congress. In addition, President Roosevelt knew that the United States was not yet prepared for war and was reluctant to antagonize the Nazi regime."

"Finally, the St. Louis returned to Europe and several nations granted asylum to the refugees. But when Hitler's troops marched through Europe, most of the St.Louis' ill-fated passengers were eventually caught by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps."

"On the eve of World War II, a bill that would have admitted Jewish refugee children above the regular quota limits was introduced in Congress. President Roosevelt took no position on the bill, and it died in committee in the summer of 1939. Polls at the time indicated that two-thirds of Americans opposed taking in Jewish refugee children."

"Bill of Right in Action : United States Asylum Policy", CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION : http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria10_2.html

"On 1939-06-04, the St. Louis was also refused permission to unload on orders of President Roosevelt as the ship waited in the Caribbean Sea between Florida and Cuba. Initially, Roosevelt showed limited willingness to take in some of those on board, but vehement opposition came from Roosevelt's Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, and from Southern Democrats — some of whom went so far as to threaten to withhold their support of Roosevelt in the 1940 Presidential election if this occurred."

"SS St. Louis" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_St._Louis

See also : "Voyage of the Damned" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_Damned

And : "The Tragedy of the S.S. St. Louis" : http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/stlouis.html

Answer 2

Great post; have a star! I agree with you that Jews and Muslims CAN live together peacefully; it's happened in the past and please G-d, it will happen again. It's the extremists on both sides that cause the problems. Some of the answers to your post are quite worrying. Firstly: to correct the remark someone made about 'Jews helping the Nazis' - utter rubbish. There were some Jews in the camps who were told that unless they performed certain tasks then their entire families would be slaughtered - so they complied. That's a different matter. Another answerer has yet again stated that Jews 'always' mention the Holocaust - it's the opposite, in fact. On this site EVERY time the Holocaust is mentioned it's in a post by a non Jew. Which is fine, but why do people keep asking we Jews to stop talking about it - when it's not even us raising the topic??? THE KID - hey you, listen up a minute: I love your posts, they are great, and your answers are often among the best - but your response here was a bit aggressive and it was unnecessary! These are emotive topics, we all simmer a bit - but take it down a notch! We all still luv ya, though!

Answer 3

You are rigth, nobody wanted the Jews,the reason is that in that epoch , most Jews used to be Marxists, and all the Capitalist World thougth about them as agitators.USa is one of the countries that refused to avvept many Jews ( of course "useful Jews "were accepted as Einstein and other scientists ) , that`s why so many Jews went to Argentina, the country with more Jews second to USA.

Answer 4

I think that they were denied, because other countries were afraid what would happen to them, and the United States was one of them. When we went over there we knew what was happenening and instead of helping them we went and got Germans, who didn't know what their country was doing and forced them to watch the Jews be killed. When what we should have been doing was getting them out of there.