BEING JEWISH IN AMERICA
War Refugee Board
Thousands of Jews had been admitted into the United States under the combined German-Austrian quota from 1938–1941. The War Refugee Board was charged with rescuing "the victims of enemy oppression who are in imminent danger of death and otherwise to afford such victims all possible relief and assistance consistent with the successful prosecution of the war." This was the first concrete step the U.S. had taken to help the Jews who were being killed in Germany's "Final Solution" of the "Jewish Question."
Getting Personal: Henry Morgenthau
Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (1891–1967) served as United States Secretary of the Treasury in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations from January 1, 1934, until July 22, 1945. Morgenthau was born into a prominent Jewish family in New York City. During his eleven years as Treasury Secretary, he stabilized the US dollar, helped finance the New Deal, prepared the US economy for war, and financed the war effort through the sale of war bonds. He was extremely loyal to Roosevelt.
Morgenthau was the only Jew in Roosevelt's cabinet. In 1938 he proposed to Roosevelt that the United States acquire British and French Guiana in order to use these territories as a place of refuge for immigrants from Nazi Germany. Roosevelt did not favor the proposal, but he continued to bring various rescue plans to his attention.
In 1943 Morgenthau became involved in the debate over rescue at the urging of some of his staff at Treasury. Treasury officials John Pehle, Randolph Paul, and Josiah DuBois presented Morgenthau with an 18-page memorandum entitled “Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of Jews" on January 13, 1944. Morgenthau, Pehle, and Paul then met with President Roosevelt. They urged the President to agree to a more focused effort by the US government to provide relief and, if possible, rescue Jews and non-Jews threatened with death in German-occupied and German-influenced Europe. The president issued an executive order establishing the War Refugee Board on January 22, 1944.
That same year, Morgenthau created the Morgenthau Plan. It advocated harsh measures to ensure Germany could not go to war again. According to the plan, Germany was to be partitioned into two states, its industry internationalized or annexed by neighboring countries, and its heavy industry dismantled. Although Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed a modified version of the plan in September 1944 at the Second Quebec Conference, the victorious Allies never fully implemented it. US Secretary of State Cordell Hull and US Secretary of War Henry Stimson firmly opposed the policy as did British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden. Moreover, in the first postwar years, the Truman administration's concern about the developing “Cold War” and the need to strengthen the western zones of occupied Germany reinforced opposition to implementation of the Morgenthau Plan.
The Morgenthau Plan strongly influenced Joint Chiefs of Staff Directive (JCS 1067), which was aimed at reducing overall German living standards in order to in order to prevent Germany's reemergence as an aggressive power. It prohibited assistance to the German agricultural sector, and banned the production of oil, rubber, merchant ships, and aircraft.
Morgenthau was forced to resign from the Treasury in July 1945. He spent much of the rest of his life working for Jewish philanthropies, including the United Jewish Appeal, and became a strong supporter of the state of Israel.
Morgenthau was the only Jew in Roosevelt's cabinet. In 1938 he proposed to Roosevelt that the United States acquire British and French Guiana in order to use these territories as a place of refuge for immigrants from Nazi Germany. Roosevelt did not favor the proposal, but he continued to bring various rescue plans to his attention.
In 1943 Morgenthau became involved in the debate over rescue at the urging of some of his staff at Treasury. Treasury officials John Pehle, Randolph Paul, and Josiah DuBois presented Morgenthau with an 18-page memorandum entitled “Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of Jews" on January 13, 1944. Morgenthau, Pehle, and Paul then met with President Roosevelt. They urged the President to agree to a more focused effort by the US government to provide relief and, if possible, rescue Jews and non-Jews threatened with death in German-occupied and German-influenced Europe. The president issued an executive order establishing the War Refugee Board on January 22, 1944.
That same year, Morgenthau created the Morgenthau Plan. It advocated harsh measures to ensure Germany could not go to war again. According to the plan, Germany was to be partitioned into two states, its industry internationalized or annexed by neighboring countries, and its heavy industry dismantled. Although Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed a modified version of the plan in September 1944 at the Second Quebec Conference, the victorious Allies never fully implemented it. US Secretary of State Cordell Hull and US Secretary of War Henry Stimson firmly opposed the policy as did British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden. Moreover, in the first postwar years, the Truman administration's concern about the developing “Cold War” and the need to strengthen the western zones of occupied Germany reinforced opposition to implementation of the Morgenthau Plan.
The Morgenthau Plan strongly influenced Joint Chiefs of Staff Directive (JCS 1067), which was aimed at reducing overall German living standards in order to in order to prevent Germany's reemergence as an aggressive power. It prohibited assistance to the German agricultural sector, and banned the production of oil, rubber, merchant ships, and aircraft.
Morgenthau was forced to resign from the Treasury in July 1945. He spent much of the rest of his life working for Jewish philanthropies, including the United Jewish Appeal, and became a strong supporter of the state of Israel.
S.S. St. Louis
After five years of Nazi rule, hundreds of thousands of Jews were desperate to escape. The problem was few countries were willing to take in more refugees. Many looked to the United States, but did not yet have immigrant visas. Some hoped that Cuba might offer temporary refuge until their US visas came through. This set the stage for the voyage of the St Louis. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee sent a delegate to Cuba, but the negotiations fell apart and the St Louis had to leave Cuban waters. The captain decided that they were going to sail to the United States. They were America bound anyway, so it was believed that there’d be some flexibility. They sent telegrams to government officials, to President Roosevelt, and to the State Department asking for entry. The State Department stated that though they had waiting numbers to get into the United States, they would have to wait their turn and leave American waters. Even confronted with specific lives right off the coast of Miami Beach, American public opinion was so against increasing the immigration quota. If immigrants come into the United States, it might represent a competition for jobs. Bad economic times fueled xenophobia. It also fueled antisemitism.