Complex social and political factors shaped America's response to the Holocaust, from Kristallnacht in 1938 through the liberation of the death camps in 1945. For a short time, the U.S. had an opportunity to open its doors, but instead erected a "paper wall," a bureaucratic maze that prevented all but a few Jewish refugees from entering the country. When do you think the government should have become involved in helping the Jews and what should it have done? What were the factors that prevented the government from helping Jewish refugees enter the country?
41 comments:
Personally, although tragic as it is, there is more to it than just opening the doors and letting massive amounts of refugees into the country. What the U.S did was wrong, they let no jewish people come to the U.S, but if they had let a large amount in, then the government would have had to feed them, provide housing, clothe them, find them jobs in an economy that was still recovering. I think government around the world should have sent in investigative teams to find out if the rumors were true of these death camps, each country should have accepted some portion of the jewish population. It seems the factors in this are finding housing and food for all the refugees, as well as finding them jobs.
I think the government should have become involved in helping the Jews once they learned that the Nazi party was stripping them of all rights and began beating them in the streets. Although the death and concentration camps had not been created yet, the government should have been helping them once they realized that they were the oppressed targets in Nazi Germany (and other surrounding countries). The government was prevented from helping Jewish refugees due to the job circumstances in the country. Many people were already out of work and, therefore, did not want the immigrants to come in and take their jobs. Another factor was the hatred of the Jewish people that was forming in some parts of America as a group of people began to side with the Nazi's ideals.
After watching "America and the Holocaust", I’ve now heard some recounts as hoe the U.S. carried out their immigration for Jews from Europe. I did know beforehand that it was relatively difficult for Jews to enter the country during the Nazi regime, but just not the specifics for how the U.S. carried this process out. In terms of when the U.S. should have gotten involved, I think that the time they decided on was fine, perhaps a bit earlier. Unfortunately, not all of the Jews could have been saved by inviting them to America, but more Jews could have been saved through enacting a more open immigration chance earlier. In terms of what factors prevented the government from helping Jews get into the country, things such as not having enough jobs available could prove to be troublesome, because in order to survive, the Jews would have to find work. Other common life necessities such as food, water, space, etc. would be deemed problematic as well.
I think that the US should have opened their doors if at all possivble, But i also agree with james that if we had let a large amount of the Jewish population then we would have had to get them jobs and food. Which wouldn't have been easy because it would take away jobs from the people who were born in the US and lived there all their lives.
I agree with Molly, the job market was poor in many countries, and letting more people in would compound this problem.
I think that the U.S. government should have become involved in helping the Jews when they first recognized Kristallnacht and the unacceptable Nazi actions and behaviors. The immigration laws should have been minimized and altered for the Jewish refugees so that they could escape to the U.S. Unfortunately, many U.S. politicians were in agreement with the anti-semitistic movement that the Nazis represented, so although they didn't agree with the methods Nazis used to eradicate Germany of Jewish people, the Nazi U.S. politicians were in no hurry to admit any additional Jews into the U.S. Also, like James said, it would have been very difficult to keep the standard of living in the U.S. up while refugees flooded the country, needing housing, food, sources of income, and other resources and services.
I agree with James. Resources were limited, especially since the U.S. was recovering from the Great Depression. They just didn't have room or the stuff to accept all the Jews.
I also agree with Molly that once the US government found out aboyut what was happening to the Jewish people that even if we couldn't let them live here, we should have gotten involved
Watching this video really opened my eyes to the different side of the war. At first I didn’t understand why the government in the United States didn’t let in all of the Jews but as the film went on I started to realize why. It would have been impossible to let all of them come in, even though it was the ethical thing to do they couldn’t have because of the economy and the amount of jobs that they had and didn’t have to offer. I never knew why the Jews didn’t try and leave then I learned that they could just leave as easily as I thought they would.
I think the government should have become involved in helping the jews as early as when Hitler took power, because by that time his views were known to the world, as he had already expressed them in his writings, such as Mein Kampf. The main factor preventing the government from helping Jewish refugees enter the country was the anti-semitism that was populer in the US at the time.
One person interviewed in the film said he felt nothing when shooting at Jews into the ditch because his pure hatred for them was too great. This was his "unshakable conviction". There were many rumors if these kinds of actions were being carried out in Europe but as James mentioned, no one really investigated the validity. I think the United States should have first found out for themselves what was actually going on and then formed a plan of action. I don't think the United States should have been obligated to help the Jews, but out of moral conduct and due to our allinatied powers, we should have helped out the innocent people by terminating the violet and cruel actions of the Nazis.
The American government should have started helping the Jews as soon as the country became aware of what was happening. Once reports started to come in, America should have investigated the situation to the best of their ability, which would have made them realize that Jewish people were being put into death camps. The government should then have found a more efficient way to let Jewish refugees into the country so that they had a place to escape to.
Americans were not fully supportive of allowing immigrants from certain countries into the US. I think that the fear of a lack of jobs was what made people hesitant to support bills that increased the number of Jewish immigrants who could enter the country. Anti-Jewish sentiment was also increased by propaganda in newspapers and other sources.
Although I did not see most of this video, I did see how the US government limited the number of jews that entered the US. It is understandable why they did not; they would have had to care and pay for the millions of extra jews trying to enter the country. Even though it would have cost the US, it could have saved millions of lives. I agree with James. I do understand why the US didn't let any jews into the country, yet it was still wrong of us to be a bystander while such a horrible act was being done in other countries.
I think the government should have become involved in helping the Jews BEFORE they noticed a high amount of Jewish people trying to immigrate to the United States. The Jews shouldn’t have to leave their homes if they don’t want to so the United States should have done more to stop the Nazi Party. Since that wasn’t done, the United States should have allowed more Jews entrance into the country. The factors that prevented the government from helping the Jewish refugees enter the country would be the argument that they would be taking jobs away from the American and that they would become a nuisance to the American people if they couldn’t provide for themselves. This same argument is used for illegal immigrants today coming into this country because they are taking American jobs when reality, they’re taking jobs that people don’t want to do.
I agree with what Molly said about the government getting involved quickly. Countries should not have waited long enough for concentration camps to be established. Lives would have been saved if countries stepped in as soon as it was clear that the Nazi party was supporting the persecution of Jews.
I agree with James, although it sounds great to allow Jewish refugees into the country, it isn't that simple. Yes, they should have taken more action and yes they should have let a certain percent come in. But the economy was trying to get back on the right track and paying for all of the refugees would have backtracked what the U.S. was working on. I also agrre with him that more countries should have investigated what was going on. The United States is obviously the dominant country in the world, but other countries should have stepped in to help out.
I agree with James and Sarah that although all of the Jewish people could not be allowed into the United States due to the job and economic situation but at the same time, the U.S. should have helped by negotiating with other nations to at least ensure that the Jewish people could escape somewhere to avoid the Nazi's wrath. I also think that the it was the combination of the job circumstance and the fact that these immigrants were Jewish. The country allowed British children into the country without anyone complaining, but the nation as a whole should have been more accepting of the Jewish immigrants.
I think that the government should have gotten involved when they heard they first cry for help. It must have been so devastating to the Jews knowing that they were unwanted everywhere. Action definitely should have been taken against the rise of the Nazi support groups and anti-Semitism in the U.S. I think it’s pretty fucked up that the US population was okay with fighting the war “over there” but once the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the war struck home the doors were closed to help and generated the opposite in the population. When people are in a tough time it is important to stick together and help eachother.
Even though the idea of not letting them all in isn’t the most popular answer I agree with James we didn’t have the resources and jobs to take all of them in.
The government was in a Great Depression, making it hard for American officials to let in Jewish immigrants because they were afraid they would take American jobs. I slightly understand the hesitation to let immigrants in at first, but I do believe that once they saw the horrible conditions and death camps the Jews were placed in, they should have got them out of their situation right away. All countries, including the U.S.A., should have offered a scapegoat to the Jews because if they did way fewer deaths would have occurred. I completely agree with what Mia is saying, even though the U.S. government may have had issues while in the Great Depression, it was diffidently necessary that they stopped the Nazi’s and helped the Jews at all costs.
I also agree with Molly that the government should have helped as soon as they heard there was oppression going on, but that jobs were limited and we needed to assist our own people first. The circumstances were not favorable across the world and therefore hindered our ability to help.
I agree with Molly that another factor as to why the government refused to help most Jewish refugees would be the hatred that some Americans had for the Jews.
While I don't think it was only the government's responsibility to help the Jews in Germany, I do think that they should have become involved in helping the Jews as soon as they found out. Not only would this have saved the lives of millions of Jews, but it would have also stopped Hitler much sooner. As for the government allowing Jewish refugees to enter the country, if all the Jews were allowed to enter, then that would have unstabilized the country. If it allowed only a select amount of Jews to enter or didn't allow anyone to enter, then that would have created a controversy around the world. I think the biggest factor that prevented the government from helping the Jewish refugees was the need for additional food, housing, and jobs. Additionally, this would have come while America was still in midst of recovering its own economy.
I think that the US should have started letting Jews into the country once we learned about the ghettos and how Jews were being treated. While allowing the Jews to come to America would have put some Americans out of work, I think that a rise in unemployment would have been preferable to 6million Jews being killed.
I believe the government should have been involved in aiding the Jews very early in the stages of the Nazi Regime. The government should have been involved when they realized the Jews were being stripped of their civil liberties and personal rights. Before they were forced in to the ghettos and camps, the government should have assisted in helping the Jews regain their freedom and sovereignty by freeing them from the camps and ghettos and aiding them in rebuilding their lives. Some factors that prevented the government from intervening with the Jews under the Nazi leadership included inflation in America with people out of work and no jobs. This prevented the government from helping the Jews because they were taking care of their own problems first. Another component that prevented the government from interfering with the Nazi Regime was the fact that there were groups were starting to pick up the ideals of Nazis. I agree with Sarah that the U.S. should have opened the doors for all the Jews in need of help from prosecution.
I agree with James it would have been difficult to let many people into the country as it was recovering from a depression, but I dont think it would be impossible, and any situation would be better for a people then that of the Jews in Germany at the time.
I think that the American government should have helped the Jews by getting involved immediately when they found out what was occuring over-seas. The government should have taken down the "paper wall" at least temporarily in order to help in some way. Anti-semitism and hatred for immigrants among the working-class was still prevelent in America at the time, but considering the situation in Europe, America should have been more open to acepting immigrants. Because of this, people had to wait years to even be considered for deportation. Many people didnt have years and lost their lives while waiting.
I believe the government should have become involved with helping the Jews when the government had a better plan. I dont think the US was ready for all these people to come into the country and start taking away jobs from people who were already living here. I also argee with James and Sarah with if we let a large amount of people into the country, they would need food, shelter, and a job which would have taken away from people who are already in the US. The factors that prevented the government from helping the JEwish refugees enter the country was that the government didnt quite know what was going on with the death camps that were happening.
I agree with James that while U.S. was wrong in not allowing any jewish refugees to enter the country, allowing all of them to enter would have further unstablized an economy that was still recovering.
I think that the government should have become more involved earlier and helped Jews obtain passports rather than making it harder for them to obtain passports. I think that some factors that influenced America to not open our doors were that in fact we were entering our own depression. I think that many Americans as well as the government feared that there would be nothing here for the Jewish people if they had tried to emigrate thus worsening our economies problems. There were barely enough jobs for Americans and they feared the Jews might take the few jobs that were left.
I agree with both Molly and Sarah in the fact that even if we could not have admitted that many Jewish people into our country we should have tried to relocate other countries that could take them in.
I think that the government should have became more involved when they had realized what was actually going on. They should have taken it further, and actually done something about it, especially with all the rumors that were going on. I know that if they had let more Jews in then they would have to care for them, and that would cost them a lot, but it is better than killing people, and would save peoples lives.
I think that the U.S. government should have let the jews into the country because they would have saved a lot of them. But also the government would have to reguylate how many came into the counry because if too many came in then the government would have to start to povide for them. one key factor that i think orevented the government from letting jews come into the u.s. was the fact that there deffinitly werent enough jobs for the jews if they were to come into the u.s.,their main survival tactic would be to get a job, which they would not have been able to do.
I believe that what the U.S. did to the Jews was wrong. Denying access to almost everyone that came to the U.S. was terrible. The U.S. seemed to be worried about the Jews taking Americans jobs. Itwould have been better for Americans to be out of jobs than have thousands of Jews that could have been saved be killed. The U.S. didn't have to let everyone in tht came but could have let more in than they did.Thousands of Jews tried to gain entry but were denied by the government.
Personally I have a view of immigration that mirrors the liberarian policy of iimmigrantion, which means I'm pretty much all for an open boarder. So based on that I think that as soon as there were mass movements of people out of Germany and its surrounding countries the United States should be fine with taking them in. However, it would be fairly difficult economically and logistically. Logistically their needs to be people maning the docks 24/7 for boats of refugees coming in and then additional people to process them as visitors to the United States at least until they are granted citizenship. Economically everyone needs to be fed, clothed, and given an assigned housing, which all takes a considerable amount of money. That be said it would have been helpful if other nations also extended their welcome to reguees as well.
Even though letting the Jews into the country would have been helpful, I agree with James that we didn't have the resources or jobs in order to take them in.
I agree with Molly that one of the main factors was the hatred of the Jewish people which had a huge effect.
I think that the U.S should have opened the doors once they found out what was happening, even if it was too late for some jews. Countries cannot just open their doors to millions people and expect the country to go on as it was normally. Once they found out what happening with millions of people should the U.S have opened their doors to save as many lives as they could.
The U.S was prevented by the people of the country to open their doors. The people of the U.S didn’t like the few Italians and Irish coming in and taking others jobs so they would not like the millions of jews coming in so the country listened to the people and did not let the jews in.
I agree with Molly that the US also didn’t allow the jews in for the thought of forming a Nazi party in the US.
I think the U.S government should have become involved in helping the Jews, when they first got word of the Nazi’s stripping them of their rights. Our government should have been fighting with the Jews against the Nazi’s and allowing them to come into our country. But looking back at the time period this was taking place in, the U.S was going through the Great Depression in which they feared Jewish immigrants taking the jobs of the Americans. I think that the government should of made it easier for Jew family members living in the U.S at the time bring the rest of their families over with them.
I agree with James and understand why the US government didn’t let the Jews into the country due to the lack of resources for them and the idea that each country should of allowed a portion of the Jews into their country .
In response to Sean...
It would have been a little premature to accept people when Hitler came into power, because by that time nobody knew if he was going to follow up on his word.
I was absent for this
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