I-Search Paper: How long did the United States know the realities of the Holocaust before taking action against it?

Torture, starvation, disease, medical experiments, gas chambers, and death. Somewhere in the realm of 6 million European Jews, in addition to over 11 million people of other ethnic descents including Poles, Slovakians, Soviets, and Romani, as well as anyone whom the Third Reich deemed lesser, were systematically murdered, primarily but not limited to, the years of 1941 to 1945. These atrocities had never before been seen in history and have not been seen since. Something of this magnitude could not be overlooked and yet during this time period there seemed to be a reluctance by other countries to try to help those suffering and dying. This caused me to wonder about how accurately the Holocaust was being reported here in the United States to American citizens during World War II. If people today were to hear of these events there would be public outcry for action so what was different during the early 1940s? Was it a lack of information? Was it due to inaccurate information? I decided I would try to find newspaper articles which covered the war events during that time period and compare their content to what we now know about the Holocaust to help make a determination. Yet, as I searched, I would be led to a place of even darker realizations.

When I was young, around 9 years old, we were on a family vacation driving up the West coast of the United States. My dad decided to take my family to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, California. My older sister was 17, my younger sister 7, and what I saw and learned there made an impact on me that will last my lifetime. Yet as I grew up, I recall not learning very much about the Holocaust specifically in school. As an adult I frequently watch historical documentaries of all types and have seen several on the Holocaust because I think it’s important to try to understand what people went through. However, into adulthood, I was surprised to find that many of my peers had little to no knowledge of the Holocaust! How was it possible that something so terrible, so large, so unimaginable could be so easily forgotten? Perhaps the answer to that question started long before I was ever born. What I found on my search changed what I initially wanted to focus on because it was a much graver thing that I found. This caused me to reconsider my initial research question and I instead decided to ask how accurately was the Holocaust reported to the United States government during World War II and how did this effect it’s response?

I started my research by watching the documentary Safe Haven from https://www.pbs.org/video/wxxi-documentaries-safe-haven/ just to get some information going as to where I might best start my research. I was trying to locate a particular newspaper article mentioned in the film discussing the refugee camp at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York but, unfortunately, I could not find the archives for the newspaper during the applicable years. They did not start until 1961. During the documentary Professor and Historian David Wyman talks about how the president knew what was happening to Jews in Europe at the time. This started the change in my direction for my question and research. He references minutes from a meeting that was held on December 8, 1942 between Franklin Roosevelt and Jewish leaders which specifically described what was happening. I found the minutes from that meeting on the Jewish Virtual Library website, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/report-on-meeting-of-jewish-leaders-with-roosevelt-december-1942. These minutes clearly describe how President Roosevelt confirmed that he was aware of what was happening in Europe. Included with that meeting was a memo given to FDR requesting that he not only speak out against what was occurring but to take action as well. The memo (https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-organizations-press-fdr-to-act-december-1942) ends with that request stating, “In this spirit, we appeal to you, Mr. President. Speak the word! Institute the action!”

However, I found that action did not come, even despite this discussion. Even after information continued to come from Europe that things were not improving but, in fact, quite the opposite. Not until 1944, two years later, following the Report on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews (https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/report-on-the-acquiescence-of-fdr-government-in-the-murder-of-the-jews-january-1944) did President Roosevelt order the creation of the War Refugee Board. This report sums up how the United States not only knew what was happening but in fact tried to suppress the information and obstructed ways in which some refugees could have been saved from certain death. There was a willingness to prevent aid and rescue to those being persecuted and killed. I was never aware of just how much we, as a nation, did NOT do to help rescue those who so desperately needed it. Growing up I was taught the things that we DID do during World War II but this part, the lack of action, of course, was not really covered. Nobody wants to face shameful pasts.

The War Refugee Board did have some positive impacts for refugees during the war but was it enough? It wasn’t until 1944 that the War Refugee Board put into action a plan to bring 982 refugees to the United States where they would be held at Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ontario_Emergency_Refugee_Shelter) This was two years after FDR’s meeting with the Jewish leaders who requested that the president take action to help save those suffering in Europe. 982 was the number of refugees who were brought to the United States. That’s 0.02% of the 6 million Jews who died. It was only 0.009% of the 11 million other ethnic people killed. If you want the full percentage, it’s a sad 0.00006% That’s far less than a token invitation of refugees actually brought to the U.S. The War Refugee Board is credited with saving more lives than just those 982 who were actually brought to the United States, perhaps some 200,000 people (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Refugee_Board)

Over the course of this research I came to realize a lot about how we learn history. First, there is the history we are taught as children. Whether that history is of our families, our communities, or our country, it is taught within a certain light or perspective. This perspective is not always fair or complete. Then, there is the history that we might learn on our own from sources other than school. Then there is the history that happened. This history is learned from those who lived it first-hand. This is where there is only truth, in all its beauty or ugliness. What I found during this search was the ugly truth about how the United States did not act fast enough to help save lives during World War II. I discovered that not only did the United States ignore what was happening in Europe, certain people in power, suppressed the information. There was no way for the average American citizen to have any real understanding of the Holocaust when their own government was choosing to turn a blind eye towards it.

This, I believe, set a pattern of not dealing with evil in actionable ways. It spills over to then not teaching history in its fullness. Thus, when we choose to not address our own failings as a nation and as a people, we set the tone for how future generations are brought up. If you take our own civil rights struggles dating back to the time of slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the early twentieth century and moving then into the 1960s with the Civil Rights Movement, we see that when we don’t address head on our failures as a nation, the cycle is perpetuated. Have things improved? Yes. Have they improved enough? Not at all. We should have ended racism decades ago but words without action are empty. Even today, people are more concerned with pointing fingers than with taking responsibility for themselves and doing their part to improve the situation. We need to improve ourselves so we can help improve the world in which we live. We can’t turn blind eyes towards the struggles that are still being faced by many. We have to open our eyes and take action in order to make positive change.