American Involvement in the Holocaust - Essay Example

U.S. Response to the Holocaust Holocaust is a Greek word that simply means “sacrifice by fire”. Unlike other European countries, the American involvement in the holocaust has remained a subject of debate. Different scholars have varied and conflicted opinions on the roles of the United States during the war. Some scholars argue that should, America have got involved; many lives could have been saved as they stood a better chance of negotiating and also providing assistance to the European Jews. Other scholars, on the other hand, have supported the silence by different countries (Rosenfeld, 77). They argue that most countries by then never had the information of the kinds of atrocities that the Germans were putting the Europeans Jews through. This makes it quite complicated for one to have a pointing finger on any individual country as to their role in the holocaust. The American government and the Americans failed completely to assist the European Jews. Although the American government had the capacity and power to get directly involved in the holocaust, it remained silent and, as a result, many lives and properties were lost. It is also believed that America had a network of allies that it could have influenced in order to assist and halt the mass killings by the Nazis. When they got involved, it was either too late or too little or both to offer any substantial help. During this period of Holocaust, different countries had different views as whether to take part and assist the European Jews. By 1938, world major countries took part in order to rescue some the European Jews. Different allies were also formed that sped up some rescue missions (Rosenfeld, 57). Theses allies were either directly involved in the war or they pressured the Nazis to end the mass killings. These allies also facilitated the massive movements of the European Jews to different countries for example Netherlands, The Great Britain, Scandinavia and Switzerland. During the war, the American government had put in policies to the major publishing paper then, New York Times that limited the nature and content of information that could be passed to the public. Consequently, the public was not aware of the kinds of killings that the European Jews went through. This also made it quite impossible for other government departments fully to initiate programs and rescue missions towards the Jews. American restrictions on migration; unlike European countries and the Great Britain that allowed migration of the Jews in their countries, the Americans developed a very restrictive policy that limited the number of immigrants. They developed a quota system that could only allow about 25957 Germans to get access to their country. This, therefore, meant that only a handful of European Jews could be allowed to American as compared to the millions that were suffering. In the year 1938, the then American president Roosevelt organized an international conference called Evian Conference on the refugees. This was mainly meant to talk to nations so that they could allow more refugees from Germany to their respective nations. Several nations attended the meeting with the number highlighted to be at least thirty nations. However, the problem rose in when there was no country who could allow more immigrants into their nations. Consequently, a proposal was constructed to establish an intergovernmental Committee on Refugees but this was not fully implemented as logistics had not been put in place by the US. In the year 1939, American Jewish leaders approached President Roosevelt to consider the European Jews. In response, the president then agreed to ease visa laws and processing which saw more European Jews access America. The “Final Solution” by the Nazi party on the European Jews leaked to the Americans. This led to great public agitation and pressure on the government of Roosevelt. As a result, he organized a meeting in 1943 in Bermuda where an American representative together with a Britain representative met to chat the way forward for the refugees. During this meeting, no government was committed and as a result, clear direction was not properly highlighted. President Roosevelt continued to get pressure even form his government. The then treasury secretary piled pressure on the president. This saw Roosevelt issue orders in 1944 that led to the establishment of War Refugee Board. This board was mainly concerned with the rescue and relief of refugees. The establishment of the War Refugee Board never delivered any substantial contribution to the plight of the European Jews refugees. The American president also did not appeal or try to make amends with the Nazis and Adolf Hitler. As a matter of fact, President Roosevelt remained and failed to take any initiative at personal level to offer any helping hand to the Jews refugees. One of the then treasury officials, who were disturbed by the mass killings, authored a report to the government in order to inform the government of the high levels of mass killings experienced by the Jews. In as much as having some of the best weaponry, the United States government did not take any initiative to use the government machinery in order to assist the suffering European Jews. Instead, the government is believed to block the assistance of the Jews. There was a wide belief of anti-Semitism in the government that also facilitated the failure of the rescue of the European Jews. The government only pretended to act when one of the treasury officials produced a report on how there was a grand plan within the government to thwart any rescue mission. The United States of America also failed to work closely with other private and allies to end the atrocities committed by the Nazis to the Jews. They failed to work with their close allies who had initiated various rescue programs (Feingold and Bearing, 41). As a result, most of these allies went on their own but never had the capacities to offer any substantial help to the suffering European Jews. It is worth noting that most of the agreements and treaties that were signed with various private organizations and allies could not be implemented. This is because the government of Roosevelt never put in place any logistical measures to ensure that such programs are fully implemented. Instead, various government officials when asked on the nature of progress, they could not give any concrete answer. They never designed any major proposal, and that is meant to rescue the Jews (Feingold and Bearing, 35). The United States did not take any initiative or step to help the suffering Jews. Apart from the many agreements and conferences that they held, the government of Roosevelt did not at any one point, since the beginning of the holocaust takes any progressive and substantial step. The United States is argued to have been concealing and blocking information to reach the public. The various allies and other organizations had been informing the United States on the planned mass killings of the Jews. In 1942, there was leaked information from the secretary of the Congress in Switzerland that the Germans were planning to kill all the Jews in Europe. Even with evidence coming out clearly, the United States did not take any positive response. However, as usual, only treaties and agreements were signed. The signings were undertaken in ways that such kind of killing could happen; they would provide any support needed. The United States also issued false and misleading statements on the nature of progress and the level of their involvement in the rescue mission. The government continually gave wrong and false statements (Feingold and Bearing, 64). Instead of channeling the money for purchases of various materials, the government continually stated that they might be helping their enemy in disguise (Wyman and Charles, 66). As a result, they preferred never to give any financial aid for assistance of the Jews. The congress did not either play any important part. Instead of pressurizing the president to act swiftly, the congress continued to accuse other nations that had ganged up against the German’s atrocities towards Jews. Instead, they were only concerned with where and how the refugees could be taken care of once they were brought in the United States. Their main concern was that no country at that particular time had agreed to accept and host the Jews. On their part, they could not take that initiative to host any Jews beyond the limit put by the state department (Feingold and Bearing, 89). The holocaust existed as early as the Second World War (Baigell, 33). It occurred in Germany when the Nazi party ascended to power through Adolf Hitler. The Nazi party was founded on strong social and political circumstances that took shape in Germany between the fires world war and the Second World War. After the nation of Germany had been defeated in the World War I, many Germans insisted that their army have been paralyzed and driven to collapse by backstabbing and weaknesses from the then government (Kwiet, 19). This was a direct attack on the Jews whom they claimed had played a major role in the defeatism and failure at the front line during the war. The frustrations and failure to come into terms with the situation and the anxiety about the mountain strength of communism from Soviet Union led to the growth of very and radical right-wing groups in Germany. The stabilization of the radical-wing groups also resulted to the strengthening of the Nazi party. The Nazi party was a right wing that was created on strong foundation and belief of racial superiority of the German people to the Jews. The Germans believed that they were to be the natives and, as a result, should be given power and authority to rule on others (Wyman and Charles, 25). In the year 1924 during the Reichstag elections, the Nazi party strengthened its base of power when it earned a surprising 18.3 percent of the total votes cast and, as a result, sent 107 deputies to the parliament (Baigell, 57). Adolf Hitler started to rule January 1933. From then on, his racial belief accompanied by a strong political power and authoritarian regime that that Hitler led, they developed very extraordinary policies that were meant to suppress Jews. Various anti-Jews policies were developed. In his government, anti-Semitism became the official goal of the government. The Nazis celebrated their victory with very great anti-Jews riots and assaults. What then followed was massive riots and destruction of properties of the German Jews. In 1933, a national boycott was led in order to deprive the German-Jews of their legal and civilian equality. In addition, the national boycott was motivated by gradual and economic deprivation (Kwiet, 29). This riot was also meant to create a social barrier between the Germans and Jews Germans and to speed up the Jews’ Germans exodus from Germany. These campaigns led to the enactment of the Nuremberg laws which banished the Jews from public positions, judicial systems, public health funds and the German army. Throughout the Nazi’s rule, various rules and legislation were put in place in order to accomplish and complement the Nuremberg Laws. The results were withdrawal of legal protection from Jews, increased elimination of the Jews from places of work, confiscation of the properties owned by the Jews (Kwiet, 51). By the year 1938, it became very much, and many destructions occurred. In this period, mass arrest was experienced, destruction and looting of the Jews owned properties and mass changing of the Jews names. The Jews were forced to add Israel on their normal names. Such kinds of atrocities and killings continued for the better part of the Nazi regime. The 2nd World War started in the year 1939 (Rosenfeld, 65). During the same year, Nazi changed their policies of destruction towards the Jews. This saw massive segregation of the Jews from the rest of the societies where they were given special clothes to put on. The Jews were also moved into large areas of concentrations where they could be quarantined in ghettos. Different Jews were assembled at a common place where they could be killed. The main ghettos that were used to exterminate the Jews were the Warsaw and the Poland where all the Jews from all over Europe were taken and gathered for mass extermination (Wyman and Charles, 38). The last phase of the Nazi mission to clear and exterminate the Jews begun in the year 1941.This was called the” Final Solution." This saw the invasion of the Soviet Union who was believed to have a soft spot for the Jews. This invasion lasted till the year 1945. During this time, the German Jews were hunted and persecuted down in all the major countries that the Nazi had occupied in their sphere of influence. It is believed that almost six million European Jews were killed and persecuted (Rosenfeld, 43). It is, therefore, sagacious to state categorically that from the above foregoing, the United States of America did not take any initiative to assist and rescue the European Jews. They failed as a world major nation and, as a result; many lives and properties that could have been saved were seriously destroyed (Wyman and Charles, 81). Although they could not take an individual responsibility, the United States should have joined hands with other world major countries and the United Nations. This could have boosted the efforts and could have resulted in saving some few lives rather than losing a whole six millions of people within a very short period as was experienced. It is also vital to confirm that though there was some form of plans for rescue missions, there were no formal plans and initiative to reach the German Nazis even (Wyman and Charles, 75). There were also no plans in order to try to assist the refugees apart from the War Refugee Board, which came late and was very incompetent to deliver anything substantial to the refugees. Hence, the United States did not and it failed at offering assistance to the European Jews. Work cited Baigell, Matthew. Jewish American Artists and the Holocaust. New Brunswick u.a.: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1997. Print Feingold, Henry L. Bearing. Witness: How America and Its Jews Responded to the Holocaust. Syracuse: Syracuse Univ. Press, 1995. Print Kwiet, Konrad. Contemporary Responses to the Holocaust. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Praeger, 2004. Print Rosenfeld, Alvin H. Thinking About the Holocaust: After Half a Century. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997. Print Wyman, David S, and Charles H. Rosenzveig. The World Reacts to the Holocaust. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins university Press, 1996. Print. Read More