REACTION TO THE HOLOCAUST IN THE AMERICAS OLIVIA GABEHART HEYJIN KIM JESSICA LORD

UNITED STATES

ADMISSIONS OF IMMIGRANTS INTO U.S US State Department policies made it very difficult for refugees to obtain entry visas The new American attitude was influenced by the economic hardship brought on by the Depression, which intensified a sense of isolationism and xenophobia The number of entry visas was limited by the Department's implication of a restrictive Immigration Law passed by the US Congress in 1924 Despite many obstacles, however, more than 200,000 Jews found refuge in the United States from 1933 to 1945, most of them before the end of 1941

PUBLICATION OF GENOCIDE WITHIN AMERICA During the era of the Holocaust, the American press did not always publicize reports of Nazi atrocities in full or with prominent placement. As the magnitude of anti-Jewish violence increased in , many American newspapers ran descriptions of German shooting operations, first in Poland and later after the invasion of the Soviet Union. However, the ethnic identities of the victims were not made clear and it was placed on the page 6 of the newspaper.

RESCUE During World War II, rescue of Jews and others targeted by Nazi Germany was not a priority for the United States government. Nor was it always clear to Allied policymakers how they could pursue large-scale rescue actions in Europe. Because of pressure from the public, U.S. and British representatives resulted on the “Final Solution” conference in late 1942 to find solutions to wartime refugee problems. Neither government initiated rescue programs and no significant proposals emerged from the conference. After increasing pressure from the public, as well from Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Roosevelt issued the order to establish a War Refugee Board directly under the order of the president and funded by the president’s emergency fund. By the time this War Refugee Board was established four-fiths of the Jews that would be killed in the Holocaust were already dead.

OPVL! by the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S

OPVL: ANSWERS O: the origin is this is a poster issued by the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S., calling for a boycott of German goods. P: The purpose is to show the Americans that were trying to help those being affected by the Holocaust. From overseas, the most the public could do was boycott German goods, to hurt German industry. V: The value of the source is to show historians how the public wanted to help the victims of the Holocaust. L: The limitation of the source is that it is very biased towards rescuing the Jews, due to the fact that Jewish War Veterans published it.

CANADA

CANADA’S REACTION TO THE HOLOCAUST Anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism (racial hatred toward Jews) originated from the German propaganda Frederick Blair, the director of the Immigration Branch until 1943, was extremely anti-Semitic and established stricter immigration laws to limit the number of Jews coming into Canada (“one is too many”) The Canadian Union of Fascists spread anti-Semitism throughout Canada The French Canadian nationalists in Quebec were extremely anti-Semitic, because their culture was threatened by other foreigners (including Jews)

CANADA’S REACTION TO THE HOLOCAUST Anti-Semitism (continued) The Roman Catholic Church was also anti-Semitic and gave anti-Semitic sermons Jews were “the bacillus of secularism, materialism, Communism, and internationalism” Canadian citizens openly showed anti-Semitic views A boycott of Jewish goods, “Do you want to be poisoned? Buy your food from Jews” Many stores prohibited Jews Even when the brutality of concentration camps was revealed after the war, 60 % of Canadian citizens still refused to allow the entrance of Jewish refugees

CANADA’S REACTION TO THE HOLOCAUST Denied entry Due to Anti-Semitism, economic depression, increased rate of unemployment in Canada, the Holocaust was not the main concern during the war Canada only admitted 5000 Jewish refugees CountryNumber of Jewish refugees brought in: United States200,000 Palestine125,000 Britain70,000 Argentina50,000 Brazil27,000 China25,000 Bolivia and Chile14,000 CANADA 5,000

CANADA’S REACTION TO THE HOLOCAUST Denied entry (continued) The St. Louis incident – St. Louis Ocean Liner carrying 907 Jews arrived at Canada in hopes of escaping Germany; however, the Canadian government did not allow them to enter Canada. Then, they had to go back to Europe where most of them died in concentration camps. The government believed that the way to stop the Holocaust was to defeat Germany rather than admitting Jewish refugees

LATIN AMERICA

IMMIGRATION Latin American countries accepted most immigrants before the Nazi power took over Germany Between 1933 and 1945, only about 84,ooo Jewish refugees were accepted into the countries, less than half the number of immigrants from previous years. Immigration of other foreigners was also cut down in number In response to this, many immigrants began to use illegal channels to enter Latin America

ANTISEMITISM There was growing animosity for the Jewish people Many resented that the refugees that were allowed in the country to work in agricultural areas began to drift into cities, taking jobs and making the citizens worry over economic competition among the people Some of the Latin Americans of German descent were also influenced by Nazi ideology and the belief in racial purity The governments began to crack down on immigration o Anti-immigration parties were formed o Media began strong campaigns against immigration o In the late 1930s new immigration laws were created that greatly decreased the number of immigrants allowed o Argentina went from79,000 to 24,000 o Brazil went from 96,000 to 12,000

BLOCKED BORDERS Cuban authorities blocked passage of ships carrying Jewish refugees at the docks before they could enter the country o The St.Louis, when it docked in Havana in May 1939, had most of it’s passengers denied entry o The Orduña, the Flandre, and the Orinoco were also not allowed to let their passengers off the ship, but were turned around After November 1941,Germany banned Jewish emigration from any German controlled territories

BLOCKED BORDERS CONTINUED…… The Dominican Republic, however, was more open to allowing the Jewish refugees to relocate there o President Rafael Leonidas Trujillo offered to admit up to 100,000 Jewish refugees to the Dominican Republic o Donated land in Sosuá for a Jewish agricultural settlement o Though the Republic only admitted 645 Jews from 1938 to 1945 and Sosuá only had 476 residents, over 5,000 visas were given to European Jews In Bolivia over 20,000 Jews were admitted into the country, mostly thanks to Mauricio (Moritz) Hochschild, a German-Jewish mining magnate who controlled one-third of Bolivia's mineral production and had political ties to Bolivian President Germán Busch

OVERALL CONTRIBUTION TO JEWISH AID More than 20,000 Jewish refugees immigrated to Latin America between Many aimed to go to Argentina, where around 4,800 Holocaust survivors ended up Others ended up in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica, and other countries

ANALYSIS Refugees aboard the "St. Louis" wait to hear whether Cuba will grant them entry. Off the coast of Havana, Cuba, June 3, — National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md

WORKS CITED "A Look Back at Canada’s Anti-Semitic History: Frederick Charles Blair." fight hatred. The Jabotinsky International Center, n.d. Web. 2 Nov Bélanger, Claude. "Why did Canada Refuse to Admit." The Quebec History Encyclopedia. Marianopolis College, n.d. Web. 2 Nov Lucas, Sarah. "The Holocaust." Canada and World War 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov "The United States and the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Web. 5 Nov Wyman, David, and Charles Rosenzveig. The World Reacts to the Holocaust. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, Web..