Author Topic: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history  (Read 1253 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Zelhar

  • Honorable Winged Member
  • Gold Star JTF Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10689
The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« on: June 19, 2008, 11:54:45 AM »
This is an article from today's "Haaretz":

The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
By Yair Sheleg

Prof. David Wyman thought about writing his doctorate on local policy in New Hampshire during the Progressive era. But during the course of his work, there echoed in him - the grandson of two Protestant ministers and a very religious person himself - "an inner voice" that asked, what did America do during the Holocaust? He felt that was a question to work on. "I didn't choose the subject. It chose me," he says.

He has devoted his life to the subject: He wrote his doctorate on the United States and the issue of war refugees in general. He devoted another 14 years to his seminal work, "The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945" (published in the U.S. in 1984 and in Israel in 1993), the first study of its kind on this sensitive subject. His research was so thorough that eventually Wyman published 13 more volumes of documents he had collected for the book.

Six years ago, he published another book, "A Race Against Death: Peter Bergson, America and the Holocaust," in which he published the transcript of a 12-hour interview with Hillel Kook, aka Peter Bergson, the Revisionist Etzel leader who went to the U.S. during the Holocaust and headed a rescue group that attacked the apathy of both the American administration and the Jewish establishment. Wyman, now 79, is visiting Israel this week for the first conference on Kook's work during the Holocaust, which will take place next Monday at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque (see box). As surprising as it may sound, this is his first interview with an Israeli paper.

Wyman has decided opinions regarding the U.S.' responsibility for the abandonment of Europe's Jews. In conversation, he places the responsibility first of all on the State Department: "They didn't want an emigration at all, especially not of Jewish refugees. The Jews were the most desperate to leave [Europe], and there were 9 million Jews in Europe. He does not absolve President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of responsibility: "He acquiesced to the policy of the State Department, and the fairest thing I can say about him is that he was indifferent to the subject."

Focus on the war effort

The administration's main argument was that rescue activity would detract from the war effort and in the end, Germany's defeat would lead to the biggest rescue.

Wyman does not buy it: "There was a lot to do without hurting the military effort. Britain could open the gates of Palestine and that could help the Jews who succeeded in escaping from Europe to find a relatively close shelter. There was an option to press on the German satellites - Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria - in which the deportations started much later. It was possible to promise their rulers to save them from Soviet control after the war if they cooperate on rescue or threaten them with war crime trials if they help the Germans. And, of course, there was an option to bomb Auschwitz."

Wyman does not spare the American press, especially The New York Times. "Because the owners were Jews, they did everything not to be seen as a Jewish paper, so they buried the issue. The Holocaust almost didn't appear on their front page," he says.

He does not spare any criticism for the Jewish establishment either: "The Jews did, but not enough. The main reason is they thought they don't have [much] chance, so they concentrated on the struggle for the Jewish state after the war. But they gave up too easy. There was much to do, and Hillel Kook proved it."

Another factor that deterred the Jews was the anti-Semitism that was already spreading then in the U.S., and Jews feared charges they are diverting the effort from saving the world to saving their people.

Wyman adds: "It was the darkest anti-Semitic era in America's history. During the 1930s, the anti-Semitism spread because of the deep economic crisis and the fear of refugees, of increasing the competition over jobs. A survey that was done at that time found that a third of Americans held anti-Semitic views."

His positive hero is, of course, Kook and his group, whose prominent members included Etzel figure Shmuel Merlin and playwright Ben Hecht. They worked tirelessly, firstly to provide information on the destruction of European Jewry, and to organize rescue operations. When the press failed to show interest in the story, they simply bought whole pages of advertisement and publicized the information there; they circulated among congressmen and senators, enlisting support; and they organized mass events to publicize the destruction. Their efforts irritated the Jewish establishment. Wyman found a quote from Dr. Nahum Goldmann, the president of the World Jewish Congress, who said: "Kook is more dangerous to American Jewry than Hitler, because he is bringing anti-Semitism here as well."

Several Jewish leaders even worked to get Kook expelled from the U.S. Wyman credits Kook with several accomplishments: "The publicity they brought was crucial, because people simply didn't know," he says. In his assessment, Bergson's group were the key factor in the process that prompted Roosevelt to set up the Committee for War Refugees; although formed toward the end of the war, it still managed to save around 200,000 Jews.

Is it possible to compare the American reaction to the Holocaust and Western reaction today to Iran's threatened destruction of Israel and to Muslim fundamentalism in general?

Wyman says there is a "certain" basis for comparison, mainly with regard to isolationism: "I was used to being a Democrat all of my life, but the Democrats have become so isolationist, that I can't support them anymore. In Western Europe it's really hopeless. They don't do anything. Even when they thought Saddam Hussein has a weapon of mass destruction, and it was seen [to be so], they refused to cooperate, except Britain.

Offline briann

  • Silver Star JTF Member
  • ********
  • Posts: 8038
  • Mmmm HMMMMM
Re: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2008, 12:08:18 PM »
I agree that the west's isolationism in the late 30's early 40's was awful..   

but we woke up... and we made unbelievable sacrifices to save the world.




Offline Zelhar

  • Honorable Winged Member
  • Gold Star JTF Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10689
Re: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2008, 02:20:47 PM »
As you can notice despite the title, Wyman also criticize the Jewish establishment for supporting the silence policy of FDR and who actively pursued the few Jews who refused to remain silence.

Quote
but we woke up... and we made unbelievable sacrifices to save the world.

I don't want to sound ungrateful, but what sacrifice do you mean? America was forced into WWII and once it did, it had no choice but to win a complete victory. I suppose the one complement I have for FDR is that he is not worm-like as most Israeli premiers are, they refuse to win decisively.

Offline Ze'ev

  • Senior JTFer
  • ****
  • Posts: 331
Re: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2008, 02:30:40 PM »
fdr was a P.O.S.
Many thousands of dead jews died because of his inaction.
Just as bad of course was the British government in Mandate palestine, and the collaborationism (is that a word?) of the Jewish agency (kastner, ben gurion, weizman, etc) 
Thus the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying; and they did what they pleased to those who hated them.

Offline briann

  • Silver Star JTF Member
  • ********
  • Posts: 8038
  • Mmmm HMMMMM
Re: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2008, 02:47:25 PM »
As you can notice despite the title, Wyman also criticize the Jewish establishment for supporting the silence policy of FDR and who actively pursued the few Jews who refused to remain silence.

Quote
but we woke up... and we made unbelievable sacrifices to save the world.

I don't want to sound ungrateful, but what sacrifice do you mean? America was forced into WWII and once it did, it had no choice but to win a complete victory. I suppose the one complement I have for FDR is that he is not worm-like as most Israeli premiers are, they refuse to win decisively.

As with many other members here I had relatives who fought and died at the hands of the Nazis/Japs.  during 42-45 our entire economy was at a complete and total standstill as everything was prioritized for the war;  The U.S. began rationing everything.   The US made fighting the Axis their central priority. 

And after all this unbelievable sacrifice...  All I hear about is that the US should have reacted sooner, and nitpicking about our strategies, and completely ignoring the big picture.  Yes... we were isolationists like everyone else after WWI, but again.... compared to ANY other country... WE were the ones that fought the war the way it SHOULDA been fought.   Not shortsighted... only caring about our own territories.. but caring about wiping out an evil ideology altogether.  That to me is what war should be about.  Not about putting a bandage on something when it gets attacked.   But going after the entire movement.

Those who ignore what our country did... or focus on criticizing it are usually anti-American to begin with.  But I maintain that it was the single biggest 'good' that a large nation such as ours took part in in recent history.  And its unfortunate that so many leftists ignore it or revise it.













Offline briann

  • Silver Star JTF Member
  • ********
  • Posts: 8038
  • Mmmm HMMMMM
Re: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2008, 02:51:00 PM »
Quote
Just as bad of course was the British government in Mandate palestine, and the collaborationism (is that a word?) of the Jewish agency (kastner, ben gurion, weizman, etc) 

Yes its a word... I heard G.W.B. say it the other day.   :::D

Offline Zelhar

  • Honorable Winged Member
  • Gold Star JTF Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10689
Re: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2008, 03:53:39 PM »
Even though America was the in good side, indeed it was more righteous than any other nation and its contribution to eradicate Nazism was the greatest, there is much to criticize and its not petty criticism.

I think America fought for its own interests, it was in her best interest to eradicate Nazism and to come out of the war as the clear leader of the free word. It didn't fought for the Jews, It didn't fought for the nations of eastern and central Europe, nor for the Russians.

The main point I criticize is that America could have changed so much more and for so little effort. Hitler could have been checked in 1938 had America took a stand against him. And during the holocaust America could have saved millions of Jews had she acted decisively. And she could also prevent the Soviet take over of eastern Europe, Korea, Northern Japan and Manchuria.

I had relatives who fought in WWI. My great uncle who had fought for Germany and lost his leg was later on gassed by the Nazis. At list your relatives sacrifice, blessed be their memory, was not in vain.

Offline briann

  • Silver Star JTF Member
  • ********
  • Posts: 8038
  • Mmmm HMMMMM
Re: The darkest anti-Semitic period in U.S. history
« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2008, 04:33:11 PM »
Even though America was the in good side, indeed it was more righteous than any other nation and its contribution to eradicate Nazism was the greatest, there is much to criticize and its not petty criticism.

I think America fought for its own interests, it was in her best interest to eradicate Nazism and to come out of the war as the clear leader of the free word. It didn't fought for the Jews, It didn't fought for the nations of eastern and central Europe, nor for the Russians.

The main point I criticize is that America could have changed so much more and for so little effort. Hitler could have been checked in 1938 had America took a stand against him. And during the holocaust America could have saved millions of Jews had she acted decisively. And she could also prevent the Soviet take over of eastern Europe, Korea, Northern Japan and Manchuria.

I had relatives who fought in WWI. My great uncle who had fought for Germany and lost his leg was later on gassed by the Nazis. At list your relatives sacrifice, blessed be their memory, was not in vain.


We'll I agree with you there.  I think we are in the EXACT same boat now.   Why the F isnt anybody doing anything about Iran??!!!   The longer we wait.. the worse it will get.   When they start producing nukes (As many as 5 a month.. depending upon the efficiency of their centrifuges)  they will proliferate them accross the globe... and then all bets are off.

I think the key is.... that people dont care until they see a mushroom cloud in their backyard.   Thats just the way we are as a people, and it was the same in 1938.

Brian