Some of my students are working on a project entitled “The US and the Holocaust”. They have decided to start in 1933. This dates coincides with the arrival of Hitler to power and they intend to deal with what happened to the Jews from then on in Germany. For instance, they’ll mention the Nuremberg Laws – which were not secret – and Kristallnacht and will discuss how the USA reacted to these events.
The next step is the concentration and death camps. The students are investigating how much was known in the US – at least by the authorities – at the time and will ask whether anything could have been done to bomb the railtracks or the camps themselves.
Finally they will explore the liberation of the camps by American soldiers and the arrival of refugees in the US after the war. The problem is that they (and I) can’t seem to be able to pin point the end of this specific immigration wave.
Does anyone have a clue?
8 Comments
November 19, 2008 at 3:13 pm
This might help:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/grobim.html
November 19, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Postwar immigrants kept arriving through the end of the 1949 as Jews had to have a sponsor in the U.S. in order to emigrate. It often took 2-3 years for the process, sometimes longer.
In all of the Holocaust memoirs I have read, the most significant dates are mid 1948-end of 1948.
November 19, 2008 at 5:21 pm
feygele & jewwishes: Thanks a lot for your help!
November 19, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I’m no expert in this field, but there are a couple of interesting points about the American response to the plight of Jews in Europe.
One is about obstructing Jewish immigration in 1940: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/filmmore/reference/primary/index.html
Another is about the role played by Henry Morgenthau and the Treasury Department in trying to persuade Roosevelt and his administration to help the Jews:
http://www.answers.com/topic/holocaust-american-response-to-the
Not much for Americans to be proud of, but certainly facts worth knowing. Good luck to you and your students!
November 19, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Shimshonit: Thanks a lot. I’ll pass them on too.
November 20, 2008 at 10:59 am
Hi,
again, Saul Friedlaender´s “Nazi Germany and the Jews” in his 1st volume addresses the plight of German Jews trying to escape and finding doors closed, and he mentions the US policy as well. The bibliography is superb. The book has been recently translated into French.
November 21, 2008 at 7:41 am
I can’t help you on this, given I’m not American. But I find this project extremely interesting, and I think that educational departement of every country should make this ‘effort of memory’ just to prevent from happening again. That’s part of Education of our children whatever is our religion.
Bravo!
November 21, 2008 at 8:10 am
Can I suggest you to visit Dina at Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo. She is a cery interesting woman, you learn something new at each of her post.