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Natalie LaRowe
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History P, Period 2
8 April 2016
The United States and the Holocaust
The United States was not a helpful country during the Holocaust. During the mid-20th
century, Jews, homosexuals, and inferior races were being persecuted and endangered
throughout Europe. Some sought help from the U.S. and other free countries, but the U.S. was
less than welcoming to the millions of threatened people knocking on their door. The United
States was unhelpful to the endangered people in the Holocaust; a few reasons for this are that
the government refused to help, the Great Depression was taking place, and there was a strong
occurrence of anti-Semitism in the United States.
One of the ways that the United States was unhelpful to the persecuted people during the
Holocaust was the unwillingness of the U.S. government to provide help. For example, in 1939,
the United States refused to admit more than 900 refugees who had sailed from Hamburg,
Germany, on the SS St. Louis (Website #1). The people on the ship had already been through
so much, from being treated harshly to enduring the hardships to even be able to board the ship.
However, the American government did not take that into account and denied them entrance into
a country where they could finally experience peace. The government continued to be
unaccommodating to the terrified, endangered people escaping from Europe when the
Department of State placed even stricter limits on immigration due to national security
concerns (Website #1). The persecuted people in Europe were hoping to escape to a place of

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safety, where they could finally have a life free of running from the authorities for no fault of
their own. By strictly limiting immigration into the United States, the government took away that
hope. The lack of support from the U.S. government for the Holocaust victims continued after
the war, when, two years after the war ended, [the] commander of the American forces in
Germany closed the borders to the American Zone and denied UN aid to newcomers
(Website #2). The survivors of the mass genocide were still searching for help after the war
ended. However, representatives of the Land of the Free were shutting the doors on people in
need and refusing to help them, even after the war had ended. Some people made an attempt to
help these people in need, but others in the U.S. government still refused; for example, Harry
S. Truman favored an immigration policy that was liberal toward displaced persons, but
Congress failed to act on his proposals (Website #1). This post-war president was willing to
help the people in need by opening up the country for immigration by those who needed it most.
However, the governing force of the legislative branch continued to deny help to those who had
been forced out of their homes and countries. A bill was also proposed in order to allow 20,000
refugee children to enter the United States twice a year. This bill was supported by many
Americans because they believed that children, being young and easily influenced, could
still Americanize. [However, the bill was] never passed (Website #3). With the proposal of
this bill, a hope was instilled in Americans and refugees that innocent, persecuted children could
find peace in America. These hopes were taken away when the bill was not passed, revoking the
possibility of controlled immigration for these children, which would have benefitted the
refugees without harming the economy or safety of the United States. There were also cases
where some persecuted people were helped, but others were still restricted with laws that had
been put in place when they were under Hitlers reign; for example, after 1943, Americans did

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not repeal Paragraph 175, stating that male homosexuality, but not female lesbianism, was
punishable by imprisonment (Website #2). Even in America, people were still being punished
for their sexuality, just as they were in Europe. These people escaped Europe in search for
freedom from being punished for their sexuality, but the Land of the Free did not offer the
relief they were looking for. The president of the United States during the majority of the
Holocaust, Franklin Roosevelt, did not do much to offer help to the suffering people in Europe;
for example, he purposefully took minimal role in the Bermuda Conference which was
organized in 1943 to discuss rescue options for the victims (Website #3). He was asked to
help these people, but showed no interest. This most likely reflected onto the rest of the country,
and may have been part of the reason for Americas lack of willingness to help those in need.
However, at one point Roosevelt established Fort Ontario, New York as a free port for
refugees, but only a few thousand were allowed to enter (Website #1). This was only after
much pleading and pressure to help the Holocaust refugees. Roosevelt established a center to
assist these people, but still placed restrictions on how much he would help. For these reasons,
and many more, the governments lack of helpfulness towards the Holocaust refugees was a
contributing factor towards Americas lack of helpfulness towards those in need, along with the
pressing issue of the Great Depression throughout America.
Another reason for the United States being unaccommodating to those persecuted in
Europe was the Great Depression taking place in the country at that time. Because of the
Depression, jobs were scarce and Americans did not want to compete with cheap foreign
labor coming into the country (Website #3). If the refugees were to come into the country, the
pool of people trying to get a job would increase, and the amount of Americans receiving jobs
would decrease as a result of this. Therefore, it would be harmful to American people to allow

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refugees into the country. Because of the Great Depression, "America was not willing to give
an immigrant a job when Americans needed it first" (Website #3). Times were hard in
America during the time of the Holocaust, and many people were without jobs. Because of this,
Americans werent willing to help refugees of the Holocaust, since it would mean reducing their
chances of getting a job. This was not only the case in America, but throughout the entire world,
as the world was suffering from the Great Depression, and worldwide unemployment makes
it difficult to find places anywhere for impoverished immigrants (Website #3). Although
the people seeking refuge had been through hard times, people in countries throughout the world
were not thinking of the refugees difficulties above their own. Because of this, it was difficult
for refugees to find a place that would accept them, as the entire world was suffering from
unemployment. Another reason for Americans unwillingness to help Holocaust refugees during
the Great Depression was that over 70% of the Jewish immigrants would have been over the
age of forty and in management (Website #3). This meant that, if a job were to be open, there
was a smaller chance of an American getting it since there were now refugees in the running for
open jobs. It also meant that if a Jewish refugee could get a job, there was a large chance of them
receiving a job in management, which would pay better than a regular job, and the Jewish
immigrants would be paid better and have a steadier job than American-born citizens. Not only
was the Great Depression a massive cause for the United States lack of accommodation for
refugees in need, but anti-Semitism in America was also a large factor.
America had a strong sense of anti-Semitism during the time of the Holocaust, which
most likely contributed to their unhelpful attitude towards refugees. The anti-Semitism began
with American troops in Germany, when Americans' contacts with antisemitic Germans
stirred up innate personal prejudices held by troops (Website #2). When American troops

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began to have anti-Semitic feelings that reflected on the people in their country. This caused antiSemitism to stir up in America, causing the country to refuse help to Semitics. Anti-Semitism
was also caused by "worry that the immigration of more Jews would disrupt the already
complacent assimilated Jewish relationship with the rest of the United States, triggering an
anti-Semitic backlash" (Website #3). Americans already didnt want to help Semitics because
of concerns with immigration, but these concerns sparked anti-Semitic feelings in Americans.
This resulted in even more disinterest in helping the refugees in need. There were also antiSemitic feelings in the government, as Roosevelts administration had many anti-Semites in
his cabinet (Website #3). The leaders of the country were harboring anti-Semitism, causing the
country to refuse help for Semitic people in need. This caused Semitics to be rejected from many
places and have nowhere to escape to. The government was also having issues with appeasing
the Jewish community but placating the anti-Semites (Website #3). There were already
Jewish people in America, and the government had to keep them from being upset about
Americas refusal to help their people. This was difficult as they also had to please the antiSemitists who were refusing to assist the Semitic refugees pleading for entrance into the free,
peaceful country of America. Not only did anti-Semitism play a huge part in Americas
unhelpfulness towards the Holocaust refugees, but there were many other contributing factors to
the United States unwillingness to provide assistance for these persecuted people.
The United States was not helpful to refugees and Semitics seeking help from the
Holocaust in Europe because the government was not willing to help, the Great Depression was
taking place during that time, and there were feelings of anti-Semitism growing in the country.
Even after the war was over, the United States still refused to help, even when it would not have
caused war to come upon them. The Jews and other people seeking help from America during

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and after the Holocaust were forced to search for freedom somewhere else, as the Land of the
Free refused to let them in. Although Americans sympathized with those persecuted during the
Holocaust, the country could not afford to help them during that time.