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FDR finally breaks his silence on the Holocaust and does so in a big way, though it is late in the season, March 24, 1944. He issues this statement in an Oval Office session with reporters.
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“In one of the blackest crimes of all history - begun by the Nazis in the day of peace and multiplied by them a hundred times in time of war - the wholesale, systematic murder of the Jews of Europe goes on unabated every hour.... None who participates in these acts of savagery shall go unpunished....
"Hitler is committing these crimes against humanity in the name of the German people. I am asking every German and every person … everywhere under Nazi domination to show the world by his action that in his heart he does not share these insane criminal desires. Let him hide these pursued victims, help them to get over their borders and do what he can to save them from the Nazi hangman.”
-- President Franklin D. Roosevelt
_ _ _
As Beschloss relates, the active response of the administration to this problem remained retarded. For instance, the President vetoed “a suggestion that the statement include a promise to temporarily admit to the United States large numbers of refugees.” The Americans really didn’t cover themselves with glory on this issue, but this has never been a perfect country, while it may be fair to say that it has been the world’s best hope. Such is our world!
(Source: “The Conquerors” by Michael Beschloss)
_ _ _
“In one of the blackest crimes of all history - begun by the Nazis in the day of peace and multiplied by them a hundred times in time of war - the wholesale, systematic murder of the Jews of Europe goes on unabated every hour.... None who participates in these acts of savagery shall go unpunished....
"Hitler is committing these crimes against humanity in the name of the German people. I am asking every German and every person … everywhere under Nazi domination to show the world by his action that in his heart he does not share these insane criminal desires. Let him hide these pursued victims, help them to get over their borders and do what he can to save them from the Nazi hangman.”
-- President Franklin D. Roosevelt
_ _ _
As Beschloss relates, the active response of the administration to this problem remained retarded. For instance, the President vetoed “a suggestion that the statement include a promise to temporarily admit to the United States large numbers of refugees.” The Americans really didn’t cover themselves with glory on this issue, but this has never been a perfect country, while it may be fair to say that it has been the world’s best hope. Such is our world!
(Source: “The Conquerors” by Michael Beschloss)
