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The Night of Broken Glass -

The ruthless Nazi pogrom against the Jewish people began on November 9, 1938. It's a date that became known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass.

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British response -

Following the news, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arranged for thousands of Jewish refugees to leave Germany and travel to England. Many of these refugees were children.

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Help across the pond -

Despite the British effort, there were still some 60,000 Jewish children without a roof over their heads. They reached across the pond for help.

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Anti-Semitism and xenophobia -

The United States might have had the reputation of being the land of the free, where immigrants were welcomed, but there was some resentment towards Jewish people.

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Anti-Semitism and xenophobia -

Indeed, anti-Semitism and xenophobia were present in the US. The business acumen and financial success of many Jewish individuals made a considerable amount of Americans jealous.

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Anti-Semitism and xenophobia -

But this was not just about a group of people being well educated and financially successful. The US was also a predominantly Christian country by then, and Judaism was, of course, a different religion.

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Immigration policy -

The US also had a fixed immigration system, introduced in the 1920s, that limited the number of people who could immigrate to the US from any given country. Refugees weren’t treated differently, and there were no exceptions.

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German immigration surpassed the quota -

The annual quota for visa applications from Germany and Austria was 27,000. In 1939 alone, the US had 125,000.

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Pressure to increase numbers -

Facing international pressure, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to find a way to increase the quota of immigrants. Democrat Senator Robert Wagner (left) and Republican Representative Edith Rogers (right) crafted a bill to that effect.

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New immigration bill -

The new bill would allow an additional 20,000 orphans into the country. In addition, 1,400 American families offered to foster orphaned children. Sadly, the bill was never passed.

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Public opinion -

Despite the proposed bill and the families willing to help, the government decided that the American people should have the final say. In 1939, Gallup conducted a poll and published it in Fortune magazine.

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Poll -

The poll found that 83% of Americans were against lifting the quota for refugees.

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New poll -

And then, later in the same year, yet another poll was conducted. The exact question was: “It has been proposed to bring 10,000 refugee children from Germany—most of them Jewish—to be taken care of in American homes. Should the government allow these children to come in?”

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Poll results -

The result may be surprising, but 61% of the respondents said “no.” Some 9% said that they had “no opinion” on the matter.

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Laura Delano Houghteling -

Laura Delano Houghteling, cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the wife of the United States Commissioner of Immigration, became known for strongly opposing the immigration of Jewish refugees to the US.

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Laura Delano Houghteling -

While her cousin never gave his personal opinion on the matter, Houghteling infamously said that “20,000 charming children would all too soon grow up into 20,000 ugly adults.”

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They were not all Jews -

While the majority of refugees were indeed Jewish, there were also many Christian orphans. This was especially true after the Nazi occupation of Poland.

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First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt tried to help -

The First Lady was really dedicated to the cause and wanted her husband to help the refugee kids.

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First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt tried to help -

At the time there were 20,000 spots left in the quota of immigrants, and the country ended up taking in 33,000. Nonetheless, thousands of orphans were still denied entry to the US.

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The US was not alone in rejecting Jewish refugees -

In 1939, German liner MS St. Louis, carrying over 900 Jewish refugees, sailed to Havana, Cuba, but was refused entry. And the rejection didn't stop there.

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Refused entry -

They then tried to seek asylum in the US and Canada, but both countries turned the refugees away.

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Passengers ended up in concentration camps -

Having failed to secure asylum, the ship returned to Europe. Some 254 of the refugees who were onboard the St. Louis later died in Nazi concentration camps.

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Apology -

In 2018, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized for turning away the Jewish refugee ship in 1939.

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Apology -

“We apologize to the 907 German Jews aboard the St. Louis, as well as their families,” Trudeau said. “We are sorry for the callousness of Canada’s response. We are sorry for not apologizing sooner,” he added.

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The America First Committee -

Americans didn’t really start taking WWII seriously until it hit home with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Just a few days before the attack, a group of students at Yale University established the America First Committee (AFC).

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The America First Committee -

The AFC supported isolationism and pacifism, and was against US entry into World War II. Instead, they argued that the country should focus inwards, and not on the problems outside the country.

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Controversial cartoon -

If America didn’t respond to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and if they did not help the Allies win the war and end the Holocaust, then our world would be much different today. In 1941, Dr. Seuss made a political cartoon that touches on the subject.

Sources: (History Collection) (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) (The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies) (BBC) (Reuters)

See also: What if Hitler had won World War II?

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