I teach 10th grade English and we are reading Elie Wiesel's NIGHT, and also read his "Perils of Indifference" speech, in which he criticizes FDR's decision to turn back the ship The St. Louis, with 1,000 Jews aboard in1933. My students asked me why he did that, and I tried to explain about quotas, and fear of spies, and such, but I feel like my answer is inadequate. Was there a compelling reason to refuse to admit the refugees? Or in hindsight, would you see that decision as a mistake? I would appreciate your insight to share with them.
The short answer is: for the same reason the United States did not accept large numbers of refugees from the recent Syrian civil war, and has not volunteered to open the doors to refugees from the current fighting in Gaza. Immigration was even more controversial in the 1930s, amid the Great Depression, than it is today. Roosevelt would have started a big fight if he tried to persuade Congress to grant a waiver for Jewish refugees. He had his hands full with the New Deal and didn't want to provoke his opponents unnecessarily. Finally, the horrors of the Holocaust were then in the future. Few people believed that Hitler would go as far as he did.
I teach 10th grade English and we are reading Elie Wiesel's NIGHT, and also read his "Perils of Indifference" speech, in which he criticizes FDR's decision to turn back the ship The St. Louis, with 1,000 Jews aboard in1933. My students asked me why he did that, and I tried to explain about quotas, and fear of spies, and such, but I feel like my answer is inadequate. Was there a compelling reason to refuse to admit the refugees? Or in hindsight, would you see that decision as a mistake? I would appreciate your insight to share with them.
The short answer is: for the same reason the United States did not accept large numbers of refugees from the recent Syrian civil war, and has not volunteered to open the doors to refugees from the current fighting in Gaza. Immigration was even more controversial in the 1930s, amid the Great Depression, than it is today. Roosevelt would have started a big fight if he tried to persuade Congress to grant a waiver for Jewish refugees. He had his hands full with the New Deal and didn't want to provoke his opponents unnecessarily. Finally, the horrors of the Holocaust were then in the future. Few people believed that Hitler would go as far as he did.
Excellent. That makes sense and also helps me connect the problems of the past to those of today. Thank you!