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Inayah Morris
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History-P, Period 4
12 April 2016
How the United States Affected the Holocaust
During the era of the Holocaust, Allied forces were trying to end Hitlers third reich.
Adolf Hitler had a plan of domination and to separate the genetically inferiors from the Aryan
race. He did this by persecuting the Jews and spreading antisemitism throughout Europe. The
United States influenced the Holocaust and its outcome with withholding immigration,
ignorance, and lack of rescue attempts.
By restricting immigration during the Holocaust, America affected the victimized Jews in
Europe. Despite the ongoing persecution of Jews in Germany, the State Department's
attitude was inuenced by the economic hardships of the Depression, which intensied
grassroots of antisemitism, isolationism, and xenophobia, (website 1). During the
Depression, people were desperate to find a scapegoat. Because of this people were less willing
to help the Jews. As well The number of entry visas were further limited by the
Department's inexible application of a restrictive Immigration Law passed by the US
Congress in 1924, (website 1). The US didnt want an overwhelming amount of immigrants to
come flooding in fear that it might lead Hitler to attack. Besides the obstacles, Jewish people
were still able to escape to America. In 1941, 45% of all immigrants to the United States
were Jewish, (website 1). Unfortunately, once the US joined the fight in the winter of 1941,

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Hitlers army started systematically killing off Jews, making the immigration issue disappear.
More 200,000 Jews were able to make it to America before 1941 otherwise.
The American public was also misinformed multiple times by the German Army. Most of
the SS soldiers werent even aware of the atrocities that occurred were they worked. Therefore, if
people working for the Nazi regime werent aware of it, then, it is impossible to believe
that those who lived continents away had access to the reality of the situation, (website 2).
The press only knew of the events in the beginning of the war because the violence wasnt severe
since the Nazi party wasnt fully developed. The more gruesome punishment the Jews received,
the less they were informed. When they enacted the final solution, they fully denied
their actions to American reporters and went as far as to state that they were not
uprooting Jews from their homes and forcing them into concentration camps, (website 2).
The Germans even tried to convince the press that Stalins treatment on Russia was worse than
the situation in Germany. The US was aware of the open acts of antisemitism, but the death
camps were a private matter that a majority of Eastern Europe didnt know along with the rest of
the world. In fact, when massive acts of deportation were enacted the Germans
expressed their acts to American reporters as economic requirements of the war,
(website 2). The American press didnt decide to investigate more than this.
By late 1942, the public was finally aware of the final solution and demanded the government to
help the victims. American and British representatives decided to find solutions for the refugees
in the war. No conclusion was made on how to solve the problem. Because of this,
Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9417 on January 22, 1944. The order established a War
Refugee Board (WRB) directly under the authority of the President and nanced by
discretionary funds from the President's emergency fund, (website 3). This was supposed to

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rescue victims in imminent danger and provide relief consistent with the successful prosecution
of the war. The plan even called for a rescue center to be made. In Oswego, New York the Fort
Ontario Refugee Center was established and, The facility served as a haven for 983 refugees
from the former Yugoslavia who had managed to reach Italy, (website 3). The WRB also
helped fund Swiss diplomats to rescue tens of thousands of Jews from deportation. Before this,
the US had no plans for rescuing or helping the victims. By the time the WRB was established,
four-fths of the Jews who would be killed in the Holocaust were already dead, (website
3).
The United States could have drastically changed the events of World War II if they
allowed immigration, investigated Nazi behavior, and put more effort into saving people being
persecuted. The Holocaust was major tragedy of the 20th century and something that is still
remembered today. The only positive thing we can gain from it is knowledge and hopefully an
atrocity like this wont repeat itself in the future.