Trudy Gold
America and the Holocaust, Part 1
Trudy Gold - America and the Holocaust, Part 1
- Well, good evening everyone, and this week I’ll be talking in two sessions about America and the Holocaust. And even that is complicated, the word holocaust, because what does it mean? It means a burnt offering. Nobody would’ve wanted to be considered a sacrifice. I personally prefer the word Shoah, but the word holocaust is what is used. And the other issue, how do you even periodize it? What I’m doing tonight is America ‘39 to '41, and then on Thursday I’m looking at '41 to '45. Some historians date the Shoah from 1933 when Hitler came to power. Others date it from '39 with the invasion of Poland, others date it with the invasion of Russia when the actual total genocide begins. So even the meaning of words is very, very complicated. And on the issue of the meaning of words, there’s something I want to talk to you about because of course this week is the week when internationally the Shoah is remembered. And normally on Lockdown, we would invite survivors to speak and somebody who has a huge reputation, either as a historian or as a literature person. Last year we had had the wonderful Howard in, I just thought in the light of everything that is going on when the word genocide itself is being used in a terribly spurious way, when the Jewish world itself seems to be absolutely bereft, having discussed it with Wendy, and as I said with a few survivors, we are going to honour by talking about it this week, but we have decided that a ceremony this year on Lockdown will be on Yom HaShoah.
I hope this is acceptable to you all, but I just felt that there is so much now to actually de-Judaize the Shoah that I just felt that in the light of October the 7th, and in the light of the fact that we’re all feeling a little bit raw. In fact, many of us are feeling more than that, that is what we think we ought to do but I would very much value your opinions on that. And I’ve thought about it long and hard. This isn’t a lightly made decision, but it struck me that in the light of what I’ve been told by survivors who are feeling so hopeless. My great mentor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch said to me last week, she said, “I’ve seen evil and it came back on October the 7th.” And that’s what’s happening to survivors who have spent much of the latter part of their lives telling the story so that it could never happen again. So anyway, let’s now turn to this terribly painful subject of America and the Holocaust. And let’s start, first of all, with events in Germany. Can we have the first slide please? If you remember, and of course we’ve covered this, after the Evian Conference, which was convened at the behest of the Americans, if you remember. Roosevelt and McDonald, nothing really happened. Goebbels actually writes in his diary, “we are more civilised. We are better than the so-called civilised world because we do what we say we’re going to do.” And after Evian, Zbaszyn, the Nazis began to expel Polish born Jews living in Germany. Back in 1921 when the manifesto had been written by Adolf Hitler, he’d just taken over the German Workers Party.
One of the clauses was that he’d promised to expel anyone who’d come into the Reich post 1914 and he meant of course, Eastern European Jews. They were expelled to Zbaszyn and it was a terribly, terribly painful thing. And one of the families was the Grynszpan family. And Herschel in Paris received a telegram from his family telling him what was happening and he went into the German embassy in Paris, and he shot vom Rath, the attache. Vom Rath died a couple of days later, and this was the excuse for Kristallnacht, the smashing of the glass. Synagogues were destroyed, businesses were set on fire. Windows smashed, of course. 91 people killed, a lot of others died as a result of their wounds. And then the Jewish community was fined, 3000 men were sent to concentration camps. And it was given huge publicity. It led in Britain to the Kindertransport. It also led in Holland to children being taken in. It must be said that both the British and the Dutch government were against it, but because of pressure from Jewish groups and also organisations like Unitarians and Quakers, it happened and we’re going to see what happened too in America in a few minutes. Then of course, the St. Louis, which we looked at, that tragic- Can we see the next slide please? There you see the ship, the St. Louis of the Hamburg line. Can we see it again? The next slide? Yep.
Those tragic people on that boat, and of course they weren’t allowed into Cuba and they would go all over the seas and in the end, pressure, plus the money from the Joint, enabled the passengers to disembark in Antwerp and Belgium, France, Holland and England took some. Let’s have a look at the newspaper coverage because one of the important aspects of all of this is how much coverage there was in the press. Now this is from the American press. Can we go on please? That’s a later one. There you are. The ship of despair. These are, “Fear Suicide Wave on Refugees’ Ships.” These are American papers. Can we go on please? The point I’m trying to get to you is you could read all about it. You can read all about this. Let’s go on. It becomes a huge important article. So also people were quite well aware of what was happening to the Jews in Germany. Don’t forget that there were American newspaper people. In fact, unfortunately, “The New York Times” guy, even though “The New York Times” was owned by a Jew, “The New York Times” guy spent most of his time in the bar at the Adlon, and he was very pro German. Of course, the wonderful Dorothy Thompson had been expelled by Hitler back in 1934. She would’ve told the truth. Now, can we go on please? Yes. What I’m trying to establish very, very strongly is that the reading public, and remember, people read newspapers in those days. This is way before the advent of any computers, et cetera, et cetera. So you got your news from the radio and also from newspapers. Can we go on please? This is a poll. I find this absolutely fascinating. Do approve or disapprove of the Nazi treatment of Jews in Germany?
This is in America. 94% disapprove, 6% approve. But then look at the second. Should we allow a larger number of Jewish exiles from Germany to come into the United States? 71% say no, 21 say yes, and 8% have no opinion. So even though the public is disapproving of the attitude of what’s going on in Germany, nevertheless, they’re not giving in in any number to saying we’ve got to take the refugees in. And this is after the Great Recession. Remember, this is a worldwide phenomenon. There’s a move towards extremism and of course, in America with Roosevelt’s New Deal, it’s far more a move towards isolationism. So let’s have a look at FDR. Now remember, I am not giving a presentation on FDR, I’m only talking about how he comes into contact with these very contentious issues. Now remember, he was the 32nd president of America, three terms he served. The longest serving American president. Of course, he served again in 1940. He faced enormous problems. He had to deal with the Depression. You know, nearly 13 million Americans was unemployed, which is 25% of the male workforce at that time so you’re looking at a huge indentation. And he was a very powerful speaker. At his first address he said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” And of course, he is elected. His first term is only five weeks after Hitler became German chancellor.
And from then on, there’s anti-Semitic laws and the physical attacks, as I’ve already proved to you, headline news and pressure is being put on him, calling on FDR to protest. But even more pressure is being put on him by isolationists. Should America actually interfere in the affairs of a sovereign state? Actually, he was forced to say to the American ambassador in Germany, William Dodds, “Don’t make an official protest about the Nazi persecution of Jews. It’s not a governmental affair.” During the thirties, as we’ve already established, it was a limited slow immigration policy. Applicants had to provide extensive documentation about their own background, their financial resources and their medical records. Don’t forget that the Immigration Act had been set post World War I. It was about the fear of communism, about what kind of nation will America be. And by 1929, only about 152,000 people allowed into America each year. Nearly 50% of them from England and Northern Ireland, UK I should say. England, Scotland and Wales, and Northern Ireland. So we want white settlers, we want Christian settlers, particularly Protestant settlers. In September 1930, President Hoover invoked a 1917 clause, “if they’re likely to become a public charge, which further restricts immigration to those who could support themselves.” And of course, we’ve already talked about the establishment of the Joint with the money put up, first of all by Jacob Schiff. And a lot of that is going to help. As a result of legal and administrative obstacles, less than 20% of the German quota was filled in FDR’s first term. But here we have to try and balance everything because in 1933, 1934, 1935, yes, the Nazis were ratcheting everything up.
But on the other hand, could anyone have imagined the apocalypse? And even if one could, what really could have been done? And you know, I’ve often said to you, sometimes you have to move from history into psychology. At this stage nobody, I remember Nahum Goldmann, who later became president of the World Jewish Congress, and he was a German Jew, he said, “Even in 1939, I could not have imagined the inferno. You would’ve needed the soul of a Dante.” And of course, what I’m going to be talking about this week, it’s very emotive. So I want to try and balance it. After the Anschluss, the Americans merged the German and the Austrian quota so that a maximum of 27,370 could come in each year. And the problem was by June 1939, there were more than 300,000 Germans on the waiting list, which anticipated a list of 10 years. I have a friend who is still alive, he was actually one of those Jews expelled to Zbaszyn. And he managed to come in on the Kindertransport when he was eight years old to Britain. And he always had it in his head if he’d found 50 pounds, because that was what was needed to bring people into England, if he found 50 pounds, he could have saved his mother, if he’d found a hundred pounds, he could have saved his father. And he later became a very rich man and he kept gold bars in his cellar. It’s extraordinary these terrible, terrible stories. After Kristallnacht, Roosevelt did say he couldn’t believe that such things could occur in a 20th century civilization.
And he did recall the American ambassador in Germany right up until the end of World War II. So, and please don’t forget, he did allow 12,000, we’re not quite sure of the actual number. It was depending on which figures you look at, between 12 and 15,000 German refugees travelling to America on temporary visas, he allowed them to remain there. And to do that, he used his executive authority because as we’ve already established, and we’re going to establish it further on Thursday, the State Department was totally against any relaxing of the quotas. Then in 1939, Robert Wagner who was a senator for New York and Edith Nourse Rogers proposed admitting 20,000 children out of the quota. Now this is in response to the Kindertransport. And let’s have a look at them please. That’s Robert Wagner. So they introduced legislation into Congress to admit 20,000 children under 14 over a two year period to do what the British are doing, basically, 10,000 a year. It was supported by Eleanor Roosevelt and it was the first time that she’d publicly endorsed any pending legal thing. Senator Robert Reynolds, who was a Democrat from North Carolina, was a vocal opponent. He’d recently proposed banning all immigrants for 10 years or until the unemployment problem was served. He’s compromised a five year total ban in exchange for passing the child refugee bill. The bill is then jettisoned. 66% of all Americans polled in 1939 ironically opposed the notion to allow the children in. And having said that, non-sectarian committees for German refugee communities published a brochure in support of the group bill.
And it also has to be said, more than 1,200 ships carrying 110,000 Jewish refugees did arrive in New York up until October 1941 when Germany finally banned immigration. Now that’s a very important date for you to know. It’s not until October 1941 after the actual genocide, you know, the killings in Russia, the Einsatzgruppen, when 3000 members of the Nazi elite aided and abetted the Lithuanians, the Latvians, Ukrainians and the German police and army shot over a million people. Even whilst that is going on, they still allow Jews out of Germany until October ‘41. This is one of the problems, but be very, very careful because don’t take your eye off who the perpetrators are. So Roosevelt has a very, very difficult problem on his hands because on one level, his wife is desperately sympathetic. He’s relatively sympathetic, but he has a huge isolationist group behind him. Now, Robert Wagner, he was the son actually of a German born senator. He graduated Yale, Harvard Business School. He was a real humanitarian. He was mayor of New York. He, in fact, after the war when King Saud of Saudi Arabia came to America on a state visit, he refused a ticket tape parade in New York because he said Saud, Saud was an absolute horror. He would give “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” to any visiting head of state. He said he’s anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic, “and could appeal to the prejudice of hyphenated voters.” He even refused to meet him. And in February 1962, he resigned from the New York Athletic Club because it banned Jews and African Americans.
So he was a man who believed passionately in social justice. And because I have to lighten it a little bit, there’s a wonderful story about the New York Athletic Club, a Groucho Marx story and he’s going to come into what I’m going to talk about next week because he was quite a tiger, Groucho. His daughter went with friends to the New York Athletic Club, and believe it or not, she was actually asked to leave the pool. And he phoned them up and he said, “Look, she’s only half Jewish. Why don’t you let her go in up until her knees?” Now, who is the woman who also sponsored the bill? Her name was Edith Nourse Rogers. I need to intersperse this with the good people. And she was one of the first members of Congress to actually speak out against Hitler’s treatment of the Jews. In February 1939, she co-sponsors with Robert Wagner to allow these 20,000 children over two years. And the bill was supported by some religious groups and some labour groups but it was opposed, for example, by the Daughters of the American Revolution despite the fact that money had been raised for these children. Now, what was her background? She came from an Old England family, the family had brought her up because this is something else that always interests me. What are the backgrounds of these kind of people, the good people? Her family had brought her up in a tradition of real social justice. She came from a religious background. She married a man called John Jacob Roberts, who had just graduated from Harvard Law School. And in 1912 he becomes a member of Congress for the Republican Party. He was a great fighter for war veterans and also for women’s rights.
And after her husband’s death in 1925, she was urged to run for his seat and she was the sixth woman elected to Congress. In fact, she was the first from Massachusetts. She was an active legislator. She actually sponsored more than 1,200 bills. She fought, as I said, women’s rights, equal pay for equal work. Also, she voted in favour of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960. She was very involved in the cause to improve the lot of African-Americans. Isaiah Berlin, one of my great heroes, was actually in Washington reporting back to the foreign office. He was at the British Embassy. And he said of her, “She is regarded in Congress as a capable, hardworking, and intelligent woman. A pleasant and kindly old battleaxe, but a battleaxe, an Episcopalian, probably nationalist rather more than internationalist in outlook.” But these two actually sponsored the bill. Now the problem for FDR was that he, as I said, he’s got the isolationism to think about. And what is also being stirred up is the fear of communism. And this is a press conference he gave on June 5th, 1940. Now remember this is after the invasion of the low countries and of France. Now of course, refugees have to be checked because unfortunately amongst them are some spies as being found in other countries. This became an absolute panic in Britain as well. Are these refugees coming into Britain, are they German spies? And tragically, German Jews were interned in Britain along with Germans.
And there was an extraordinary situation in Hampstead near where I live, where MI5 actually went into the Hampstead public library and surrounded it and they took away 13 German Jewish intellectuals. And as somebody said, “Why didn’t they just confiscate their glasses?” So the point I’m making, this was a terrible kind of, it was a phenomenon. The low countries have fallen, France has fallen, have we got a fifth column? And this is Roosevelt’s speech. Not all of them are voluntary spies he says, it’s rather a horrible story because in some of the other countries that refugees out of Germany have gone to, especially Jewish refugees, the point is they have relatives back home and some of them are under threats. So in fact, they could be spying for Germany. And the state department began to scrutinise all refugees as potential security threats. FDR, though, did establish the President’s Advisory Committee on Political Refugees. Eleanor was involved and a man I’m going to talk about later, a great hero, Varian Fry. And also, the lack of passenger ships crossing the Atlantic soon almost made it very, very difficult for refugees to come to America. And the other point to remember is that FDR had a real problem. He was on the side of Britain and France, don’t forget that.
And he was well aware of the fear of fascism, but his efforts went more into the Lend-Lease Act. He worked towards to prepare America for the possibility of a war. And also when he won this unprecedented third term, of course he couldn’t make refugees a priority. And if you think about it, he also had to do deals with people like Joseph Kennedy, he needed his support. And so he’s a political pragmatist. Can we see the next slide, please? And of course, this then is the invasion of Poland. Germans invade and bomb Poland, Britain mobilises. Can we go on please? Britain is in the war. There’s the “New York Herald Tribune.” Yes. The next one please. Public opinion on entering World War II. You see, this is the situation that Roosevelt is dealing with. Do you think the United States should declare war on Germany and send our army and navy abroad to fight? Let’s bring it together. We know what’s happening. All you’ve got to do is read in the newspapers. America has not had to, like Britain, obviously, when war is declared, British press had to go home. Hasn’t happened with America. America does not get involved until Pearl Harbour in December 1941 so there are American journalists in Germany all the way through. And there’s such a fear of a foreign war, there’s such a fear of spies, there’s such a fear of the recession biting again, that that was a public opinion poll. And he’s president of America. What do you do with this? He wants to help the British. What do you do with it? Can we go on please?
Yeah. Let’s talk a little bit about neutrality. In World War I, many Americans supported Woodrow Wilson’s crusade to make the world safe for democracy. But then post-war, as I’ve already mentioned, the fear of communism, the trope that US involvement in wars was actually fueled by banks and munition dealers with European business interests. Also, the isolationist movement is growing and growing and growing. 1935, the first Neutrality Act prohibited the export of arms, ammunition, and the implements of war. FDR was opposed to the act but in the end, he gave in to congressional and public opinion. The act’s renewed till May 1937, which prohibited America extending loans to belligerent nations. And also the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and the rising tide of fascism also frightened many Americans off. However, he did manage to get a concession. Belligerent nations at the discretion of the President were allowed to acquire any items except arms, as long as they paid for them and carried them home on American ships, which of course meant things like oil. So he is making a crack through it, which is in the end going to help the Allies. He did this in his way of assisting France and Britain. And then we come to the Neutrality Act of 1939. September the 5th, 1939 after war has been declared between Britain and Germany. And after the occupation of Czechoslovakia, which is prior to that, Roosevelt had suffered a defeat in Congress.
They rebutted his attempts to renew the cash and carry expansion to, you know, the oil, to allow it to include arms. He persevered and finally it pays off after a huge, huge debate. Then the arms embargo was lifted and also the ban on loans, but the ban on loans remained and goods still couldn’t be transported on American ships until America enters the war. And if the Neutrality Act comes to nothing even before that, because the Germans made a ridiculous mistake. They started bombing American ships in the Atlantic. They started sending the U-boats. And if you think about it, the Neutrality Act was a compromise between isolation and enacting with the world. What America would it be? Now who are the kind of characters that Roosevelt is forced to deal with? Can we go on please? Here you see a man called William Dudley Pelley. Now I’m going to tell you quite a bit about him 'cause he was a very charismatic speaker. He grew up in Massachusetts in poverty. His father was a Southern Methodist church minister and later a small businessman. He was actually a cobbler. He was self-educated, but he was very clever.
He became a journalist. And eventually finished up on the “Chicago Tribune,” which is a very important national paper. Two of his short stories won awards, so much so that he’s hired by Methodist organisations to study communities around the world. He joined the Red Cross, he went to Siberia and helped to actually report on it. Sorry, that was actually back in 1919 because he helped the Russians during the Civil War, white Russians. And as a result of that, he came to blame the Jews for the Communist Revolution. He comes to America, he goes to Hollywood, he becomes a screenwriter. He actually writes for the Lon Chaney films. Some of you who love the movies will know what I’m talking about. He didn’t do so well in Hollywood though. He blamed the Jews for it. Then he moves to New York and he began publishing essays, magazines detailing his new religious system. It’s called the Liberation Doctrine. He also became very interested in occultism which boosted his public image. He was a very strange mixture of theology, philosophy, spiritualism. The dark souls were the Jews, the Communists, and the Papists. And of course, the Great Depression. He attracts a lot of followers. He is a holy roller. Think of “Elmer Gantry,” which was on last night. You know, these extraordinary characters who could whip up the people. I actually myself went to a Billy Graham rally when he came to London years and years ago. I just wanted to see the power of it and it’s scary. It scared me. And these kind of characters, William Shirer actually writes about Hitler’s rallies. He of course was the American journalist. He said you had to fight to keep your arms down.
That was the sort of swell of the crowd. And he actually creates his own group. Can we see the next slide please? The Silver Legion of America, better known as the Silver Shirts. He’s the chief of them. He’s one of the first Americans to create an organisation to actually support Adolf Hitler. They travelled through the states, meetings, rallies. Membership was only at about 15,000, but it had its own newspapers, its own magazines. There was a “Silver Shirt Weekly,” another paper called “The Galilean” 'cause of course, Jesus was an Aryan, “The New Liberator.” He was totally opposed to the New Deal. He believed it was a Jewish plot to take over America. He founded something called the Christian Party and he ran for president. He actually only achieved 1,500 votes. Of course, he’s a total isolationist. And in the end, Roosevelt insisted that J. Edgar Hoover investigate him and his organisation. Can we see the next slide please? There you see Pelley with his Silver Shirts. It’s reminiscent of some of those extremist groups today, isn’t it? After Pearl Harbour, the Silver Shirts were disbanded. He still attacked the government in his magazine. He’s finally arrested. He’s charged with sedition because America is at war. He’s sentenced to 15 years and a $5,000 fine on his press because he’s still writing. He’s actually pardoned in 1950, provided he stayed in Central Indiana and desisted from politics.
So he kind of got away with it in a sort of way. But let’s talk about an organisation that was much bigger. Can we see the next slide please? The America First Committee. Isolationism, let’s stay out of Europe. Make America safe for democracy. At its height, it had 850,000 members, 45 different chapters. It was isolation. A great American historian said it was the coalition of disparate Republicans, Democrats, farmers, industrialists, anti-communists, students and journalists. Some of its most prominent members were antisemitic and pro-fascists. Of course, it’s going to be dissolved on December the 11th, 1941, four days after Pearl Harbour. Its argument was that no power could successfully attack a strongly defended America and British defeat would not in fact imperil the national security of America and any aid America would give to Britain might drag them into a war. So that’s its idea. America should look after itself. America should stay safe. Why should we get involved in Europe? Now, can we see the next slide please? It was founded at Yale by a student called R. Douglas Stuart Jr. He was the son of the man who had created Quaker Oats. So he was very, very wealthy. He goes on to, the father is the CEO, later on he goes on to become the CEO. And ironically, this man becomes the American ambassador to Norway between 1984 and 1989. He became a student at Yale Law School, he’d taken his first degree at Princeton. Other students who joined his group, this will shock you. Gerald Ford, Sargeant Shriver. The committee asks, can we see the next slide please? You see many of these movements, they come from the intelligentsia. It’s a very important lesson to remember that these extremist groups are not gutter up.
They’re quite often from people who have a huge stake in society, are well healed and sophisticated and they just hate. Now this is Robert E. Wood. His dates are 1879 to 1969. He was chairman of Sears-Roebuck. Very, very wealthy. He had retired from the American Army as a brigadier and he was very much the leader of the old Right. He was authoritarian, he was very much a moral Christian. He was anti-communist, he was anti-socialist, he was anti-Zionist and a key financial backer of America First. Now remember the argument, no foreign power can successfully attack America. Can we go on please? I want you to see the might of their rallies. Next slide. Yeah, Madison Square Garden. And of course, Charles Lindbergh was their darling. Now I’ve already talked about Charles Lindbergh. And basically, his argument was the three groups are pressing America into war, the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration. And he actually says, “It’s not difficult to understand why Jewish people desire the overthrow of Nazi Germany. No person of honesty and vision can look on their pro-war policy without seeing the dangers involved in such a policy, both to us and to them. Instead of agitating for war, the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way for they will be amongst the first to feel its consequences,” et cetera, et cetera. So basically he’s getting support and I’ve already talked to you about Joseph Kennedy. Joseph Kennedy who went to Hollywood, who told the moguls to shut up. Don’t forget that the moguls, although they had the ability to show so many anti-Nazi films, it’s only when America enters the war that they could be really patriotic. And they still don’t make films about what Hitler’s up to.
When I look at the life of Ben Hecht next week, I’m going to talk about a pageant he did create in Madison Square Garden called We Will Never Die. But that was an independent thing and many of the Hollywood actors did get involved in that and many of the screenwriters. But the point I’m making, American Jewry in the main, they were frightened. Can we go on please? There you see Lindbergh speaking. The hero of America, the great hero. Two of the most famous Americans, Joseph Kennedy and Charles Lindbergh were totally on the side of isolationism and they were both deeply antisemitic. They blamed the Jews for communism, they blamed the Jews for New York. Everything you don’t want to be. And it’s not until Pearl Harbour that of course, this organisation is disbanded. And if the Japanese hadn’t have attacked Pearl Harbour, who knows what could have happened. And then five days later, Germany declared war on America. Again, to lighten it, there’s that wonderful line in “Casablanca” when Conrad Veidt, who of course he was a really liberal German married to a Jewish girl, he managed to get her family out, he spent the war years playing Nazis and this is scene where he says to Rick in “Casablanca,” “What will you do when we arrive in New York?”
And Rick says to him, “There are certain areas of Brooklyn I really think you shouldn’t go to.” But every time does provide its heroes. Can we go on? The invasion of France. Please don’t forget that America is not at war. And we now come to an incredibly interesting and controversial story, which we have looked at before, but I’m going to put it in the context of this and that of course is the story of Varian Fry. So can we see, because it’s Varian Fry, who is going to go to France. He’s going to set up office in Marseilles. You’ve got to remember, France is divided into two zones. The Nazis take basically the north, the South is Vichy. This is a fascist French government. And thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people have fled. Now don’t forget also there were thousands of German Jewish refugees and Austrian refugees who had come to Paris and now they’re fleeing to France. And the decision that Varian Fry and his colleagues are going to have to make, who do we save? So let’s look at Varian Fry, because I hope in him, along with some of the other characters, we can talk about what gives people moral back bone. Can we go on please? There you see Varian Fry. So he’s the only child of Lillian and Arthur. His father was the manager of a Wall Street firm. He came from a very wealthy family.
He was very bright, he was very precocious, he was solitary. He read and he read and he read. He loved to go birdwatching. He loved the isolated life. When he was only nine years old, he actually conducted an appeal for the Red Cross. He had a very, very strong social conscience. He was in the top 10 at Harvard. He was a multilingual character. He was very able, he was reckless. He was also an outsider. He was probably a homosexual. And in those days, and we’re going to see that he marries a couple of times, you know, it was a crime and it was considered a terrible taint. And he was actually rusticated in his year, his final year at Harvard for getting into a prank and he had to re-sit. When he was an undergraduate, he founded with a Jew called Lincoln Kirstein, an influential literary quarterly. He mixes quite a lot with clever New York Jews. And through Kirstein’s sister Minna, he met his future wife, a woman called Eileen Avery Hughes. She was the editor of “Atlantic Monthly,” a very important paper. She was seven years older than him and she’d actually been educated in England in Rodin and at Oxford. He then has a career in journalism. He worked as a foreign correspondent for the American journal “Living Age.” And as a result, he goes to Berlin in 1935. And he later writes about what he saw. When he’s walking along the Kudamm, one of the main streets, he saw a scene and this is what he writes in '45. “I couldn’t remain idly by as long as I had any chance of saving a few victims.” Following his visit, he wrote an article in “The New York Times” about the savage treatment of Jews. He met Putzi Hanfstaengl had been very pro Hitler, who was by that time in America.
In 1939, he comes to London and after Germany’s invasion of France, he’s back in America. And approximately 200 Americans come together, journalists, university presidents, artists, together with Jewish refugees and they found the Emergency Rescue Committee and support for it comes from Eleanor Roosevelt. And I’m going to try and do a separate session on her because she’s a fascinating woman. Now the slides with my associate, she said to me, “How can anyone make that decision?” Because the decision he makes, and please God, we never in our lives have to make these kind of decisions, he decided they are going to try and save the intellectuals. He decides to focus on those intellectuals who had escaped to Vichy, France. And they had to be saved because Vichy had agreed to surrender any individual that the Germans demanded. He raised money. He’s up against problems, remember? But he’s criticised by many sections of American public opinion, reasons we’ve already talked about. Either they just wanted isolationism, some of them like the German Bund were pro Hitler, or some of them were just plain Jew haters. And it’s Fry who decides, he’s reckless. He’s going to go to France, he flies to Europe on August 1940 and of course he lands in Lisbon where he meets a man called Waitstill Sharp, who’s a unitarian minister who was also active in rescue efforts in Prague and in southern France.
And he gave him a list of sympathetic people, people he can already contact in Marseilles. And can we see the next slide, please? He meets with Hiram “Harry” Bingham, who was, he was a diplomat. He is the vice consul in Marseilles and already, he’s extending aid to refugees. And can we see the next slide please? That’s Lion Feuchtwanger, the very important Jewish writer. He had written “Jud Suss,” he’d written “The Oppermanns,” and he in fact, he was born in the flat opposite the flat where Hitler lived. He was an extraordinary man, where Hitler later lived, an extraordinary man. Hiram Bingham actually put him up in his own villa until he could get him out. And basically, they needed money. And this is where the Joint comes in. And of course the Joint has a big office and World Jewish Relief, they have their offices in Lisbon, in neutral Portugal. There were spies there. It must have been an extraordinary place. They needed to raise money for the exit visas, which Vichy would have to issue. They also had to try and obtain American entry visas, which the Americans, as we’ve already established, were not too happy to give. And Bingham is in constant conflict with the State Department. And he believed it was totally motivated by antisemitism. Fry manages gather around him a superb group of volunteers from America. A woman called Miriam Davenport who’d been a former student at the Sorbonne. Just loved frank culture. You see, before Hitler, so many Americans went to Paris. Think about Hemingway, think about that whole circle that met in the Shakespeare’s bookshop on the Left Bank. I’m sure this is resonant with you.
Don’t forget that when Hemingway finally entered Paris with the liberation forces, he went first to The Ritz to liberate the wine cellar. The American in Paris. Think of Dorothy Parker, think of her girlfriend. Think of all these extraordinary charact- Alice B. Toklas, all these characters. Paris was the centre of civilization. And of course if you think of those German and Austrian Jewish intellectuals who had fled to France after Hitler came to power, now they are swarming down to Marseilles. So he also meets an heiress called Mary Jayne Gold. She was a great lover of the arts and the good life and she helped fund the organisation. He had hired a villa called Air-Bel. And his idea was to gather people there until they can smuggle them out. And he manages to smuggle, the figures are about 2000, some people put it at 2,200, others put it at 3000, to safety through Spain, to Lisbon and to America. They also ran another escape route from Marseilles to Martinique. And he relies heavily on the Unitarian Service Committee in Lisbon once he gets the refugees to Lisbon to be sent across. This was staffed under its director Robert Dexter and other American staff. I’m naming those names. It’s important that we give honour to the people who saved. And of course, Fry was finally forced to leave France because of pressure from Vichy and from the State Department. He was arrested, he was given two hours to pack. He was escorted to the Spanish border. He’s returned to America in 1941 and in 1942, the Rescue Committee joined forces with the American branch of the European International Relief Association. It still actually operates today.
Now this is a letter that Varian Fry wrote to his wife. “Amongst the people who come into my office with whom I’m in constant correspondence are not only some of the greatest living authors, painters, sculptors of Europe, but also former cabinet ministers and even prime ministers of half a dozen countries. What a strange place Europe is when people like this are reduced to waiting in an ante room of a young American of no importance whatsoever.” And back in America, in December 1942, this is the article that he wrote in “The New Republic,” The Massacre of the Jews of Europe. “There are some things so horrible that decent men and women find them impossible to believe. So monstrous that the civilised world recoils incredulous before them. The recent reports of the systematic extermination of the Jews in Nazi Europe are of this order. We can offer asylum now without delay or red tape to those fortunate enough to escape from the Aryan paradise. There have been bureaucratic delays in visa procedures which have literally condemned to death many stalwart Democrats. This is a challenge we cannot and must not ignore.” And I’m going to be talking about this next, on Thursday, what the State Department was up to. 1944, he actually provided guidance to Roosevelt’s War Refugee Board. He had a rather sad end of life. He divorced, he remarried a woman 16 years his junior, he had children. They did separate in 1966. He worked as a journalist. He becomes physically and mentally unwell and he died alone. And his body was actually found by the state police. You see, this is the problem. Where is reward in this world? But when I talk about the people he saved, I’m just going to give you a glimpse of it because we could go on forever. And it’s for you to debate, isn’t the life of a child just as important as the life of a great writer?
Decide, decide. Who ever wants to be in that position? We put together a few slides of some of the characters who he brought to freedom. Can we go on please? Marc Chagall. Marc Chagall. It’s crazy isn’t it? Lipchitz, the sculptor. Can we go on? Franz Werfel, he was the husband of the extraordinary Alma Mahler. Alma Mahler, of course, married first Mahler. And then there was Werfel, I’m trying to think of the Tom Leer song. Walter Gropius in the Middle. And of course he wrote “The 40 Days of Musa Dagh,” which is the story of the Armenian massacre. And his famous thing in Hollywood was “The Song of Bernadette.” She had with her not only Mahler scores, but Bruckner scores and of course Hitler adored Bruckner. She was quite a character, Mahler, Alma Mahler. And of course, I’m sure those of you who love Tom Leer and I’m going to do a session on him, all know his great song that he wrote about her. Can we go on, please? Think what these characters did to America. Hannah Arendt, very controversial. Max Ophuls who made such wonderful films. “Letter from an Unknown Woman.” Brilliant, brilliant film. “La Ronde.” “La Ronde,” very controversial about sexuality. Can we go on please? Heinrich Mann. “The Blue Angel,” Marlena Dietrich. “Professor Unrat.” And who else can I mention in this list? I have so many of them. So many pictures that we couldn’t really even begin to, Victor Serge, very important thinker. Max Ernst, Otto Meyerhof. I mean, we’re talking about scientists, Andre Breton. We are talking scientists, we’re talking revolutionaries. We’re talking about genius. Of course Feuchtwanger I’ve talked about. What can I say? It’s an incredi- Walter Benjamin, the wonderful Walter Benjamin. He actually committed suicide at the Spanish border because he didn’t think they were going to get in. He was with Arthur Koestler and it was Walter Benjamin who coined that incredible phrase that always haunts me. “Any damn fool,” he was a great philosopher. “Any damn fool can put a bullet through the most beautiful brain.” I’ll stop there. Let’s have a look at the questions.
Q&A and Comments:
Okay. Holocaust Memorial Day. Gita’s asked me to explain Holocaust Memorial Day. It’s the day that international governments decided to commemorate the Holocaust. Yom HaShoah is the day the Israelis commemorate. And I think in the light of so many countries having problems with anti-Semitism, et cetera, et cetera, it just seems, I’m not making any political statements, it just seems to me, of course we’re honouring this week anyway, because I’m talking about the Shoah. But it just seemed to me, having discussed it with Wendy, it’s the right thing to do.
Yes, Arlene is talking about Ken Burns’ documentary. Yes, it’s brilliant. Oh, and of course there are going to be a lot of what is fascinating. British television, I’m sure America is the same. There are so many films about the Holocaust, documentaries, they’ve shown “Schindler’s List” again. And yet, the level of antisemitism is through the roof. And I asked myself, “Where is the dissonance?”
And Heather’s telling us it’s in and Rita’s providing us with a link.
Jerry’s agreeing with me a hundred percent Yom HaShoah is now the date.
Rose is saying, “I think you’re right. Not only because of October the 7th and today’s loss of 24 of our soldiers, but also because the world chose this day to be Holocaust Remembrance Day. In fact, we chose Yom HaShoah.” Appropriately followed by Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut. Holocaust does not mean burnt off, it means total combustion.
Jonah, but I think it was referring to a sacrifice. Let me finish what you have to say. It can refer to a mitzvah regarding certain sacrifices, yes, but not to the object sacrifice. Type word holocaust was coined to refer to a factor performing total consumption. The ovens of Auschwitz, but not the Jews that were concerned. Yeah. That’s quite extraordinary.
This is from Catherine. “It’s terrifying how quickly circumstances can change under an authoritarian regime. I left South Africa in 1986 when the outlook for Europeans appeared dark. The end did not come too early.”
Q: Did the authorities really think German Jews were a fifth column or was it an antisemitic excuse?
A: I think it’s a bit of both actually. If you read the British press, it’s extraordinary, particularly after the invasion of the low countries. They really thought there were spies everywhere. And don’t forget, they actually sent, any German Jew over 16 was sent to an internment camp.
Q: What was in Lindbergh’s influence, if any, in shaping America’s opinion in the immigration issue?
A: Lovely to hear you, Tommy. Tommy of course is the nephew of Komoly, who headed up the Rescue Committee in Budapest. And that’s something we will also be talking about later on. And Kasztner worked for him. But of course, his uncle was murdered by the Arrow Cross. Quite a hero and Tommy has spent a lot of time working on him. And Tommy, I hope you’ll give me the honour of interviewing you on Lockdown, thank you. I know that American citizens of Italian and Japanese ancestry were imprisoned. It was the Japanese that were very badly treated.
Q: Were German Americans likewise interned?
A: I’ve got to check that. I’m not quite sure.
And this is Carol. Japanese Canadians in British Columbia lost their businesses, properties, professions. Yes, the Japanese internment story is quite a terrible one, actually.
This is Monty. In Britain tonight at 10 o'clock on BBC TV Channel 4 about Australian Holocaust survivors who killed former Nazis who fled to Australia after war when after they shot Nazis all they would say a partisan is a partisan. Yes, you’ve got to remember that after the war, the fear of communism was back. So I could remember when I first travelled to America, it asked if I was ever a member of the Communist Party. It later changed because of efforts of American Jews and to were you ever a member of a Nazi party? But a lot of former Nazis got into Australia, Britain. Australia’s white only policy, remember? To Canada and to America. In fact, we had a lecture last year by America’s Nazi Hunter.
Mirna’s recommending “Prequel” by Rachel Maddow about Nazi infiltration in the American government. Yes, yes. Sears-Roebuck is a contraction of Siadsky from Siads- Yes, of course. Sears-Roebuck was originally created by Jews.
Yes, there is a wonderful movie about Varian Fry and I cannot remember the name. It stars William Hurt. Oh, thank you. Why do I ever bother. “Varian’s War: The Forgotten Hero” is a joint Canadian American film, written and directed by Lionel Chetwynd based on the life of Varian Fry. William Hurt heading all-staff ensemble.
Julia Ormond, thank you so much. You see?
Q: Alan’s saying Stephen Wyman’s two books on America response to the persecuted Jews before and during the Shoah are essential reading. His description of FDR makes him appear to be less sympathetic than consequently almost unmoved. Can you comment on this view?
A: Alan, it’s so controversial. I’m absolutely walking a tightrope. I’m going to talk on Thursday about the State Department. The following week I’m going to talk about Peter Bergson and Ben Hecht. Then I’m going to talk about Nahum Goldmann and Stephen Wise, Rabbi Stephen Wise. All the time I’m walking a tight rope. Alan, do you mean David, it’s David S. Wyman in “The Abandoned of the Jews.” I think you’re right, Peter. Can you check that, Alan?
Yes, Hindy saw that movie. Yes. Yes, Stuart, thank you.
I understand there was quite a considerably sized counter rally held by American Jews outside Madison Square Garden. Yes, there were. And I’m going to be talking about the American Jewish response. But then we are in such dangerous territory because how on earth does one respond to an appalling catastrophe? They didn’t have a glimpse of what was really going on. They were unbelievable in fighting between the Bergson Group who were Irgun and the Jewish American establishment who didn’t want to rock the boat too much because they were worried about native American antisemitism. And Roosevelt is trying to hold it all together. His wife was very sympathetic. So it’s very complicated to assess Roosevelt. He is still a hero to many.
This is Lorna, a novel “The Flight Portfolio” by Julie Orringer about Varian Fry in France, a riveting read. Peter, Krahenbuhl, disgraced former chief of UNRWA taking over as Director General of the International Red Cross. He was forced to resign in 2019 for corruption. Oh, what a world. What a world.
Q: Is he the same Bingham who discovered Machu Picchu?
A: I’m not sure. I’ve got something in my head.
Sandra Levy, the book “Villa Air-Bel” is a book about saved Jewish artists in Vichy, France. Most managed to get to New York. Yeah. But then you know the issue. Who do you save? He manages to procure visas, he manages to get the visas to get them out of France and then into America. Who do you save? It’s like Noah’s Ark, isn’t it? You know, you can make the case that Britain and America, look how enriched they were by German and Austrian immigration. I mean, Patrick Bade goes as far as to say that in Britain there certainly wasn’t much culture till the German and Austrian Jews arrived. The book on Villa Air-Bel is being recommended.
Q: Did these intellectuals have problems with immigration?
A: Look, Hiram, visas are being forged. All sorts of diplomats actually broke the law to save people. All about 20 years ago, when I was running LJCC, I had an exhibition of diplomats who saved Jews and it’s across the board from many, many different countries. And it was very funny because all the ambassadors came up to the exhibition and they were all jostling for who had saved most. When you think about the way they reacted, it’s, what can I tell you?
Q: Why no mention of Stephen Wise?
A: Because I’m doing a whole session on him, Joel. I’m doing a session on him and Nahum Goldmann and I’m also doing a separate session on Ben Hecht and the Bergson Group. So you’ll have to help me because as I said, look, I’m a historian. There’s no such thing as unbiased history, but I’m trying very hard to walk a tightrope for you all.
Shelly’s agreeing with the choice of Yom HaShoah. Thank you, Eta.
This is from Joan. Thank you for telling us Joan. Jews were not interned in the US but had restrictions put on their travel. No short wave radios. Thank you very much, Joan. And I’ll see you in London.
Tony, can I tell you, I know he, what I was saying about Max Ophuls, he produced it. He made the film. I know Schnitzler wrote “La Ronde.” It’s very, very naughty, very interesting. But it was Max Ophuls who actually made it into a film and it became terribly controversial. And I mustn’t use the German pronunciation Wagner. It’s Wagner. I always make that mistake.
Yes, Carol says, “I was deeply saddened that Varian Fry died alone. That none of those who saved gave him any support.” But this is what happened to a lot of them, unfortunately. Human nature.
This is from Linda. “Have just read Naomi Ragen’s "The Enemy Beside Me.” It details the horrors of the Lithuanians and their massacres. Hard to read at this time in history. Yeah. Yeah.
And Robin’s telling us this, “Transatlantic.” Robin. Hi Robin. Lovely to hear from you. “Transatlantic” Netflix series on Fry and Gold.
Francine, there are several books about the plight of the Jews who want to escape the compound when they live. The villagers that help them, the group of French Americans helped them escape. Yes. Yes. You see, you’ve got to remember there were rescuers. Yad Vashem, I believe now there are 35,000 honoured by Yad Vashem. And thousands of them were not honoured. A lot of them didn’t want to be honoured. They thought it was the normal thing to do. And it’s been estimated that for every Jew who was saved, it took at least five other people. So there were good human beings. Look, we know who the perpetrators were. We know who the collaborators were. I would suggest the majority of people were indifferent with amazing people at the other end who risked and sometimes lost their lives to save people. And that’s the spectrum. And none of us know how we would behave unless we are called.
Q: Why do I say I’m walking a tightrope?
A: I’ll tell you why I’m walking a tightrope. Because FDR is an incredibly, FDR was in many ways, a very good American president. Peter Bergson’s Group, the Irgun, they believed that everyone was complicit apart from those who actually fought. They believed Stephen Wise was complicit, they believed Nahum Goldmann was complicit. An awful lot of other people don’t believe that. So as a historian, what I believe personally is my business. What I’m trying to get over to you, I’m trying to balance the facts bearing in mind they didn’t have the real knowledge. I can remember, ‘cause you’ve got to remember, I’ve been teaching this since the late seventies. So I’ve had students, mainly Jewish students, who lived in Britain in the war. And my question to them was, when did you first know? Now my father was very political and he says he knew by, there was a minute silence in the House of Commons December the 17th, 1942 and he knew. So much so, he was a very rational man. He’d actually procured poison for my beloved grandmother. He never said things unless he’d done it. In case the Nazis had crossed the channel. Many of my students, very credible, good people. They said we couldn’t believe it. We didn’t believe it. Today when people talk about murders, you’ve got the pictures, but there’s no doubt when the camps were liberated and the films were shown, people were fainting because even if they knew, they didn’t know. They hadn’t seen. So it’s a very, very complicated story. Terribly complicated.
Oh, I’m going to be talking, Esther. And they were up on the Canadian border, and I’m going to be talking about that.
Oswego said, Susan, thank you. How did the last Chabad rabbi get? Oh, wait a minute. Did he get out of them? No, the great rabbi. Most of the Chabad had already got to America. I’ll check that for you, Shelly.
Yes, I am aware of Wilfrid Israel, Joel, and I’ve actually lectured on him. He’s one of my heroes.
Yeah. This is, again, balanced history from Em Bender. It might be worth mentioning that the rallies in Germany this week opposing the far right where people shouted never is now to stop the ultra right. Yes. There are always good people.
Oh, this is from Josie. She’s talking about a Johannesburg Shoah interviewee whose family was from Rostock. 101 years old when she shared her archive, had a document of a brother around number 18,709 on the waiting list for a visa to America.
Yeah. Mirna says, “Trump says don’t believe your eyes. Believe only what I tell you.” Never forget that when times are tough, when there’s economic, political and social instability, it seems that many people yearn for someone who says, “I’m going to make it right for you. Just follow me.” Fascinating.
This is from Rita. “My beloved late parents were Holocaust survivors.” Yes. Thank you, Rita. Thank you so much.
Oh yes, Jonah’s talking about “A Good Place to Hide,” the Chambon. Yes and I’ve lectured on that. It’s very, very important. In fact, Max Ophul’s son, let me get this right. I think, didn’t he make a film about Le Chambon? I’m sure one of you will know.
Anyway, that’s all. Let me thank you. I know it’s very tough, but I’ve always believed that knowledge in a way does help. So let me wish you all a good night and I will see you on Thursday. And a colleague of mine, Simon Syborn, he’s an American professor, brilliant lecturer. You’re going to hear him at seven o'clock. So God bless everyone.