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Home , Ernst vom Rath, Herschel Grynszpan, May 1939, Sigrid Schultz

THE STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF

NEWS COVERAGE OF JEWISH PERSECUTION IN THE TRIBUNE

AUDREY SAKHNOVSKY SPRING 2019

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for baccalaureate degrees in Journalism and English with honors in Journalism

Reviewed and approved* by the following:

Boaz Dvir Assistant Professor of Journalism Thesis Supervisor

Russell Frank Associate Professor of Journalism Honors Adviser

* Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i

ABSTRACT

This thesis is a critical assessment of the journalistic practices taken by the Chicago

Tribune in their coverage of Jewish persecution in the years leading up to and during U.S. involvement in World War II. Key events in Nazi ’s political moves, signs of progression in the Final Solution, and survival efforts on behalf of European are examined through historic articles. Close textual analysis shows the Chicago Tribune was swayed by nationalist and isolationist sentiment in post-WWI America. The newspaper kept U.S. citizens unaware of the terrors abroad. Moving forward, the paper should liken itself to other news organizations such as the Times or the Associated Press and issue an apology for their reportage on Jewish persecution.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...... 1

Chapter 1 Contextualizing the Tribune ...... 3

The Print News Landscape ...... 4 The Associated Press and the New York Times’ Transparency ...... 5 The Paper Under Editor Robert McCormick ...... 7 Isolationism and Anti-Refugee Sentiment in U.S. following WWI ...... 8 Foreign Correspondents ...... 11

Chapter 2 The Évian Conference ...... 12

Roosevelt...... 12 “Help for Jews Fleeing Europe is Asked of U.S.” ...... 14 “Cash of Jewish Refugees Tied Up By Germany” ...... 16 Event Coverage: “ Eyes U.S. As a Haven for Jews” ...... 18 “U.S. Sends Envoy to Germany for Refugee Probe”...... 21

Chapter 3 ...... 24

Herschel Grynszpan ...... 24 Growing Resentment ...... 25 “Germans Attack Jews to Avenge Shooting” ...... 26 “Mobs Wreck Jewish Stores in Berlin” ...... 28 “Hitler Seizes 20,000 Jews” ...... 29 “Germany Puts Hundreds of Jews in Camps” ...... 31

Chapter 4 A Woman to Inform the Masses ...... 32

Chapter 5 A Stress for Understanding ...... 35

“Let Persecuted Jews into U.S., Ford Advocates” ...... 35 “Hitler’s Ghetto Decree Revives Medieval Days” ...... 37 “Maverick Urges Jews to Battle for Democracy”...... 38

Chapter 6 The M.S. St. Louis ...... 40

“Mass Suicides of Jews Feared on Refugee Ship” ...... 41 “Haven—for Cash: Cuba May Alter Laws to Allow Jews to Enter” ...... 43 “Ship Sails Back with 907 Jews Who Fled Nazis” ...... 44 The Outcome of the Failed Voyage ...... 45

Chapter 7 Post-Pearl Harbor Coverage ...... 47

“Claim Thousands of Jews Killed in Nazi Held Lands”...... 47 “Charge Germans Make Poland a Jewish Abattoir” ...... 48 iii

“Report Nazis Plan to Wipeout All Jews” ...... 49

Chapter 8 Piecing it Together ...... 51

Chapter 9 Conclusion ...... 53

Works Cited ...... 54

1

Introduction

In the years following , the entered a period of isolationism.

Many of the newspapers and large media conglomerates of the time period were in tune with the government and citizens’ wish to abstain from foreign conflict. During the years before the start of World War II news outlets were hesitant to tell the full story of issues developing abroad. This led to an American citizenry uninformed about German atrocities. It is only after the United

States’ victory that American leaders and the American people would come to terms with the scale of the persecution and murder committed against European Jews.

To determine which news outlet’s press coverage I should analyze during this time period, I visited the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Seeing the museum’s Exhibit of Historic

Newspapers, I went to the and noticed the plaque above the section: “The

Downplayed.” The information was startling:

Although he was warned that Jews and others were being enslaved and executed in Nazi- occupied Europe, Chicago Tribune publisher Robert McCormick ignored the reports. Such “sensational” stories, he feared, would involve the United States in the war. New York Times publisher Arthur H. Sulzberger, who was Jewish, worried that giving prominent coverage to the murder of Jews would label the Times as a Jewish publication. He ran most stories on inside pages. –Courtesy The Associated Press

I continued my research on the American newspapers of the time period and decided to closely examine The Chicago Tribune under Robert McCormick. The New York Times, Penn

State History Librarian Eric Novotny told me, has been scrutinized for its coverage long before any of my research started. After finding the book Buried by the Times by Laurel Leff, I knew the ground had already been well surveyed. 2 The New York Times’ treatment of the news reflects the fear felt by American Jews. The

Chicago Tribune’s coverage reflects the owner’s involvement with a post-WWI Republican party’s nationalism and isolationism. The following evaluation of the Chicago Tribune’s coverage of Jewish persecution abroad is not comprehensive, but done to the best of my ability with research made possible through Penn State-accessible databases and archives.

3 Chapter 1

Contextualizing the Tribune

When viewing the U.S. reactions to when the camps were liberated, one may think “how could American citizens not have known?” In actuality, the information was stowed away in the very news pages that were rifled through by readers across the country. To find the clues that were there all along, the research began with simple searches for the words

“JEW” and “NAZI,” but they turned up alongside more horrifying words like “abattoir” and

“thousands dead.” There was no cover-up of information in the Chicago Daily Tribune. The reporting was there, but it was inconsistent, segmented and pushed deeper and deeper into the paper. Rather than lying through omission, the Tribune allowed its readers to be skeptical of the news they were delivering.

The articles discussed and analyzed in this report will be examined chronologically to follow the Third Reich’s steps toward the “Final Solution” and the U.S.’s timid approach to involvement in the war. Articles examined center on major events regarding Jewish persecution and America’s concern in European political affairs, including the Evian Conference (1938),

Kristallnacht (1938), the voyage of the MS St. Louis ship (1939), and Pearl Harbor (1941). Sigrid

Schultz, the Tribune’s Berlin correspondent, will be a closely studied figure due to her news coverage and her persistence in revealing truth. Through her social connections to some of the top-ranking SS officers, Schultz was pivotal in news of the German atrocities reaching the pages of the Chicago Daily Tribune. 4 The Print News Landscape

Although radio news coverage was popular in the 1930s and 1940s, print news would continue to be a staple in the American household for decades to come. In 1938, about 32% of

U.S. citizens read daily newspapers (Pew Research Center, United States Census Bureau). The peak circulation rate of newspapers was in 1980 and it was only two percent higher than its 1938 weekday rate (34%) (Pew Research Center, United States Census Bureau). With the arrival of the “information age,” there was an immense decline. In 2000 when home computers had become fixtures in the typical American household, the circulation rate dropped to 13.6% (U.S.

Department of Commerce – Economics and Statistics Administration). The dependence upon the print news media is easily forgotten in today’s age of by-the-minute updates and news alerts programmed to phones. It can be difficult to fathom society’s former reliance on the daily newspaper.

In “American Editorial Response to the Rise of : A Preliminary

Consideration,” Margaret Norden notes the major American newspapers’ failure to bring the proper attention to the man who would soon become a menace to the world. Back in 1933, when deaths could still have been prevented, “the New York Times reiterated its opinion that Hitler would not survive or ‘invite trouble’” (Norden 293). Various historical analyses note the world’s doubt that the “Nazis would seriously turn their extreme Jew-hatred into politics” yet it was the basis of the Third Reich’s platform (Seul 77). Even during the fall of the , when the Third Reich was gaining momentum, Nazis “promoted Jew-hatred all over the country in speeches, songs, printed propaganda material and newspapers” (Seul 93). They would “regularly stage riots at universities and on the streets and boycotts against Jewish businesses” (Seul 93). 5 By dismissing him as an eccentric, the news media underestimated Hitler and left him to become a tyrannical dictator as they ignored his violent ascent to power.

The Los Angeles Times and the St. Louis Post Dispatch, like the Chicago Daily Tribune, had a few moments of straightforward reporting on the plight of European Jews. Similar to many other American newspapers that doubted the tales of atrocity received from Europe, the Chicago

Daily Tribune hid or ignored much of the information. Even the most critical of authors,

Deborah Lipstadt, was able to give the St. Louis Post-Dispatch some credit in the midst of her censure. Unlike papers such as the Record and the New York Evening Post, the St.

Louis Post-Dispatch believed news of the persecution of Jews “demanded attention because they were so ‘uniform in tenor,’ instead of completely dismissing them as wild cries of execution”

(Lipstadt 38).

The Associated Press and the New York Times’ Transparency

With those 32% of Americans reading daily newspapers, the Associated Press (AP) was

“a prime source of information” for notifying people of “the Nazis’ persecution of Jews and events related to the Holocaust, [before and during] the war” (Henizerling 6). Though far from the only news organization to have an imperfect history of war correspondence, the AP released a report in 2017 that disclosed flaws in its coverage of the Holocaust. The AP report resulted from an “exhaustive process” to bare the news agency’s errors in its coverage of Germany

(Heinzerling 10). In a 163-page report, the news organization admonishes itself and its poor reportage. Given that the Chicago Tribune, like many daily newspapers in America during this time, did not have enough of its own foreign correspondents to cover everything, a lot of the 6 coverage consisted of AP newswire stories. AP newswire stories were featured in a plethora of print news publications; in conjunction with the AP’s transparency, the publications that used their stories should issue their own apologies. In Covering Tyranny: The AP and

1933-1945, the news organization declassifies its own history, explaining it “should have done some things differently during this period” (Heinzerling 4). One of the biggest admissions is their own lack of protest against German propagandists using their photos and editing the captions of the AP’s images to conform to the Nazi narrative. This was not only known by the

AP, but agreed to by the AP. The German press representatives were able to spread propaganda through their special arrangements with the large U.S. press source. Another limitation to the news reaching Americans was the persecution of journalists. American newspaper correspondents in Germany were trying to do their job of reporting the truth, but the threat of the

Gestapo spread terror. As documented in various books and journal articles, Nazi Germany

“revolutionized mass propaganda, brooked no dissent, and held the power to arrest, torture and execute at will” (Heinzerling 2).

The New York Times has also been transparent about its failure to adequately report on

Jewish persecution. The 150th Anniversary edition of the paper in 2001 included a lengthy apology written by Max Frankel. The report is an admission of wrongdoing that recognizes the scale of the paper’s influence on the rest of America’s newspapers. The apology refers to the

New York Times’ error as “the century’s bitterest journalistic failure” (Frankel). The report clarifies that the United States’ failure to aid the Jews was not due to an apathetic citizenry, but an uninformed citizenry. The ordinary reader of the New York Times “could hardly be blamed for failing to comprehend the enormity of the Nazis’ crime” since articles on the persecution of Jews never “qualified as The Times’s leading story of the day, or as a major event of a week or year” 7 (Frankel). The owners of the paper performed this journalistic malpractice out of fear, as they

“were plainly afraid to have a society that was still widely anti-Semitic misread their passionate opposition to Hitler as a merely parochial cause” (Frankel). So far, the Chicago Tribune has not held itself accountable the way the AP or the New York Times has.

The Paper Under Editor Robert McCormick

Viewing his decisions and opinions from decades in the future, one would find it easy to critique Colonel Robert McCormick’s work as publisher of the Chicago Tribune. He appears as a

German apologist due to the paper’s concealment of the horror inflicted on European Jews.

According to Deborah Lipstadt, McCormick attributed Germany’s “ to the shortcoming of Versailles and the economic hardships created by the treaty’s inequities” (28).

McCormick viewed the country’s anti-Semitism as a “ ‘national psychological reaction to being officially blamed for World War I’ ” (Lipstadt 28). McCormick’s opinion of Germany’s actions as a government and a people was at odds with that of the paper’s Berlin foreign correspondent

Sigrid Schultz, but the articles “generally appeared uncensored” (Lipstadt 28). Ron Grossman, a

Chicago native and historian who has written for the Chicago Tribune since the 1980s, said the paper had a Republican leaning for most of the 20th century. According to historian Stephanie

Seul, the paper’s “political orientation was pro-Republican and it was strongly nationalist, isolationist and anti-Communist” (80). Though this is true, according to Grossman, Colonel

McCormick was well aware of the value of Sigrid Schultz’s reporting for the paper as the chief correspondent of the paper’s Berlin bureau. In Grossman’s opinion, the Chicago Tribune, in its own right and in comparison to other U.S. newspapers of the time period, did an acceptable job 8 reporting the news from the European front. My personal evaluation resulted in a more critical opinion.

Isolationism and Anti-Refugee Sentiment in U.S. following WWI

From various scholars and journalists’ accounts, the Chicago Tribune had a general isolationist policy in its delivery of news after the end of WWI and during the rise of Hitler’s

Germany. Under Robert McCormick, news items got shortened and pushed to the back pages so as to limit the formation of pro-war sentiment in the U.S. The newspaper’s coverage reflects the country’s general lack of concern for the Nazi-persecuted peoples; the information was present but the editor and publisher’s interest was not. This is inadvertently supported by Grossman’s statement that it was not necessarily a matter of ignoring the topic, but rather more pressing or competing stories. The excuses and explanations for the United States’ and the newspaper’s lack of involvement are endless, but in the end journalists and historians alike attribute it to the

“culpable, sometimes willed obliviousness of American gentiles to the murder of European Jews; the indifference to their brethren’s fate by a timid and self-absorbed American Jewry” (Novick

19). As explained in the somber words of Deborah Lipstadt, author of Beyond Belief, 1938 was the start of dreadful terror for European Jews. Reports of Germany’s invasion of Austria and

Kristallnacht appeared on the front page of some newspapers and on page ten of others, such as the Chicago Tribune, yet “no softening of the American attitude toward refugees occurred”

(Lipstadt 86). Indeed, post-WWI America was full of skeptical bystanders. Lipstadt makes it clear that “it was not a question of ignorance, but a matter of priorities, and aiding persecuted

Jews was never one of them” (Lipstadt 120). It was widely known the Jewish population of 9 Europe needed protection and salvation, yet the extremity of this need was lost on many domestic news correspondents. To be fair, in hindsight, “Who, after all would want to think that such things were true?” (Novick 23). These faraway signs of extermination seemed exaggerated to those who believed in a civilized, reformed Germany. Even to those aware of the fragility of the German people’s psyche and desire to rise as a country, the instability of its social infrastructure was unpredicted and unfathomed. Meanwhile, Americans put their worry for

European Jews at arm’s length while a “surge in the number of refugees seeking a haven forced the United States to confront more seriously that which it had previously tried to treat as a

German ‘domestic issue,’ ” confronting hesitant Americans with the brutal reality of the situation abroad (Lipstadt 87). Unbeknownst to the American people, the U.S.’s lack of care “served as a

‘green light’ to Germany and a sign that though the world might condemn its behavior, it would do nothing to stop it or to materially aid the victims” (Lipstadt 87).

As the following analysis of articles will establish, rarely was news of Jewish persecution prioritized. The United States was filtering its news through a predetermined “isolationism and cynicism, the fear of being ‘duped’ by government propaganda, revulsion at Europe’s inability to police itself, and despair about the future course of democracy” (Lipstadt 9). To better understand an American’s point of view, one must consider the level of fear spread through the country. With the beginning of what would soon become the Red Scare in the late 1940s and early 1950s, America lacked trust in the even though its proximity to the German horrors made it a reliable source of news. Some “believed communism a greater threat to the

United States than ,” leading any information “that came from Moscow prior to Pearl

Harbor and America’s entry into the war [to be] considered tainted information” (Lipstadt 139). 10 It has been argued by those who viewed the firsthand and historians alike that

Hitler was an insane, power-hungry ruler with a hatred for Judaism he utilized as a political tactic to cultivate fear. Margaret Norden attributes America’s failure to recognize Jews’ grievances and the disruptive nature of the Third Reich to newspapers’ inability to “elicit a sustained editorial stance against the menace Hitler himself posed” (291). The U.S. and its citizens were blinded by the country’s struggle to remain neutral. The U.S. indirectly censored its own understanding of the world. Hitler, in his rise and even in his power, was considered a loon by both newspapers and world leaders; he was not to be taken seriously. Reviewing editorial discussion in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other major news dailies in the

U.S., Norden explains the nature of the news during America’s period of isolationism as a commitment to “editorial objectivity and detachment” (300). American journalists and citizens were overly objective and avoided the call to action the situation demanded. This resulted in a missed opportunity for reportage and proper estimation of what would soon be understood as “a clear and present danger to humanity” (Norden 301). Though it must be recognized that the

Third Reich’s Minister of Propaganda “succeeded in suppressing most of the news he did not want cabled” while also spreading “a phenomenal amount of both obvious and subtle propaganda,” the American print news industry perpetuated U.S. citizens’ ignorance and apathy (Freifield 224). Rather than giving the stories a thorough examination and investigation of facts, the newspapers of post-WWI America used such overt caution and skepticism they could have missed the story entirely. Americans have tended to brush away guilt for their inaction by stating they “did not know what was really happening to the Jews of Europe until it was too late,” but this has been “explored, exposed, and debunked” (Cassara 226). 11 Foreign Correspondents

For a true representation of the landscape many reporters and newsmen experienced during the reign of Nazi Germany, one must consider the firsthand accounts of the prominent journalists who actively reported on the war. Sigrid Schultz, the chief correspondent of the

Chicago Tribune’s Berlin bureau, was able to see her work on the newspaper’s pages, but the egregious nature of the events reported did not make enough of an impression on American civilians. Schultz was a steadfast critic of the Nationalist Socialist Party since its inception. An

American abroad observing the development of a tyrannical regime firsthand, Schultz understood the Third Reich’s efficient inner workings. Schultz was aware of Nazi Germany’s ability to deflect attention from its activities. She studied the Third Reich’s strategy for concealment up close, noting “the Nazi tendency to brand any report of killings or brutalities as an ‘untrue atrocity story, reminiscent of the propaganda campaigns of World War 1.’ They knew,

Schultz observed, that anything labeled propaganda was bound to be disbelieved in America”

(Lipstadt 140).

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Chapter 2

The Évian Conference

Roosevelt

President Franklin D. Roosevelt walked a fine line in his presidency. The American people admired him, but the post-WWI landscape required delicate navigation. Roosevelt, despite his good intentions and his efforts to reinvigorate the U.S. with his various “deals” to fix the Great Depression, had many domestic opponents.

That American Jews in those years were deeply devoted to the president is clear. They believed, it was said, in three worlds: die velt (this world), yene velt (the world to come), and Roosevelt. (Novick 42).

FDR was instrumental in discussing ideas to help the Jewish refugees, but nothing ever came to fruition. The Évian Conference would prove to be for and show. Since

“anti-immigration sentiment was so strong in Congress and among the general public,” very little was expected from the conference; Roosevelt cared enough to hold the conference but to retain

American approval, he made sure it was evident “he was not letting Jewish interests determine

American policy” (Novick 51). American daily newspapers did not waver on their isolationist policies when covering the conference. An extreme caution was used that “entailed no commitment to additional asylum and an expanded quota would falsely raise the expectations of a vast number of people” (Lipstadt 90).

The Évian Conference took place July 6-15, 1938. Press coverage began months prior as

Roosevelt negotiated with foreign countries. The Chicago Tribune was able to sell people on the 13 idea of Roosevelt stepping in as a hero for Jewish refugees. While the conference was still in its planning period, the article “Roosevelt Defends His Plan for Refugee Haven in U.S.” by press service writer Walter Trohan ran on March 26, 1938 on page seven. The tone and word choice used in the article romanticizes the plan to find protection for these refugees; it could fool the hopefuls and maybe even the cynics that good was to be done.

With a dateline of Warm Springs, Ga., where Roosevelt was known to retreat for the healing effects of the waters, the article opens with a paraphrase of a Roosevelt quote that the country is presenting a “welcome mat before its door,” insinuating an America open to immigration (Trohan). Roosevelt’s optimistic perspective echoes throughout the article as he proclaims the country has a “traditional policy of maintaining a safe harbor for the unfortunates of world political storms” (Trohan). Strong word choice follows, creating the impression the country was ready to move forward in its plans at the conference as it refers to Jews as “political outcasts;” this wording causes conflicting impressions on how one should interpret the news since Hitler’s (Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria) is deemed a “bloodless conquest” in the same sentence (Trohan). None of Nazi Germany’s invasions were truly bloodless; the Final Solution’s persecution of Jews had been proceeded by rallies and speeches inciting violence starting years prior. Hitler’s platform was based on a hatred of these “political outcasts” and each annexation was another step in his murderous tyranny.

The indirect rephrasing of Roosevelt’s statements continues as the president is reported to have “recalled” that since its conception the United States has been “a place for political refugees to find safety” (Trohan). The notion of a unified, caregiving U.S. is given in the subhed “Door

Open to Many,” then the topic is turned around completely by the second subhed, “Turns to

Depression Woes” (Trohan). The framing of the article shows Roosevelt undercutting his claims 14 on foreign aid as more pressing domestic issues take precedence. The article compliments

Roosevelt, supporting him in his delicate political positioning; it mentions his humanitarian efforts with a quick turn back to domestic issues and the work that will actually keep him in office.

“Help for Jews Fleeing Europe is Asked of U.S.”

This article ran on page two of the Chicago Daily Tribune on April 25, 1938. The subhed is “Propose Moving 500,000 to Palestine.” The page positioning suggests that the idea of diverting the European Jews’ migration somewhere other than the U.S. might have been preferred by the paper’s editors and publishers. Written by a Reverend John Evans, the article frames European Jews as desperate in just the headline due to the use of the word “fleeing.” The word is indicative of America’s awareness of the persecution stirring abroad. The article leads with reports of “Jewish leadership” in the U.S. sending proposals to the president to make room for this persecuted group of people somewhere in the world. The lede reads as follows:

Jewish leadership of the United States proposed yesterday that this country cooperate with other nations in the removal of 500,000 Jews from central European countries to Palestine. The formal request was sent to President Roosevelt after a meeting at the Covenant club. (Evans)

The only diplomatic figures in the U.S. noted as calling for a legitimate push to aid thousands of Jews are Jewish leadership. The “formal request” for the U.S. to show humanity is treated as a problem for Jewish people and only Jewish people to solve. The article gives off the tone of an American people who cannot be bothered and prefers to avoid responsibility or involvement. The third graf describes the Jewish leadership’s proposal “as being in harmony with President Roosevelt’s call for an international commission for resettlement of political 15 refugees” (Evans). In the sparse coverage of news on the conditions for Jews, this article follows the preceding March 25, 1938 article making a show of Roosevelt’s pro-foreign involvement, pro-refugee stance that simply did not exist in the American people. It should be noted that

Roosevelt’s ideas did not resonate with many American citizens’ opinion on foreign relations

(Novick 51). The newspaper appears to have made the article’s placement, timing, and phrasing into a puppeteering act designed to influence its readers into thinking if anything did indeed need to be done about a persecuted people, for all intents and purposes it is being taken care of.

A further discussion of a desired “Washington-London axis” is vaguely referenced in the second graf of the article then later reinforced with a direct quote from British journalist

Alexander L. Easterman in the fifth graf:

“If these two powers will declare themselves ready to defend the democratic ideal, Hitler’s aim for world domination will be thwarted. British public opinion is now rapidly realizing that Hitler’s seizure of Austria is the first plain indication of revival of the old German imperialistic policy of ‘drive to the east’ and a direct threat to the British Empire.” (Evans)

Attempting to persuade others that “Nazism will listen only to the combined voice” of the two countries, the Chicago Daily Tribune’s use of this quote shows impartiality in the paper’s reportage (Evans). The paper acknowledges that Nazi Germany is a threat to the democracy and freedom of other nations; this conflicts with the paper’s tendency to remain isolationist. The article’s placement on page two and the direct quote showing an appropriate amount of alarm in graf five shows a small uptick in the paper’s prioritization of the news on the European Jews.

This article is an example of the varying levels of caution the newspaper was exercising while beginning its coverage of the persecution of European Jews. After the fifth graf’s direct quote admitting to Nazi Germany’s dangers, the final graf is subheded “Urges $25,000,000 Fund” and uses rephrased quotes to deflect responsibility for foreign refugee aid onto domestic Jews. 16 Louis Lipsky of New York, chairman of the administrative committee of the Palestine appeal, blamed the present Jewish betrayal by central Europe on the preoccupation of the liberal forces of the world with their own defenses. Henry Montor, a national director of the appeal, recommended that American Jews raise $25,000,000 for Palestine settlement and overseas relief this year. (Evans)

The last graf of the article on a people fleeing persecution simultaneously claims

Europe’s treatment of the Jews is “betrayal” while deflecting responsibility for aid onto domestic

Jews. The country remained in a delicate position of neutrality as Germany continued in its tyrannical dictatorship and Europe’s political infrastructure continued cracking. The newspaper was in a balancing act of isolationism and nationalism while it met bare minimum requirements in reporting the news.

“Cash of Jewish Refugees Tied Up By Germany”

This article ran on page ten on June 8, 1938, about one month prior to the Évian

Conference in France. The subhed is “Bans Sale or Transfer of Blocked Marks.” The article is a direct correspondence from Sigrid Schultz with a Berlin dateline. It stands as an example of how

McCormick’s isolationist stance did not interfere with Schultz’s reporting: instead of being torn apart by editors, the article was placed in oft-forgotten newspaper territory. The front page’s main headline is “Policeman Kills Wife, Rival,” about a policeman who killed his wife and her lover in front of a large crowd of theatre-goers in the city. The front page also features the story

“Nanny Imbibes Gasoline; a Match; a Sniff; a Bang!” about a goat that exploded on a farm. It was not a slow news day, but better placement could have been given to this five-graf story by

Schultz. The article reports on a pivotal step taken by the Nazis to disenfranchise an entire people. 17 The lede of the story does not go much beyond the information given in the headline and the subhed. The second and third grafs subheded, “Get Money in Foreign Land,” detail the process of the Third Reich extorting German Jews for all their worth.

Many Jews sold their possessions and agreed to allow buyers to pay them in installments after they had emigrated. The blocked marks of the Jews, which were sold at very low rates, were then used to finance the sales of German goods in foreign countries. The Jewish emigrant thereupon received part of his money from a foreign customer in a foreign land. The economics ministry’s method helped to increase the sale of German goods which were difficult to move at the official rate of exchange or even with the help of sundry German groups which exported marks. (“Cash of Jewish Refugees Tied Up By Germany”)

Germany was readying its cohort of unwanted refugees to be unappealing to foreign nations in every possible way. The fourth graf elaborates on how this major step to disenfranchise German Jews was helping the German economy. The fifth graf has its own subhed “Blow to Emigrants,” an understatement of the debilitating nature of this monetary extortion. It was most likely concocted by one of the paper’s editors and not Schultz herself, though her writing in the fifth graf does show restraint in its speculation on what may come of this disenfranchisement. The word “impossible” is used to describe the monetary deals that Jews had made with foreign countries for immigration, but then their situation is described as their being in “difficult positions” (“Cash of Jewish Refugees Tied Up By Germany”). The German

Jews were stripped of pride and resources as the Nazis rendered them useless to the rest of the world. Schultz’s strict telling of the facts clarified to unaware readers how dire the situation was.

It also allows editors and the publishers to read her article and not view it as too alarming to get a good page placement. 18 Event Coverage: “Poland Eyes U.S. As a Haven for Jews”

Running on page five of the Tribune on July 7, 1938, this article by Donald Day for the

Chicago Tribune Press Service has the dateline of “Riga, Latvia, July 6,” marking the first day of the long-awaited Évian Conference. The article is subheded “Hopes Immigration Bar Will Be

Lowered.” Its lede and nut graf illustrate the crisis and the false hope European countries had in the U.S. developing a more lenient immigration policy.

The United States holds the key to the solution of the Jewish problem which is vexing many European countries, the Polish and Jewish press of Warsaw today insisted. Newspapers welcomed the presence of an American delegation in the conference at Evian-les-Bains, France, where delegates of thirty-two nations opened discussion on the fate of Jews of greater Germany. The Polish press viewed the Evian conference as a possible solution of Poland’s problem to find homes for the 3,000,000 Jews and expressed the hope that the meeting will result in the removal of immigration restrictions in the United States. The Jewish press reported that President Roosevelt’s initiative in calling the conference may end the American policy of isolation from European affairs and eventually bring about her entrance into the . (Day)

Comparing this lede and nut graf to that of the early press coverage months prior in

“Roosevelt Defends His Plan for Refugee Haven in U.S.,” it is evident that confidence in

America to provide protection for European Jews has faltered. The diction used in the initial four sentences of this eight-graf article—the longest in the Évian coverage yet—tells a much more cautious story. The lede wholly places reliance upon the U.S. to take responsibility for the refugees. The writer’s referring to this refugee crisis as a matter of the “fate of the Jews” conveys the gravity of the situation. A large portion of the article relays the Polish press’s discussion of events. The information thus comes from a third-party source; there is no direct tie to the

Tribune.

Unlike the Roosevelt article from March of the same year, the Polish press is introduced in the nut graf as having a much more skeptical view of the Évian Conference. In this graf there is no escaping the evidence that the number of Jewish people at risk—stated here as three 19 million—was not enough to sway any nation on Jewish immigration. European countries had found the perfect place for their unwanted Jewish population, but the countries were unsure if the

United States could be depended on to provide refuge. The indirect proclamation of the Tribune newspaper’s own policies continues in the second sentence of the nut graf as it uses the Jewish press as a filter through which to describe how the conference “may end” America’s isolationism.

“Vision Migration to the U.S.” subheds the third and fourth graf, transitioning the article to an explanation of the various ways, reasons, and places Jews are undesired. The third graf delves into tracking the meager attempts by the U.S. delegates at the conference. Countries propose to immediately “find homes for 50,000 Jewish refugees” without any explanation as to how and then there are claims the U.S. would “soften the immigration law to accept 28,000

Jews” (Day). These figures show countries’ inability to fathom that there are three million Jews in Poland alone needing refuge (Day). It follows that South American countries would be

“expected to accept the balance,” but no legitimate contact or diplomacy is further explained

(Day). These requests for a place of salvation can be attributed to the “investigation” that

European countries were “unwilling to accept even a small quota of Jewish refugees” (Day).

Reporting from Latvia, Day is aware of the intolerance toward Jews spreading throughout the continent. The fourth graf outlines the Scandinavian countries’ anti-Semitism by describing them as “opposed to the admission” (Day). The Baltic states’ anti-Semitism is assessed next, as they

“also are unwilling to welcome” Jews (Day). The nations’ diplomats are feigning politeness in their rejection and it has filtered all the way down to the journalists cushioning their reportage of hard news. 20 The isolationist mentality is especially magnified in the fifth and sixth grafs featuring direct quotes that describe why Jewish people are unappealing in the eyes of these nations’ leaders.

“Our country has taken extraordinary measures to suppress anti-Semitic propaganda which was being spread by German agencies, but the fact that the countries of northern Europe do not wish Jewish immigrants reveals that they are considered undesirable citizens,” said a minister of one of the Baltic nations. (Day)

One must question the importance of the person and the quote compared to how important this pro-isolationist sentiment would be to the editors and publishers of the Tribune.

Here the blame is placed on the peoples themselves, with a point made that propaganda can only be blamed for so much before one finds the pre-existing prejudice. The following graf continues this unnamed minister’s statement. The subhed “Urge Ban on Jews” works to reinforce this leader’s ideas.

“There are reasons for anti-Semitism spreading in Europe, and the Evian conference should study them if they wish to solve the problem of Jewish refugees. Our local Jews are opposed to this country admitting German and Austrian Jews, and delegations have visited me requesting that we should not accept these refugees.” (Day)

Under the guise of covering the Évian Conference, the journalist and his editors have reeled in readers with the headline’s short, punchy buzzwords of “Poland,” “haven,” and

“refugees.” The poorly attributed quotes mystify and cloud the article’s hard news. The publisher’s intended narrative appears to have been flipped sometime after March’s coverage of

Roosevelt’s pro-America, pro-immigration sentiment. This article and the vast differences in its message show that the paper must have still been strategizing its stance on foreign policy since a president’s sentiments were pushed back to page seven. 21 “U.S. Sends Envoy to Germany for Refugee Probe”

Soon enough it became clear the plans for the Évian Conference were too good to be true.

The Chicago Daily Tribune ran the main article covering the events of the Évian Conference on

July 16, 1938 on page seven. It is an Associated Press article and is subheded “Will Seek Data on

How Many Wish to Leave.” It seems the most reasonable in its delivery of a sense of hesitancy and a show of progress in diplomatic discussions. A more independently formed explanation of events is presented. Evident immediately in the lede is the clear and direct delivery of facts.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France, July 15.—(AP)—The United States sent an official observer into Germany today, at the end of the thirty-two nation refugee conference, to gather information for a report on the situation of potential refugees from Nazi rule. (“U.S. Sends Envoy to Germany for Refugee Probe”)

The article discusses what is yet to be done. The conference is over and had months of preplanning and discussion. Now, in this time of crisis for European Jews, the delegates are proclaiming their period of post-planning. The second and third graf report on the consul for the

American foreign service and his “mission” to conduct research by “gather[ing] information from American sources” on the quantity and type of people trying to flee Germany (“U.S. Sends

Envoy to German For Refugee Probe”). It is clear from the lack of hard-hitting news that the delegates joined together to twiddle their thumbs and rehash the situation without any urgency.

The fourth through seventh grafs are subheded “Will Report Next Month,” proclaiming that foreign nations are moving at a glacial pace to possibly help European Jews. Little has happened and little will happen.

The thirty-two nation conference here, which President Roosevelt called, ended ten days of discussions with a session which was marked by two developments. Myron C. Taylor, the president and chief United States delegate, emphasized the need for refugees being allowed to leave Germany with their possessions and announced that new hope for finding homes for them had arisen through “confidential statements that certain countries 22 could find room for more emigrants than had been expected.” He did not identify the countries. (“U.S. Sends Envoy to Germany for Refugee Probe”)

The fact they ended ten days of discussions with just two developments shows how minimal their efforts were, as they disregarded the urgency of aiding these refugees. The eighth graf verifies America’s inability to firmly grasp the Third Reich’s murderous plans.

Taylor called “vital and imperative” Germany’s cooperation with the London organization and emphasized that “unless steps are taken forth with to remedy the present disorderly exodus there is catastrophic human suffering ahead which might have far reaching consequences in international unrest and strain.” (“U.S. Sends Envoy to Germany for Refugee Probe”)

If foreign diplomats were aware of what would unfold in Germany and Eastern Europe, the Évian Conference would have had immediate and concrete results. Taylor voiced his prediction of “catastrophic human suffering,” but without knowledge of the extent of what

Jewish refugees would endure. This article reinforces that no leader could begin to fathom what was to come for European Jews. Taylor could not have been thinking of the death and work camps that became many Jews’ reality. The ninth graf is an admission that the only real result of the ten days of discussion is that it “ ‘solidified the collaborations of the United States with

European nations’ ” (“U.S. Sends Envoy to Germany for Refugee Probe”). The article ends with a report on American Jewish leaders’ reaction to this meager progress.

Representatives of the here greeted the results of the intergovernmental sessions with satisfaction. Plans evolved at the conference were characterized as signifying substitution of “systematic and organized emigration for chaotic exodus which now is a blot on humanity.” (“U.S. Sends Envoy to Germany for Refugee Probe”)

The writer states that by way of the conference, plans underwent an “evolution,” yet the only real outcome is a loose schedule for developing policies that may or may not be instituted sometime in the future. After ten days of discussion, the U.S. and the European nations had an open dialogue about the fate of the Jews. American Jewish leaders “greeted” this information 23 with “satisfaction,” a possible overstatement on the journalist’s part. The article ends with what appears to be high hopes on their part, as they foresee “systematic and organized emigration,” but still shows an awareness of the “chaotic exodus” that would occur without foreign nations intervening. 24

Chapter 3

Kristallnacht

Herschel Grynszpan

A 17-year-old Jewish boy trying to avenge the deportation of his Polish family turned into the catalyst the Nazis were waiting for. Having moved to France on his own in 1936 without proper visa, Herschel Grynszpan left behind his family who had previously relocated to ,

Germany (Steinweis). He was able to avoid his own expulsion from France by going underground, but learned that “his parents and sister, along with thousands of other Jews of

Polish nationality, were deported, under brutal conditions, from Germany to Poland” (Steinweis

472). Grynszpan fatally shot 29-year-old Nazi party member at the German

Embassy in Paris on November 7, 1938 (Steinweis). The ensuing backlash incited through Nazi propaganda would “exploit Grynszpan’s killing vom Rath for the purposes of anti-Jewish propaganda both inside German and beyond” (Steinweis 471). This young man’s act of defiance gave the Third Reich a chance to “embrace, coordinate, and expand the anti-Jewish violence”

(Steinweis 471). This event was utilized to its full potential in the Third Reich’s quest for citizen support, as they “used antisemitism in an opportunist way, playing it up and down when it suited their political needs of the day” (Seul 93). Proclaiming Grynszpan’s motivations as being

“outrage over German treatment of his family and his people,” the Nazis twisted the shooting to fit their narrative of the demon Jew acting on hatred and impulse (Steinweis 472). The planning 25 of a “show trial” would keep his name in the public’s mind for weeks after the shooting as the

Nazi propagandists continued concocting anti-Semitic sentiments.

Growing Resentment

Turning Herschel Grynszpan’s personal act of defiance into an act of seething, unrestrained Jewish rage became one of the Nazis’ main focuses.

Once the shooting had taken place, the propaganda apparatus under [Joseph] Goebbels acted quickly to distort what had happened and to magnify its significance out of all rational proportion. The shooting of Ernst vom Rath in Paris took place a little after 9:30 in the morning on Monday, November 7. An examination of instructions to the German press shows how by the end of the day, official German propaganda had inflated the magnitude of the incident and invested it with global political significance (Steinweis 473).

The chance for the Nazis to ignite a more impassioned anti-Semitism among Europeans was previously missed in , when the Third Reich was willing to conceal the killing of Wilhelm Gusloff (Steinweis 472). Killed by a Jewish medical student around the time of the

Berlin Olympics, the leader of Switzerland’s Nazi party was never given the same martyrdom.

Having recognized this missed opportunity to provoke animosity, the Nazi propagandists made sure to promote an uprising of hatred with the murder of vom Rath. Herschel Grynszpan, in an act of revenge, inadvertently made himself the figurehead the Third Reich needed for their

“delusional mentality” about the Jews (Steinweis 472). With vom Rath’s shooting, the Third

Reich would orchestrate a “show trial” of sorts to magnify the crime against the Nazi party.

The propaganda […] was designed to operate not rationally but viscerally, and it was itself the process of a mind that was not rational, but rather that was imprisoned inside an anti- Semitic worldview (Steinweis, 475). 26 The Nazi party successfully acted on a primal hate within the German people, leading to a night egregious enough to find newspapers’ front pages and acts of violence noted in history books.

“Germans Attack Jews to Avenge Paris Shooting”

Placed on page eighteen of the newspaper, this lengthy article addressing the Jewish persecution abroad fully fleshes out the horrors of the propaganda’s influence on German citizenry. The events on November 8 in Germany coincided with the U.S. midterm elections of

1938, with the result that the full report was placed on page eighteen, while every page before it was filled with congressional election news. The twelve-graf article from Sigrid Schultz, subheded “Vicious War of Reprisal Led by Hitler,” reports the state of German Jews and the delicate, temporary defense they lost after Herschel Grynszpan’s shooting. The events reported proceed the official -10 termed Kristallnacht.

BERLIN, Nov. 8.—The fear that has been gnawing at the hearts of all Jews ever since one of their own faith killed , Nazi leader in Switzerland, has turned into tragic reality for the Jews who still live in pan-Germany. They have known for years that if any attempt against the life of a German was made by a Jew they would suffer violent reprisals from the anti- Semitic groups. (“Germans Attack Jews”)

Referring to the acts of violence and disturbance as “Nazi reprisal,” Schultz reports the first Nazi-instigated act of an angered citizenry.

Kessel was the first town to vent its rage. Jews were driven out of their homes and herded together in a public square, where a fire hose was turned on them. The drenched Jews then were chased into the icy basements of a brewery. (“Germans Attack Jews”)

The moral depravity occurring in Hitler’s Germany is clear. Without the specific clarification of the Nazis’ involvement, the article allows the reader to interpret that citizens of 27 Germany are now becoming the persecutors with motivation from the government. A witness, termed an “official communique,” is then quoted referring to Grynszpan’s shooting as a “

‘cowardly attempted murder’ ” (“Germans Attack Jews”). This portrays the widespread anti-

Semitic account of the event now existing among the German people. The sixth graf details further widespread “reprisals” against the Jews in Germany while also detailing how law enforcement was made an odd go-between.

In Berlin many stores owned by Jews were closed this afternoon in fear of attack. Some Jewish restaurants and coffee houses were closed by the police “to restrict the possibility of clashes.” (“Germans Attack Jews”)

From this account, it seems the German police might be protecting Jews, but it soon follows that German police have “confiscated” the arms of Jews throughout Berlin. Schultz frames the quotes from the chief of police in a way that properly establishes his view of

“dangerous Jews” as another sign of anti-Semitic propaganda (“Germans Attack Jews”). The reality of a Nazi Germany disarming an already weakened, targeted people is delivered in this article without obstruction through direct quotations and well-developed writing. From the quote from the Berlin chief of police in the seventh graf, it is clear all government actions have sinister intentions as they work under the guise of protective services.

“The result shows clearly,” it was said, “what a great amount of arms were and are still in Berlin. The action netted 2,560 knives or knuckles, 1,702 firearms, and 20,000 rounds of ammunition” (“Germans Attack Jews”).

Besides the general likelihood the figures are falsified, it is clear the head of the police in

Germany’s capital was compromised by Nazi beliefs and orders. Citizens and officials alike worked to frame the Jews as the aggressors. Schultz makes it clear that the Jews are the real victims, describing the forced disbandment and suspension of various Jewish community organizations. Knowing this was a step toward implementing the Final Solution and getting 28 support for it from the German people, “Hitler listened to the report of the attempt on the life of vom Rath in Paris ‘with ominous silence and calm’ ” (“Germans Attack Jews”). Apart from exemplifying the various ways European Jews were being needlessly persecuted, the article shows in the tenth and eleventh grafs the government ramped up to further ostracize Jews and how the Third Reich quickly—within days—escalated the shooting into an all-out manhunt on a people.

The anti-Semitic leaders asked Hitler to forbid Jews to change residences without police permission. They demanded that Jews be compelled to register with the police daily, the same as enemy aliens had to register with the police in wartime. A decree forbidding Aryans to associate with Jews also was urged by anti-Semitic leaders who want Aryans to be branded as traitors if they continue their private or business friendships with Jews. It was expected that many Jews will be arrested in Germany in the next twenty-four hours as a result of an official order to investigate “the possibility of connections between the Paris assassin and Jews in Germany” (“Germans Attack Jews”).

The editors and publishers did their civic duty of putting it in print for all to see. The article details the very real dangers of living as a Jew in Europe. Though run in the same day’s newspaper as the U.S. midterm election results, the article may have still been given a moderate amount of attention by readers.

“Mobs Wreck Jewish Stores in Berlin”

A day after “Germans Attack Jews to Avenge Paris Shooting” the Tribune published its front-page feature “Mobs Wreck Jewish Stores in Berlin” on November 10, 1938. The subhed

“RAIDERS LOOT SHOPS; CARRY OFF OCCUPANTS” follows with the additional dek

“ Smashed and Set Afire,” the smallest of the headlines. The real reason for this widespread terrorization against Jews is not mentioned until the third graf: Ernst vom Rath died on November 9 after a series of unsuccessful blood transfusions. The main aggressors of the 29 vandalism are described in the lede as “wrecking gangs in civilian clothes” who were “armed with crowbars.” The rest of the article details the various demonstrations against Jews in Berlin,

Munich, and even mentions the town of Hersfeld. The anti-Semitism had turned pervasive and outright, warranting the frontpage headline that even the editors of the Tribune could not deny.

Sectioned off by the in-text subhed “Nazis Wreck Synagogue,” the fourth through sixth grafs specifically describe a large group of uniformed Nazis sifting through a burned synagogue to incinerate whatever surviving religious paraphernalia they might find.

On Wittenbergplatz Nazis burned part of the decorations and the altar cloths of a synagogue. A small dark pile of the burned material was still glowing at 5 o’clock this morning. The inside of the synagogue has been smashed to pieces. Police held back those who were trying to catch a glimpse of the wreckage. The Nazis hired thirty taxis on the Doenhoffplatz at 2 a.m. and drove to the synagogue, which was in the West End. They emerged a few minutes later carrying out in triumph an embroidered cloth and other decorations and drove back to Wittenbergplatz. They bought gasoline from a taxi driver and set fire to the synagogue’s decorations. The Nazis then traveled down Tauentzienstrasse where Jewish shops were being smashed by the wrecking gangs (“Mobs Wreck Jewish Stores in Berlin”).

The article is the top story on the frontpage, but the headlines still undersell the magnitude of the events; the dek being the most appalling information. The editors invalidated their own choice for top of the frontpage headline by picking a headline that fits the space but does not do the story justice.

“Hitler Seizes 20,000 Jews”

The next day the Chicago Tribune continued its accurate and proper publicizing of the events abroad with the frontpage headline, “Hitler Seizes 20,000 Jews.” This November 11, 1938 article, also by Sigrid Schultz, is subheded, “Homes Burned; Stores Looted; Terror Reigns” with 30 a dek, “Mobs Run Wild in German Streets.” The article below describes absolute terrorization spearheaded by a government body that is leading Jewish people to commit suicide. The editors had to do something to minimize the alarming information being reported by Schultz. The in-text subheds of “Police are Unconcerned,” “20 Destroyed,” “Banker and Wife End

Lives,” “Chase Elderly Jews,” “U.S. Cameraman Seized,” “Attack Department Store,”

“Wrecking Begins at 2 a.m.,” “Raid Candy Shop,” and “Warns Jews to Get Out” paint an obvious picture of the societal disarray. The lede and nut graf are explicit in their portrayal of the chaos reigning over Germany.

BERLIN, Nov. 10 —Systematic destruction of Jewish property, looting, arson, and wholesale arrests of Jews without official charges swept Germany today. It is estimated that 20,000 Jews were arrested in Germany and what was Austria. The Nazi Violence far outdid anything that happened along this line in Germany during the Red revolution. Then hungry mobs stormed food stores. Today the mobs gloated over the smashed stores of Jews. They helped themselves to clothes, furs, and toys, and scattered the goods in the streets for their friends to pick up. (“Hitler Seizes 20,000 Jews”)

From there the tales of atrocity and prejudice range from stories of Nazis arresting uncharged Jews to elderly Jewish couples being chased down and beaten in the streets. This article is also the first to mention Jewish people getting arrested and carted off to concentration camps. The tail-end of the article even features a map of Germany and German annexations, pointing out the many cities where these acts of violence took place. Below it the caption reads:

Thousands of Jews were arrested in Germany yesterday as Nazi rioters raided, looted and burned Jewish homes, stores and synagogues. Map shows some of the cities in which violence occurred. Jews were ordered to get out of or enter a concentration camp (“Hitler Seizes 20,000 Jews).

As if the previous descriptions of widespread terror were not enough of a warning, the final few grafs of the article quote another newspaper proclaiming Jewish people should “clear out of Vienna as quickly as possible.” Indeed Schultz made it clear the Jewish people were beyond unwanted in Europe due to Nazi-led anti-Semitism, facing a threat of absolute slaughter. 31 “Germany Puts Hundreds of Jews in Camps”

The Sigrid Schultz coverage continues as she delivers onsite accounts, but the editors and publishers were well aware she had been given two frontpage headlines. “Germany Puts

Hundreds of Jews in Camps,” the headline on Schultz’ November 11 correspondence, was placed on page five of the Tribune in the November 12, 1938 edition. It picks up right where the previous day’s article left off. By the first in-text subhed and the third graf following, the article disproves its own headline, as Schultz reports “it was expected about 1,200 of the prisoners will be sent to concentration camps” (“Germany Puts Hundreds of Jews in Camps”). This number is further increased in graf thirteen, which starts out, “In Vienna 1,000 Jews were placed on trains tonight.” Indeed, no large figure stated in the article is in the hundreds, only the thousands.

Perhaps the editors, in a rush to print, completely disregarded the statements including: “about

25,000 Jews have been arrested throughout Germany” and “the 2,000 Jews still living in

Koenigsberg received orders to clear out within two weeks.” The error, when viewed in the context of historical events, is deplorable.

There is no doubt the full scale of the persecution of Jews was widely known among editors and publishers. Prior to the U.S. getting involved in the war, American newsmen and women were facing a dilemma: publicize the news and incite war or play it safe? Newsmen on domestic soil did not want to be blamed for a disillusioned America being brought into foreign conflicts. 32 Chapter 4

A Woman to Inform the Masses

Ignoring standards and making her own rules, Sigrid Schultz made a name for herself in a man’s world. Less than five feet tall, Schultz met with members of the Nazi party, avoided confrontations with Gestapo, and openly defied them. She survived a terrible bout of , endured a shrapnel injury while performing warfront reporting, and shook hands with Adolf

Hitler. A picture of ferocity and fearlessness, Sigrid Schultz was the woman on the frontlines single-handedly keeping U.S. civilians updated on Nazi atrocities.

Schultz was Correspondent in Chief of the Berlin Bureau of the Chicago Tribune from

1926 to 1940, but started working for the paper in 1919 (Edwards 60). She was the first woman to be a foreign bureau chief for a major American newspaper (Edwards 63). She was a fierce proponent of the truth reaching the pages of the Chicago Tribune, whether or not publisher

Robert McCormick supported its possible political implications. Her reporting of the news was so impeccably done, the articles couldn’t be wholly ignored. Their power seethed on page one and page eighteen alike as editors struggled to limit the impact of their hard-hitting news. Known to hold parties to which Nazi leaders were invited, Schultz didn’t shy away from the enemy, but plunged right into their political lives and their social lives (Edwards 65).

A specific instance exemplifies her ferocity. Journalists in Germany had to be especially cautious in finding and transmitting information, but they also had to avoid giving the Nazis a reason to arrest them. Chief of the Secret Police Hermann Goering, a common attendee of

Schultz’s gatherings, had developed a practice of “seducing correspondents into reporting military secrets, whereupon he proposed to arrest them and stage spectacular espionage trials”

(Edwards 65). Ron Grossman, the longtime columnist at the Chicago Tribune, brought up an 33 occasion when Schultz did not shy away from confrontation, even with Nazi officials. After avoiding the Gestapo by burning incriminating evidence planted in her house, Schultz confronted

Goering at a hotel luncheon about his attempt to entrap her. Describing the events from the night in Julia Edwards’ book Women of the World, Schultz herself remembers speaking to Goering “

‘as if exchanging chitchat about the opera’ ” when asserting herself to the Nazi official (66).

During a time when “so little was expected of women,” Schultz showed cunning and courage that her male counterparts did not (Edwards 64).

After leaving her position at the Berlin Bureau and taking a short break from work in

1940, Schultz quickly wanted to return. The paper turned her down and with the free time she had while back in the U.S., Schultz wrote Germany Will Try It Again. Published in 1944, the book echoes her Tribune articles in solemnity, but she also conveys a personal fearfulness. In this publication, she breaks down the Nazi party to its core: an unequivocal evil made possible through a desperate German people. Unlike many reporters who underestimated Hitler during his rise to power, thinking him a joke, Schultz stresses the sinister nature of the leader. Describing what she calls “the Hitler system” of attaining government power, Step Four: Intimidation details how “Hitler’s favorite mottoes, ‘Terrify them, and you rule them,’ served him well, as it did all through his career, both at home and on the international front” (Germany Will Try It

Again 74). Schultz credits Hitler for his ability to earn his government platform through a proper election by the people and then subsequently invade other nations and become a dictator. She states her disdain for the journalists who belittled Hitler’s potential when he was vying for the chancellorship. She cites multiple occasions where his motives were made clear, specifically recalling his statements at a small party. He became boisterous in speaking to the room, gaining a certain level of confidence as he proclaimed that “ ‘by compelling even the hesitant to become 34 accomplices in acts of violence, you automatically make them your slaves’ ” (Germany Will Try

It Again 81). The danger Hitler posed was never a secret, it was just ignored.

Having been in Germany in the years immediately following WWI, Schultz gives a firsthand account of Germany’s government transitioning from a weak republic to a democratically elected Third Reich. In her telling she shows no restraint in her disgust towards the unnerving, unpredictable nature of the Nazi party. She describes the party in terms of a hive mind: “With the war lost, there was no need for lengthy meetings to decide what they should do.

Their minds ran in the same channels. Comparatively few plans and instructions confirmed each man in his place and function” (Germany Will Try It Again 45). Explaining that their power was first firmly held through their manipulation of the economy, she asserts that this monetary revival is where the “destruction of Germany’s moral fiber” started (Germany Will Try It Again

68). This account is more heartbreaking when she verifies the Nazis’ lack of personal stake in their hatred of Jewish people. There was little to their reasoning other than that they found Jews to be “convenient scapegoats for all past and present wrongs” (Germany Will Try It Again 54).

Schultz exposes the Third Reich’s anti-Semitic hatred as a simple but effective component of their political platform they used to gain support. She details specific cases where Jewish people were not wholly excluded from Nazi circles. Like any tyrannical dictator, Hitler was a hypocrite.

In fact, Hitler “didn’t mind the Jews being Jewish as long as they were useful,” though Schultz later clarifies that the Nazis’ “use of Jews does not in the least reduce the Nazi inhumanity against Jews whom they do not consider ‘useful’ ” (Germany Will Try It Again 80,83). These limited acts of mercy fooled those eager to keep their faith in humanity, as Jewish people “did not believe the Nazis really meant to disfranchise them—that was just ‘election talk’ ” (Germany

Will Try It Again 80). This underestimation of a threat proved tragic. 35

Chapter 5

A Stress for Understanding

The months following the events of what became Kristallnacht were full of floundering reporting on the Chicago Tribune’s part. With the strain of unmistakable persecution occurring on the European front, the paper was hard-pressed to spread anymore stories of atrocity that could compromise citizens’ isolationist sentiments. What followed the heyday of Sigrid

Schultz’s front-page reporting and nearly unobstructed truth-telling was a myriad of AP Wire snippets and unattributed clips scattered about the pages, crammed into the miniature open- spaces and acting as little more than filler.

“Let Persecuted Jews into U.S., Ford Advocates”

Given a page-two placement, this article with the dateline “, Mich., Nov. 30—

[Special.]” was featured in the December 1, 1938 edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune.

Featuring the subhed “Industry Could Absorb Them, He Says” the article gives a four-graf introduction to a seven-graf direct quotation from Henry Ford. The known anti-Semitic businessman is referred to in the article as simply a “financier” and “automobile manufacturer” without any discussion of his previous prejudicial actions and statements. Avoiding proper attribution connecting him to Nazism and anti-Jewish hate, the article introduces his statements in a way that seems almost wholly ignorant of Ford’s quite public anti-Semitism. The lede declares he’s an advocate for “persecuted German Jews” entering the United States, so that 36 “industry could absorb them” (“Let Persecuted Jews into U.S.”). The nut graf continues that Ford

“particularly deplored any campaign of hate” from German leaders (“Let Persecuted Jews into

U.S.”). The article only offhandedly mentions any involvement between Ford and Nazi

Germany.

Mr. Ford alluded to his acceptance of a Nazi decoration conferred on him last July 30 on hi seventy-fifth birthday. A representative of Adolf Hitler’s government presented to him the grand cross of the German eagle on that occasion. No Sympathy for Naziism. Acceptance of the medal, the automobile manufacturer said, indicated no sympathy on his part with Nazism. (“Let Persecuted Jews into U.S.”)

His full quotation follows. Compared to the typical news found in the Ford-owned newspaper The Dearborn Independent, its contents are highly edited and refined. One of the subheds planted among his quotes explains how he thinks Jewish people “show ability and loyalty,” a sentiment highly conflicting with his previously established views. The scale of

Henry Ford’s anti-Semitic affiliations is no secret and never was a secret. Hasia Diner, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University, addressed Ford’s anti-Semitism and connections with Nazis in a detailed interview with PBS. Using his hometown newspaper, which he bought out and used as a vessel to spread hate, Ford published The Protocols of the Elders of

Zion, which alleges an “international Jewish conspiracy” (“Ford’s Anti-Semitism”). Though in the article it appears Ford is trying to brush off his previous honors from Hitler’s regime, Hitler was “very aware of Henry Ford, of Henry Ford’s writings, and praised them” (“Ford’s Anti-

Semitism”). This article’s page-two placement and resemblance to a press release suggests that the Tribune’s owner had approved a publicity stunt of a deal in publishing the story. It is in accordance with Republican-leaning Robert McCormick and Diner’s statement “What Henry

Ford says, people stop and listen” (“Ford’s Anti-Semitism”). The article and his request to 37 protect Jews appears as a publicity stunt done to at least partially cover his tracks as the Nazis’ depravity was becoming more and more widely known.

“Hitler’s Ghetto Decree Revives Medieval Days”

The article is published on page three of the Tribune on December 4, 1938, several days after the Henry Ford story. The subhed reads, “Recalls Segregation of Jews in Walled Areas.”

There is no byline for the seven-graf article. The lede reads as follows:

Reichsfuehrer Hitler took the first step yesterday to send Germany’s Jews back to ghettos. This is a long step backward. Ghettos were common in the cities of Italy and the Teutonic countries for nearly a thousand years, but virtually all were abolished by 1870. Jewish leaders have said there is not, anywhere in the world, a ghetto on the medieval plan today (Hitler’s Ghetto Decree Revives Medieval Days).

The article quickly becomes less of a report on current events and more of an in-depth history lesson. Instead of showing any semblance of investigative journalism, it reads like someone had an informative trip to the library, with information on what Jewish ghettos were like in Prague and their later appearance in Italy and Germany. The article’s contents read more like a refresher course on the meaning of the word “ghetto” and less like a report on what the

Third Reich is orchestrating within Europe. What seems most appalling are the final two grafs of the article, subheded by “Ghettos Places of Refuge.”

While anti-semitism usually is regarded as the basis for ghettos, Jews believe that they were as much refuges as places of persecution in the middle ages. One rabbi, Lippman Heller, claimed credit for his efforts in helping to establish the one in Vienna. Other Jews have believed that the ghettos gave a favorable atmosphere for the cultivation of the Jewish culture. How the term ghetto arose is uncertain. Some historians believe it is a corruption of Giudeica, the Italian word for the residence of Jews (“Hitler’s Ghetto Decree Revives Medieval Days”).

38 This seems to be the most egregious offense in the writing of this article. Europe was on the cusp of a full-on genocide, which was unbeknownst to the majority of the world at the time, and the article makes allegations that this move in Hitler’s master plan can be seen in a positive light. Not even quoting Hitler, it can be perceived as readers at the time would have that this is an attempt at reasoning that the ghettos are an implementation of a protective measure. The referencing of a singular Rabbi’s claim to having founded a ghetto in Vienna from however long ago is an example of poor journalism finding a place on the Chicago Daily Tribune’s page three at the time of an impending world war. The only redeeming aspect of this article is the headline and subhed’s directness.

“Maverick Urges Jews to Battle for Democracy”

Given what appears to be a space less than two inches long, this three-graf excerpt of an article on page two does little to inspire readers to help formally welcome Jews into the United

States. No authorship is designated for the quick snippet of information. The article follows in its entirety:

Congressman Maury Maverick of Texas declared last night that every Jew should fight militantly to preserve democratic and constitutional processes, because only in a democracy can the Jew survive. Representative Maverick, who was defeated in the primaries for renomination, spoke at the K. A. M. temple, 50th street and Drexel boulevard. “The only way we can preserve society is to preserve our civil liberties,” Representative Maverick said. “The Jew must become an active, integral part of the economic and social life of the community, fighting to preserve democratic rights.” Representative Maverick declared the press censorship bill introduced by Senator Sherman Minton [D., Ind.] was unwise. There should be no censorship of press or radio, he said. Although he said he believes President Roosevelt is the greatest President this country has ever had, Representative Maverick declared he believed in the right of Mr. Roosevelt’s opposition to express its opinions freely. (“Maverick Urges Jews to Battle for Democracy”)

39 A few interesting points come out of this. Having lost in the reelection, this Democratic congressman’s opinions on an oppressed people facing severe prejudice are being given a platform in a Republican-leaning newspaper. His proclamations have the goal of invigorating a people, but they fall flat in their obvious grandstanding that shows little regard for actualities and knowledge of a Jewish cultural presence and its opposition. The fact this made the second page at all is impressive. It was a basic assignment to provide speech coverage, which only partially explains the page placement. The article’s motive is likely to have been a bait for readers in its first two grafs for the purpose of getting them to graf three, which criticizes Roosevelt and his support of censorship policies. This article stands as another meager attempt by the Chicago

Tribune to have coverage showing at least a semblance of care for a persecuted people.

40

Chapter 6

The M.S. St. Louis

The story of the MS St. Louis is a month-long affair following the experiences of nearly a thousand German-Jewish refugees. Considering the nature of this voyage and the state of foreign affairs at the time, the Chicago Tribune’s scant coverage of the ongoing story lacks journalistic integrity. As the threat of war mounts at home, the war-provoking headlines get buried. Destined for , Cuba, the ship sailed from Germany in early May 1939 with 937 Jewish refugee passengers who arrived on to the news that Cuba had canceled their landing permits while keeping their payments (“Voyage of the St. Louis”).

The Chicago Tribune’s coverage is abysmal; the three stories published on the fate of the

MS St. Louis are all AP Wire stories and all are found beyond page ten. In “To the Edge of

America,” a qualitative content analysis on the coverage of the MS St. Louis in thirty-nine U.S. newspapers, Catherine Cassara makes note of a suggestion that “Hitler took the world’s reluctance to help the liner’s passengers as a sign no one would protest further persecution of the continent’s Jews” (226). Even though Chicago had the second highest Jewish population in the

U.S. at the time, after New York City, the Chicago Tribune is noted for its minimal coverage of the entire MS St. Louis voyage (Cassara 234, 235). Analysis of the articles show a journalistic duty poorly fulfilled. 41

“Mass Suicides of Jews Feared on Refugee Ship”

This article is found on page twenty-two of the June 1, 1939 edition of the paper. The headline “Mass Suicides of Jews Feared on Refugee Ship” accurately tells the contents of the AP wire article. The subhed “Captain Warns Mutiny Is Threatened” follows. The front page’s top headline was “Labor Board ‘Meddling’ Hit” for an article about labor laws. Another frontpage article reports on the shutdown of slot machines in the Chicago area. One of the headlines lower down on the front page, “Share the Mate Policy Brings a Wife to Court,” details a couple’s poor attempt at having an open marriage. As verified with the news summary on the frontpage, “Mass

Suicides of Jews on Refugee Ship” is placed on the same page as the local obituaries and an article on new public transit developments. The nut graf opens strongly with horrifying information.

HAVANA, Cuba, —(AP)—Capt. Gustav Schroeder of the German liner St. Louis informed authorities today that he feared a collective suicide pact among his 917 German Jewish refugee passengers, who are scheduled to sail back to with him tomorrow after being denied entry to Cuba. (“Mass Suicides of Jews”)

The notion of a “collective suicide pact” immediately heightens anxiety in the reader. The third graf reports that the Cuban president’s chief aide visited the ship after reports were made that “hundreds of the refugees were threatening to take their lives if the ship sailed back to

Germany” (“Mass Suicides of Jews”). More macabre news follows in graf four:

Twenty-five police were sent aboard the liner to guard others from any attempted self- destruction after Max Loewe, one of the refugees, slashed his wrists and jumped overboard yesterday. He was rescued and is recovering. The ship’s doctor said another passenger who became ill probably had taken poison. (“Mass Suicides of Jews”)

Perhaps due to this horrific news in a time of the U.S. government debating a censorship policy, this article containing graphic reporting was shoved back to page twenty-two for the sake 42 of readers’ sensitivity. While this may have been a partial reason for it, a more probable cause is the newspaper’s own political leanings and fear of causing an uproar. The tragedy of the article’s report escalates in graf six:

The refugees were refused permission to disembark on arrival last Saturday when they were unable to show Cuban consular visas, passports, or Cuban labor department permits as required by a decree of . They had only provisional permits of the immigration department to land as passengers en route to the United States, where they hoped to gain admission later. The refugees asserted they were unaware when they left Germany of the decree of May 5. (“Mass Suicides of Jews”)

The Jewish peoples’ desire for any land to find salvation is tangible. The chance to immigrate to Cuba was taken eagerly and with few to no other options. Sadly, Cuba would be just another country where Jews were to be ostracized and shunned (Cassara 229). News of the refugee ship had spread rapidly before it even set sail, with “right-wing Cuban newspapers [that] deplored its impending arrival” requesting that “the Cuban government cease admitting Jewish refugees” (“Voyage of the St. Louis). There were no limits to the anti-Semitism raging throughout the world. With little hope left, the refugees were boarding a ship they were unaware had already been doomed. “The passengers, who held landing certificates and transit visas issued by the Cuban Director-General of Immigration, did not know that Cuban President Federico

Laredo Bru had issued a decree just a week before the ship sailed that invalidated all recently issued landing certificates,” leaving the Jewish refugees stranded by the time of their arrival

(“Voyage of the St. Louis”). The obscene apathy coming from world leaders after full knowledge of the previous events is followed by the fact that “President Laredo Bru held firm to his decision not to receive the refugees” (“Mass Suicides of Jews”). The whole world, as shown through the events detailed in the article and the article’s page twenty-two placement itself, had turned its back on an entire people. 43

“Haven—for Cash: Cuba May Alter Laws to Allow Jews to Enter”

Several days later this June 5, 1939 article of eight grafs presents a smorgasbord of information that shows the refugees’ unstable situation as they lived in purgatory on the ship.

The lede is full of noncommittal diction that clarifies the full scope of the headline’s usage of

“may,” but then has one question the positivity exuded by the subhed “Hope for 907 on Ship

Gets New Boost” (“Haven—for Cash”).

HAVANA, June 3.—(AP)—A possibility that 907 refugee German Jews on the homeward-bound German liner St. Louis might be permitted to land in Cuba after once being turned down was disclosed semi-officially tonight (“Haven—for Cash”).

The AP writer’s work must be applauded, as they found a way to use “possibility,”

“might be permitted” and “semi-officially” in one sentence and it is still rather coherent

(“Haven—for Cash”). The use of all these phrases and terms convey the low probability of help on the horizon. It does, though, show that the thought of aiding these refugees definitely crossed at least one Cuban official’s mind. Due to this report’s lack of news, the page eleven placement of this article can be forgiven. The article’s discussion of what the president of Cuba loosely plans on enacting to aid the refugees proves the AP was beyond giving anyone false hope. The story reports that Cuba’s treasury was “considering” a new immigration policy to allow refugees to stay no more than three months and then require from them a “$500 bond if they wished to remain” (“Haven—for Cash”). The real scam is only fully understood if one remembers that prior to boarding the ship in Hamburg, the refugee Jews had worked out other monetary deals with landing certificates that were nullified by the Cuban government after the transactions already went through (Cassara 229). Once one gets to grafs four and five, it was obvious the anti-

Semitism of the world could be cured overnight if greed was appeased. 44

The liner, which had left Hamburg , sailed back for Germany from Havana yesterday morning under orders of President Bru. The ship, however, did not proceed immediately for its home port, but cruised close to Havana in hopes that some solution to the problem would be found. Cuban authorities held that the refugees did not have proper landing papers. Today there came an offer of haven from the Dominican Republic’s government on condition that each refugee pay $500 tax to reside permanently in the country. (“Haven—for Cash”)

The German government made their savings inaccessible and now a Caribbean nation was demanding $9,000 from each person (“CPI Inflation Calculator”). The helping hand reaching out came with a price tag and the refugees were unable to foot the bill. With each passing day the hope of these displaced persons dwindled. Though the MS St. Louis is the most widely referenced ship of Jewish refugees noted by scholars and history textbooks alike, other ships roamed the Atlantic Ocean looking for salvation. In a massive understatement, the subhed

“Another Ship Sails” precedes the final three grafs of the article. Detailing the extended voyage of another refugee ship, the steamship Flandre which carried 104 Jews, the article mentions the plight of others seeking aid. It would be easy to believe many American citizens were unaware of the various attempts at survival European Jews were making if all they read was the Chicago

Tribune. Only a hint of this wide-reaching effort to escape persecution is mentioned in the seventh graf of a page-eleven article.

“Ship Sails Back with 907 Jews Who Fled Nazis”

Appearing in the paper two days later on June 7, 1939 on page twelve of the Tribune, the article “Ship Sails Back with 907 Jews Who Fled Nazis” is a brief six grafs and placed alongside articles reporting a basement fire and the unveiling of a Will Rogers statue. The subhed reads

“Starts Return After Cuba Shuts Doors Again.” The article is a combination of two AP Wire 45 service reports, the first from Miami on June 6 and the second from New York on June 7. The article tells the tragedy of the ship’s voyage as it was denied entry into Cuba and the United

States, “Their hopes of landing in the new world dashed by the Cuban government’s refusal for the second time to give them asylum” (“Ship Sails Back”). The third and fourth graf of the June

6 Miami wire service report is subheded “Ship Wanders for Days” as it describes the end of the journey as the captain decided to sail back to Europe. If not heartbreaking enough, the second portion of the article from the New York wire service on June 7 is subheded “Renew Plea to

Roosevelt” and tells of the passengers’ last-ditch effort to find humanity in the Americas. The ship had set its course for Europe, but its slow approach up the coast on its journey back led to a final entreaty to the United States.

New York, June 7 [Wednesday]—(AP)—With the German liner St. Louis reporting she had set her course for a return to Europe with 907 Jewish refugees, a committee of passengers today renewed an appeal to President Roosevelt for last minute intervention. This message was wirelessed from the vessel by the passenger committee: “Cabling President Roosevelt, repeating urgent appeal for help for the passengers of the St. Louis. Help them, Mr. President, the 900 passengers, of which more than 400 are women and children.” (“Ship Sails Back”)

The message shows their pleading in a final effort to appeal to the president’s humanity.

Even the fact that nearly half the passengers were women and children would not soften the world leader to accept any of the disenfranchised refugees.

The Outcome of the Failed Voyage

Due to the Jewish Defense Committee negotiating with European leaders, as the St. Louis neared Europe passengers were notified they would not be returning to Hamburg (Cassara 231).

The passengers were divided up between England, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France while 46

“all four countries stressed they were responding to a humanitarian crisis and their actions should not be understood to set any precedents” (Cassara 231). England accepted 288 passengers, while

Belgium accepted 214 passengers and the Netherlands took in 181 passengers (“Voyage of the

St. Louis”). France allowed 224 passengers temporary refuge (“Voyage of the St. Louis”). Only those who found salvation in England were safe from Nazi persecution. The other passengers

“passed into oblivion,” as the news coverage in the West ended: “More was known about the fate of the ship, which was destroyed by the Germans after the war, than was known about the people forever connected to her name” (Cassara 235). “Ship Sails Back With 907 Jews Who Fled

Nazis” was the last article in the Chicago Tribune to report on fate of the MS St. Louis and its passengers.

47

Chapter 7

Post-Pearl Harbor Coverage

The U.S. decided to join the war after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7,

1941. Though the aggressor was Japan, Roosevelt was sure to prioritize Germany in defeating the Axis powers and winning the war. This only magnifies the fact the U.S. was cognizant of the

Third Reich’s brutality. The sparse coverage of Nazi Germany’s persecution of European Jews can be attributed to the ushering out of foreign correspondents, but even with the entrance of the

U.S. into the war, there was a strong hesitancy to believe the reports coming from abroad.

Until Pearl Harbor many people in the United States read the reports of Nazi atrocities as if they were detective or horror stories, causing some gooseflesh but not to be taken too seriously. Even after Pearl Harbor there were those, including many reporters wary of being duped, who rejected these “tales.” (Lipstadt 140)

In a search of the Chicago Tribune’s archive for the years between the U.S. declaration of war and the end of World War II, updates of the genocide were few and far between.

“Claim Thousands of Jews Killed in Nazi Held Lands”

This snippet of information is the pinnacle of unforgivable, beyond minimalist journalism. A long-delayed numerical update from the November 12, 1938 article “Germany

Puts Hundreds of Jews in Camps,” this report only begins to show just how dire the situation had gotten by April 6, 1942.

KUIBYSHEV, Russia, April 5 (AP)—The anti-Fascist Jewish committee reported today the Germans have killed 86,000 Jews in and around Minsk, 25,000 at Odessa, and “tens of thousands” in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

48

The page-eight placement of this story completely nullifies the pressing issue it’s publicizing. At the time of publication, attention was largely directed at Japan and reporting the war efforts on that front. Another factor in the delivery of such a miniscule report is the Russian sourcing of information and the strained relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

“Charge Germans Make Poland a Jewish Abattoir”

Published on December 20, 1942, this six-graf article with a subhed “Shootings,

Electrocutions, Gas Killings Told” is on page eighteen. Perhaps this is a case in which the reader’s sensitivity was accounted for in judging where to put such reports of absolute horror.

That day’s front page is full of articles about the war effort. There is no shying away from this article’s reportage. From the lede it is evident this reading is not for the faint hearted.

London, Dec. 20 [Sunday]—(AP)—The interallied information committee today said the Germans have transformed Poland “into one vast center for murdering Jews” by mass shootings, electrocutions, and lethal gas and that 99 per cent of the Jews who lived in Jugo-Slavia or took refuge there are dead. (“Charge Germans Make Poland a Jewish Abattoir”)

Continuing the rundown of information from the committee of allied governments in

London, the third graf declares that two million European Jews “have been deported or have perished.” Information is given on multiple death camps in Poland, including Warsaw, Chelmno and Belzec, and the different methods that were being implemented to kill mass quantities of

Jewish people. The fifth graf addresses the widespread doubt while stressing the reality of the increasing rate of murder: “actual data concerning the fate of the deportees is not at hand, but the news is available—irrefutable news—that places of execution have been organized” (“Charge 49

Germans Make Poland a Jewish Abattoir”). The article ends with the committee’s assessment of the state of Nazi-invaded European countries and their Jewish populations.

BELGIUM—Increasing stringent anti-Jewish measures, with forced labor and mass deportations. CZECHO-SLOVAKIA—Of about 95,000 Jews in Slovakia at the time of the German occupation, 65,000 have been deported to Polish ghettos. FRANCE—In a roundup in July, Jews were dragged from homes and hospitals in Paris and thrown into filthy camps; 10,000 “foreign” Jews in former unoccupied France deported. GREECE—Eight thousand Jews sent to labor camps. NETHERLANDS—About 180,000 Jews lived here, but “it is the avowed intention of Germans to see that by the end of 1943 there won’t be a single Jew left in the Netherlands.” NORWAY—Jews have been beaten and their property taken; all Jews in Oslo have been arrested. (“Charge Germans Make Poland a Jewish Abattoir”)

Three of the four European countries where the MS St. Louis passengers were accepted—Belgium, France, and the Netherlands—are on this list detailing the status of Jewish persecution across the continent. Perhaps the blatant disregard the United States had for hundreds of desperate Jewish refugees waiting on the coast and the news of their dreadful fate influenced decisions on the publication of this informational, honest and horrific AP wire story.

“Report Nazis Plan to Wipeout All Jews”

Running in the paper on Christmas day 1942, this three-graf article was sent by wireless to the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune from Jerusalem, Palestine on December 24. The article is found on page eight and right below it is an alert “Bandits Take Mink Coat, Jewels.”

Although their article placement can be attributed to the date—Christmas Eve— it is clear the editors and publishers arranged the paper for the owner’s approval. This meant an America at war should direct its attention to the Pacific, not Europe. Besides the egregious placement of the report, the language is bizarre at times in the nut graf: 50

Hitler’s fresh plans for final extermination of the remnants of Jewish communities in Nazi Europe are given today in what purports to be authoritative information reaching official Jewish quarters in Jerusalem from underground channels thru neutral countries. It is stated that the Nazis now are concentrating Jews within ghettos in 53 towns in Poland where their methodical annihilation is to be undertaken. Any Jew found outside these ghettos will be shot. (“Report Nazis Plan New Measures to Wipe Out All Jews”)

The use of the word “fresh” is inappropriate in reference to Hitler’s strategies to commit genocide. Referring to Jewish communities as being “remnants” in the same sentence as the

“fresh plans” creates a grotesque tone for the article. The writer continues with this odd word choice by calling the Final Solution a “methodical annihilation.” A sensitivity is necessary in reporting on such grim current events. Due to little improvement in coverage over the course of the next few years of U.S. war involvement, this is the last article examined. It is an exemplification of the blatant disregard the newspaper had for a whole people and the persecution taking place in an enemy country.

51

Chapter 8

Piecing it Together

To do their duty and promote the widespread dissemination of news, the editors and publishers of the paper needed to make “an effort—whether to help refugees or derail genocide—which never came” (Cassara 227). The U.S. was able to receive wireless reports from their foreign correspondents and access the AP wire stories, but this resulted in fragments of information. Peter Novick, writer of The Holocaust in American Life, is lenient in describing the apathy of an isolationist America, explaining that blame cannot be pinned on the American people as a whole. Only readers able to piece together bits of information reported over a lengthy timeline could have possibly surmised the scale of the events taking place in Europe. The firm approach Deborah Lipstadt adopted in her analysis of the era’s print news coverage properly criticizes the newsmen. Considering Germany’s widespread implementation of death camps, work camps, torture, and murder, information was not confidential. Foreign correspondents and

American visitors in Europe alike were aware of the severity of Nazis’ persecution of people they deemed undesirable. Though anti-Semitism was a uniting factor in the world’s shared inaction to help the Jews, evidence it was a matter of apathy builds when considering the Third

Reich also campaigned against gay people, gypsies and mentally deficient individuals.

Although the Chicago Tribune continued to do the bare minimum in reporting and give the odds and ends of the big picture, it failed to deliver an investigative report on the terror mounting in Europe. The American people were kept unaware of the scope of events, left to surmise the grand scheme of things on their own with the three to eight-graf long articles that occasionally reached the front page or would end up past page ten. The paper did a poor job of 52 consistent reportage and for that reason U.S. leaders’ inaction aiding Europe was conducive to

American citizens’ obliviousness. Journalists are the watchdogs, the informants of the people.

Their mission is to report and update citizens on the events of the world. The Chicago Tribune neglected its primary role, depriving its readers of a full understanding of the reign of terror

Europe became under the rule of Nazi Germany. Without a push from the American people, U.S. leaders diverted their attention elsewhere to matters the American people felt a stake in. For that reason, the paper failed American citizens and in turn the U.S. government failed the Jewish refugees.

53

Chapter 9

Conclusion

Of course, blame for America’s lack of involvement cannot be placed upon the Chicago

Tribune alone. Various papers across the U.S. did not properly inform their readers of the scale of the persecution that ravaged the European continent; however, the Chicago Tribune, among other news organizations of its reach, is unique in its lack of transparency and failure to admit fault. The Associated Press news agency issued a thorough report in 2017 on their flawed WWII- era dealings with German propaganda. As another example of transparency, the New York Times issued an apology in 2001 for its failure to report on the persecution of Jews. The New York

Times also apologized in 2004 for the less severe but still egregious errors in their reporting on the Iraq War. They make it a point to recognize the value in not only being a watchdog of the government, but being able to perform this duty on their own work as informants. One of the most pivotal elements of a news organization is their ability to admit error and to correct it. The critical lens the news puts on the world must be held up to the news itself.

The Chicago Tribune should write an apology that offers full transparency in an evaluation of the newspaper’s coverage of Jewish persecution under the ownership of Robert

McCormick. As seen with the Associated Press’ report Covering Tyranny: The AP and Nazi

Germany 1933-1945 published in 2017, it is not too late to offer self-investigative information on the World War II period. The least the paper can do is issue a brief apology that acknowledges its poor performance as a major U.S. newspaper. 54

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ACADEMIC VITA

Audrey Sakhnovsky

SUMMARY: Detail-oriented Journalism and English student with: • Assorted media marketing and client relations experience • Ability to work collaboratively and independently to reach deadlines • Strong writing, reporting, interviewing and editing skills; AP style proficiency

EDUCATION:

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, Schreyer Honors College, University Park, PA B.A. Journalism, B.A. English; Psychology Minor, graduated May 2019

THE EVAN PUGH SCHOLAR SENIOR AWARD March 2018 Academic achievement award given to juniors and seniors in the upper 0.5 percent of their respective classes who have completed at least 48 graded Penn State credits

WRITING/PR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS INTERN Fall 2017–Present EXPERIENCE: for PSU Center for the Performing Arts • Writing radio copy, assorted content for the website, and 16 press releases for showcase acts and other planned community events • Conducting interviews for promotional pieces, including feature articles interviewing Yo-Yo Ma and a podcast with a Penn State alumna Jersey Boys cast member • Assisting in the planning, local promotion and managing of community events INTERN for Dvir Productions January 2019–Present • Intern with assistant Penn State professor Boaz Dvir's documentary film production company involving transcription writing, script writing, and providing editing critique for films including “A Wing and a Prayer,” “COJOT,” and other works • Assisting in the filming and production of upcoming documentary project “NeuroD1,” following the research of local Penn State scientist trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease

ACCOUNT ASSOCIATE for Happy Valley Communications Jan. 2017-May 2018 Student-run public relations firm that represents local businesses in the State College, Pa., area by working with the business owners to help in promotion and marketing • Penn State Racing: Circulated email pitches to facilitate in-class promotion; reorganized and redesigned the Corporate Sponsorship Packet; wrote social media content, media pitches, and wrote the press release for their car unveiling event

• The Barn at Lemont: Gardening Center & Natural Market: Created graphics for event and product posts on Instagram and Facebook; facilitated community and campus outreach by connecting with local media outlets, sending pitch email to student clubs; conducted market research

ACADEMIC BLOGGING Fall 2015-Spring 2016/Fall 2018-Present PROJECTS: • Created a ‘passion blog’ with 11 posts focusing on film score composers and their directorial pairings, as well as films with specially crafted soundtracks • Started a website specifically discussing recent film scores and profiles of notable film score composers CREATIVE WRITING PORTFOLIO Spring 2016 • Constructed a writing portfolio that included the rough, peer-edited, and finalized drafts of a fictional short story, nonfiction memoir, and three varieties of poems.

ACTIVITIES: VOLUNTEER for North Fulton Community Charities July 2017-Present • Working in the Food Pantry, filling orders for food and household items for families in need • Organizing and stocking produce, toiletries, and other assorted items donated by grocery stores and community members SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE STUDENT COUNCIL Spring 2017-Fall 2017 • Group of Schreyer students dedicated to planning student-centered events, community outreach, and volunteer work