The Jewish Trail of Tears the Evian Conference of July 1938
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2011 The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of July 1938 Dennis Ross Laffer University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, European History Commons, and the United States History Commons Scholar Commons Citation Laffer, Dennis Ross, "The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of July 1938" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3195 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of 1938 by Dennis R. Laffer A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of History College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Graydon Tunstall, Ph.D. John Belohlavek, Ph.D. Kees Boterbloem, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 16, 2011 Keywords: Intergovernmental Committee, refugees, Anschluss , forced emigration, immigration restrictions Copyright © 2011, Dennis R. Laffer DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to Ellen, my wife of almost twenty five years, whose love, comfort, guidance and wisdom sustained me through sickness and health and enabled me to complete a long-held dream. The completion of a Master’s degree program in history and the writing of a thesis would not have been possible without her presence at my side. For her great patience, insight and support I will always be truly grateful. I dedicate this work also to my daughters, Lauren Abigail and Jenny Elizabeth for their love, encouragement and patience. My interest in the topic of this work began in 1999 when they were both young and I deeply appreciate their understanding of the time I needed to spend in my quest for knowledge about the Evian Conference. I hope that I have set an example for them that it is possible, even in the latter years of middle age, to reach new levels of accomplishment. My greatest achievement will, however, always be the family with which I am blessed. Finally, I dedicate this work to the victims of the Nazi era whose lives could have been saved had the world acknowledged, cared about and acted upon the coming catastrophe. I honor those exceptional individuals and institutions, the upstanders that had the courage to speak out against tyranny and offer relief and refuge to the innocent victims of man’s hatred against his fellow man. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Mao Tse-Tung once wrote that “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” My excursion into the world of history began many years ago but gradually crystallized into certain topics and themes; a focus that would not have been possible without the influence of many people and institutions. I would particularly like to mention Dr. Donald M. Goldstein, the National Center for the Pacific War, the Florida Holocaust Museum and especially Dr. Mary Johnson, for helping to focus my attention on the history of the Evian Conference of 1938 and her encouragement to tell the story. I hope that this work warrants her confidence. I had always considered returning to academia to obtain a Master’s degree in history and so I want to especially thank for their kindness, support, expertise, guidance and incredible patience Drs. Stefan Huber, Graydon Tunstall, John Belohlavek, and Kees Boterbloem. The research and the writing of this thesis were greatly facilitated by Frank Castellano, Scott Nieves, Brandy Padgett, Barbara Cabot, Lynn Wagner, Maria Cabrera and Lisa Piazza. I also wish to thank my wife and my friends who had to listen to my incessant discussion of the Evian Conference and the trials and tribulations of a late middle aged man writing a thesis. Without the help of these individuals and many others this journey into the past could never have been undertaken. “But I suppose it has always been that way in the world; people are concerned with their own immediate affairs and when it comes to the sufferings of other people, especially when the people are far away, most people…have not the imagination to be concerned.” James G. McDonald New York Times , July 3, 1938. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES iii ABSTRACT iv “A REFUGEE’S PRAYER” vi INTRODUCTION 1 PART I GATHERING THE STORM 9 Chapter 1: “Heaviest of Blows” 9 Chapter 2: Anschluss “The Leader is Coming” 19 Chapter 3: Flight “Problem of Growing Gravity and Complexity” 56 Chapter 4: “Firmly Fixed American Tradition” 119 PART II: HOPE ASCENDING 154 Chapter 5: Day One “Actual Racial Problem” 154 Chapter 6: Day Four “Humanity Now Plunged Into Despair” 196 Chapter 7: “Great Human Tragedy” 219 Chapter 8: Day Six “Greatest Sympathy” 226 Chapter 9: Days Nine and Ten “Serious Spirit of Cooperation” 235 Chapter 10: Palestine “Waste of Time” 245 PART III: HOPE DENIED 250 Chapter 11: “Unique Opportunity to Study Jewish Question” 250 Chapter 12: Intergovernmental Committee for Political Refugees “Face Saving Organization” 301 i PART IV: APPRAISALS 312 Chapter 13: “No Confidence in the Idea” 312 Chapter 14: Ominous Tidings Conclusions and “Unintended Signals” 346 REFERENCES 352 APPENDICES 385 Appendix A: Country-by-country Breakdown of Jewish Refugee Immigration from Nazism—1933-1945 386 Appendix B: Estimated Number of Unassimilated Political Refugees Officially Recorded in France 1922-1939 389 Appendix C: List of Jewish and non-Jewish relief organizations testifying before the Evian Conference Subcommittees 390 Appendix D: Decisions taken at the Evian Conference on Jewish Refugees, July 1938 392 Appendix E: Jewish Population of the World at the End of 1937 395 Appendix F: Proposals regarding Intergovernmental Committee expenses and allocation 396 ABOUT THE AUTHOR END PAGE ii LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: Jewish Occupations in Germany in 1933 Census 57 TABLE 2: Emigration of Jews from Austria and Germany April1933-May 1939 59 TABLE 3: Austrian Jewish Emigration 1938-1945 60 TABLE 4: Foreign Born in U.S., 1850-1940 78 TABLE 5: Immigration 1851-1950 79 TABLE 6: Demographics of Jewish Population in Germany as of January 1, 1938 164 iii ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis was to explore the origins, formulation, course and outcome of the Intergovernmental Committee for Political Refugees meeting (better known as the Evian Conference) of July 1938. Special emphasis was placed on contemporary and later historical assessments of this assembly which represented the first international cooperative attempt to solve an acute refugee crisis. A general review followed by a more detailed evaluation was made of existing official and un-official accounts of the meeting utilizing both public records, private diaries, books, newspapers, journals and other periodicals for the period of January 1, 1938 through December 31, 1939. This data was supplemented by later recollections of conference participants as well as post-Holocaust historical scholarship. Various appraisals have been made of the motivations behind the summit and its ultimate success or failure. Franklin Roosevelt has particularly come under criticism by scholars who believed that his Administration had “abandoned” the Jews to their fate. The President’s supporters, on the other hand, declared that FDR did everything possible given the existing political, economic and social conditions of the late 1930’s. It is my conclusion that although Roosevelt may have been sympathetic to the plight of Central European Jewish refugees their resettlement and ultimate destiny merited a lower priority given his focus upon rebuilding the national economy and defense. The President clearly recognized the looming threat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan but was unwilling to expend political capital on an issue that faced domestic and political opposition. I further iv maintain that the conference was set up to fail while providing propaganda value for the participating democracies. The hypocritical rhetoric and actions of the delegates and the ineffectiveness of the conference’s sole creation, the Intergovernmental Committee for Political Refugees, was clearly recognized by Nazi Germany and ultimately influenced its anti-Jewish policies. Thus, it is not a coincidence that the pogrom of November 1938, Kristallnacht , occurred only four months later. The avoidance of dealing with the Jewish refugee problem was further highlighted in the futile Wagner-Rogers Bill of 1939, the Hennings bill of 1940 and especially the Bermuda Conference of 1943, a time in which the details of mass murder of Jews and other groups was already well known within official circles. Further work needs to be done on the diverse responses of the Jewish community both within the United States and abroad to the peril facing their co-religionists. v “A Refugee’s Prayer” Representative James, J. Davis, Penn. entered the prayer of Martin Marden, a 16- year-old German refugee, which had been “recommended for reading by every American by the superintendent of New York City Schools, Harold G. Campbell. We may all be proud that we live in a land where, as this lad says, ‘the youth of all races have a tomorrow.’ Despite the unemployment here, the problems of the depression, the difficulties of the stock market, and the war clouds which loom ever closer, who among us does not respond enthusiastically to these radiant words?” One day in the year should be reserved for prayers of thanksgiving in which we give thanks for something that has been granted us; for having been saved from some great destruction caused by nature or man. I am thankful that I have been given an opportunity to be educated in the United States of America.