German Jewish Refugees in the United States and Relationships to Germany, 1938-1988
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO “Germany on Their Minds”? German Jewish Refugees in the United States and Relationships to Germany, 1938-1988 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Anne Clara Schenderlein Committee in charge: Professor Frank Biess, Co-Chair Professor Deborah Hertz, Co-Chair Professor Luis Alvarez Professor Hasia Diner Professor Amelia Glaser Professor Patrick H. Patterson 2014 Copyright Anne Clara Schenderlein, 2014 All rights reserved. The Dissertation of Anne Clara Schenderlein is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair _____________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2014 iii Dedication To my Mother and the Memory of my Father iv Table of Contents Signature Page ..................................................................................................................iii Dedication ..........................................................................................................................iv Table of Contents ...............................................................................................................v Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................vii Vita ......................................................................................................................................x Abstract of the Dissertation .............................................................................................xi Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Literature and Approaches ...........................................................................................13 Sources .........................................................................................................................27 Chapter Overview ........................................................................................................31 Chapter 1........................................................................................................................... 35 Prologue Leaving Germany ........................................................................................................35 United States of America—New York City .................................................................44 Chapter 2........................................................................................................................... 54 The German Jewish Refugees and the Americanization Process, 1935-1941 Introduction ..................................................................................................................54 Los Angeles.................................................................................................................. 57 Americanization in Practice .........................................................................................72 Language and Employment .........................................................................................75 Culture.......................................................................................................................... 89 Refugee Organizations within the American Jewish Organizational Landscape .........98 War .............................................................................................................................108 The Situation of Jews in Europe ................................................................................114 Chapter 3......................................................................................................................... 124 The Enemy Alien Classification Distress over the Refugees’ War Time Status in the United States ............................132 The Tolan Committee................................................................................................. 147 Practical Consequences of the Enemy Alien Classification .......................................155 The Enemy Alien Classification’s Effects on German Jewish Community Organizations—Conflict Around Leadership within the Jewish Club of 1933 .........164 Fighting the Legislation—Alleviating its Effects, Disputing its Application ............172 War Effort ..................................................................................................................177 Ongoing Inhibition of Americanization .....................................................................187 Chapter 4......................................................................................................................... 193 German Jewish Refugees in the U.S. Army Motivations for Joining the Army.............................................................................. 200 The Refugee Soldiers’ Position within the U.S. Army ..............................................206 Experiences in Battle and Encounters with German Soldiers ...................................216 Off the Battlefield: Full Reversal of Power ...............................................................220 The German Jewish Refugees as Occupiers: Encountering German Civilians .........229 v Holocaust ...................................................................................................................239 Conclusion .................................................................................................................246 Chapter 5......................................................................................................................... 248 German Jewish Refugees and the Discourse on Postwar Germany, 1942-1945 Introduction ................................................................................................................248 On the American Home Front.................................................................................... 250 Concern about Europe’s Jews ....................................................................................252 Punishment and Restitution .......................................................................................259 Tensions Between the Connection to Germany and Americanization .......................273 What Should Be Done With Germany After the War? ...............................................280 Conclusion .................................................................................................................292 Chapter 6......................................................................................................................... 294 Entangled Relations: German Jewish Refugees in the United States and the West German Foreign Office West German Foreign Policy Considerations and German Jewish Refugees in the U.S. .................................................................................................................................... 298 Restitution and Other Troubles ..................................................................................313 Rabbi Max Nussbaum, West Germany, and American Jewry ...................................330 Interpersonal Relationships........................................................................................ 351 Conclusion .................................................................................................................356 Chapter 7......................................................................................................................... 360 Entangled Relations II: German Jewish Refugee Travel to Germany and West German Municipal Visitor Programs Individual Travel to Germany in the 1950s and early 1960s: Attitudes ....................366 Germany as a Tourist Destination? Individual Trips in the 1960s .............................372 The Emergence and Development of German Municipal Visitor Programs .............383 Hamburg .....................................................................................................................385 Berlin.......................................................................................................................... 388 Refugees’ Influence on Visitation and Commemoration ...........................................396 German Supporters of Visitor Programs ....................................................................399 Invitations and Pre-visit Perspectives ........................................................................409 Berlin Program Structures.......................................................................................... 416 Reactions to the Visits................................................................................................ 418 Positive Experiences ..................................................................................................421 Negative Experiences................................................................................................. 423 Impacts—The Meaning and Value of the Visits ........................................................427