Throughout the Holocaust, Jews in Europe continuously tried to flee persecution and emigrate to other nations. Some were successful, while others failed to leave Germany or fled to a nation Hitler and Nazi Germany later invaded. One of the key events that marked the beginning of the Holocaust was Kristallnacht. On November 9 and 10, 1938, Nazi supporters vandalized and destroyed synagogues, businesses, and homes owned by Jews in Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Germany. Because of the broken glass all over the streets, the event was called the Night of Broken Glass, or in German: Kristallnacht. After Kristallnacht, many Jews decided to flee Germany in hopes of escaping persecution. In one of these escapes, 937 Jewish refugees boarded a ship, the
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Firstly, the weaknesses of the Roosevelt administration were shown through the effect of xenophobia in America. After the Great Depression, xenophobia reached a high in America. As explained by Edward Shapiro, a historian who specializes in American history and American Jewish history, in his journal article: FDR and the Holocaust, “The Nazis would threaten Jews of Central Europe with imprisonment or worse unless their relatives who had immigrated to the United States spied for Germany” (Shapiro). This fear in America that Jewish refugees could have been forced to spy for the Nazis contributed to the widespread xenophobia amongst the public, a motivation for Roosevelt's decision to deny entry for the refugees aboard the St. Louis. The purpose of Shapiro’s article is to explain in detail Roosevelt’s actions regarding the Holocaust, including his decision regarding Jewish refugees and the motivations behind those decisions. For the purpose of explaining Roosevelt’s motivations behind his decisions with Jewish refugees, Shapiro reveals that xenophobia amongst the American public was one of Roosevelt’s motivations in denying the St. Louis
Firstly, the weaknesses of the Roosevelt administration were shown through the effect of xenophobia in America. After the Great Depression, xenophobia reached a high in America. As explained by Edward Shapiro, a historian who specializes in American history and American Jewish history, in his journal article: FDR and the Holocaust, “The Nazis would threaten Jews of Central Europe with imprisonment or worse unless their relatives who had immigrated to the United States spied for Germany” (Shapiro). This fear in America that Jewish refugees could have been forced to spy for the Nazis contributed to the widespread xenophobia amongst the public, a motivation for Roosevelt's decision to deny entry for the refugees aboard the St. Louis. The purpose of Shapiro’s article is to explain in detail Roosevelt’s actions regarding the Holocaust, including his decision regarding Jewish refugees and the motivations behind those decisions. For the purpose of explaining Roosevelt’s motivations behind his decisions with Jewish refugees, Shapiro reveals that xenophobia amongst the American public was one of Roosevelt’s motivations in denying the St. Louis