The time between the early 1930s and 1945 was an unprecedented time for not only the United States, but also the world. The American public was focused on maintaining isolationism at the start of World War II, as many believed American intervention in World War I was a mistake. Organizations like the “America First” Committee highly frowned upon foreign involvement, indicating a divided America during this tumultuous time. Over time, however, the U.S. started to dip its toes into the war after Congress approved the “cash-carry” of arm sales to Britain in 1939 and the Lend-Lease Act, which authorized American military aid to countries. Tensions grew, and in 1941, the U.S. entered World War II siding with the Allied powers after Japan’s devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile in Germany, Hitler’s Nazi regime initiated a systematic process to round up and exterminate all Jewish people (among many others who didn’t fit the “master race”). While the war initially masked the Nazi regime’s atrocities, word of the Holocaust spread around the world, including the U.S.. But despite being fully aware of the Holocaust and having the resources to help, the U.S. government claimed that ending the war by defeating the Axis powers was the best way to save the victims of the Holocaust, which instead prolonged the Nazi atrocities. Thus, America’s inaction during the Holocaust was not justified and was a result of deliberate anti-semitic decisions made by the government and negative media portrayal, significantly affecting the public’s response.

As word of the Nazi regime’s atrocities spread, the U.S. government was forced to make a decision — to help, or not to help the victims of the Holocaust: the American government's conscious decision to not directly help the victims of the Holocaust makes America responsible to an extent for the horrors of the Holocaust. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, after Hitler’s rise in Germany, Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank escaped with his family to Amsterdam in 1933 where he hoped to start a new life. However, in May 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, wrecking havoc as they bombed Rotterdam, including the U.S. consulate building, where Frank had put his and his family’s names on an immigration list (USHMM). Desperate, Frank wrote to his friend, Nathan Straus Jr. who worked for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration, for help entering the country: “I am forced to look out for emigration and as far as I can see U.S.A. is the only country we could go to” (Frank). To those who lived in fear of the Nazi tyranny, America was a beacon of hope. But just weeks after Frank’s request, the National Refugee Service announced that all U.S. immigration applications had to be approved by Washington D.C., which would delay all immigration applications by as much as seven weeks — like it would have for Frank and his family. However, U.S. policy wasn’t the only factor that barred Jews from escaping to America. Not long after the National Refugee Service announced the new change in immigration policy, Germany ordered America to close U.S. consulates in all Nazi-occupied territories. So although German restrictions had a stronger impact on the refugees’ ability to emigrate, such American policies also affected thousands of Jews from a potential chance at refuge. 

Opponents may also argue that the American government did help the victims of the Holocaust as seen in the image (see appendix A). Not only was the U.S. one of the first nations to liberate the first victims of the Holocaust, but other organizations like the War Refugee Board sent hundreds of thousands of food packages to concentration camps through the International Red Cross. Although this took place closer to the end of the war, it does show that the U.S. held true to its word and offered aid to the victims of the Holocaust as the war drew to a close. However, it’s important to recognize that America’s lack of assistance when people needed the support of a stable nation the most was a deliberate antisemitic decision.  The Founding Director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, Rafael Medoff, wrote that President Roosevelt privately dismissed the pleas of Jewish refugees as “sob stuff” and “Jewish wailing.” But more importantly, “the most common theme in Roosevelt’s private statements about Jews has to do with his perception that they were ‘overcrowding’ many professions and exercising undue influence” (Medoff). With anti-Jewish sentiment being so prevalent in the government itself, the public opinion was bound to sway in a similar direction. This antisemitism is reflective of the impact it had on the public’s opinion, further invalidating the reason to not help those who turned to America for support.  A more direct example of America’s inaction during the Holocaust is the St. Louis ship. In late 1939, the St. Louis ship sailed from Germany to Havana, Cuba and eventually the coast of Florida. The ship consisted of 937 Jewish refugees pleading for refuge in America, but were ultimately sent back to Europe. Over the course of the remainder of the Holocaust, 254 of the St. Louis passengers were killed (USHMM). America’s defiant inaction at a time when hundreds of refugees pleaded on its doorstep with hopes of safety makes America responsible for the 27% of the Jewish refugees who died in the Holocaust after being forced to return to Europe. The only reason America didn’t allow the refugees entry into the United States was because of the antisemitic sentiment in the government which eventually paved its way into the public. Had America provided the passengers of the St. Louis refuge, it could have given at least 937 Jews a safer life — yet this wasn’t the only time the US failed to save Jews. In June 1944, the Allied powers could have easily bombed the railroads that transported Jews to one of the largest extermination camps: Auschwitz. Damaging these key areas of transportation would have interrupted the deportation and eventual extermination of thousands of Jews. Instead, “American planes repeatedly bombed German oil factories in the industrial zone of Auschwitz, less than five miles from the gas chambers'' (Medoff). In a time period where tens of thousands of Jews were being exterminated every day, any form of interruption could have saved numerous lives. Blinded by their belief that winning the war was the best way to stop the Holocaust, and more importantly the antisemitism that was reflective of the American government’s sheer lack of desire to help the Holocaust victims, America ignored several opportunities to help a suffering group of people. Despite being more than capable of saving them, the United States condoned the suffering of the Jews and its deliberate inaction continues to raise questions as more light is shed on the American media’s role during the Holocaust.

Along with discrepancies in U.S. government policies during this time, the American media failed to reveal the realities of the Holocaust, further distorting American perception on the Holocaust and its victims. Even esteemed publications like the New York Times known for their reliability and objective reporting since the early 1940s had about thirty reporters stationed in Europe for reliable and comprehensive coverage of the war. This effort in itself exemplifies that the Times put in effort to cover the war, but not the Holocaust.. Historian Laurel Leff’s book Buried by the Times, reveals that Pulitzer Prize winning Arthur Krock, known for his columns on public policy did not rightfully cover the events taking place in Europe: “Of nearly 1,200 Krock columns published during the war, not one mentioned the Jews’ persecution” (Leff 255). The fact that a renowned publication like the Times failed to cover the realities of the Holocaust speaks volumes about American media during this era: its unreliability and filtered coverage barred the American public from seeing the gruesome picture. Some may argue that the vast majority of misinformation took place in Germany during the Nazi regime, with Hitler trying to convince the citizens of Germany along with the rest of the world that the Holocaust was a necessary decision to make. After losing the First World War, Hitler portrayed Germany as a victimized nation, tied to the Treaty of Versailles with no autonomy as a nation. He used this propaganda to sway the citizens of Germany into exacting revenge and establishing Germany as the superior nation in the world. As antisemitic sentiment grew, so did antisemitic propaganda. The propaganda poster (see Appendix B) from the Institute of Contemporary History and Weiner Library Limited depicts Jewish people as Marxists and enslavers, degrading Jews and thus validating the Holocaust in the eyes of the Nazi regime and its supporters. However, it is important to realize that even though the Nazi regime spread a lot of misinformation through propaganda, America is still responsible for its lack of objective coverage in the country itself. Being a semi-established nation in the world, not far from being a global superpower, America should have felt the obligation to cover the Holocaust accurately, but this nation failed to do so, by propagating antisemitic views in America itself. Created in the late 1930s, the political cartoon clearly depicts the perceptions people had towards Jews: “Jews are the cause of high taxes - slavery - starvation and death…” (see Appendix C)By furthering such negative views of the Jewish community, the American media only weakened the public’s knowledge and worsened the public support for a targeted group of individuals. After all, if the country’s media is publishing degrading cartoons, the public is bound to follow in the footsteps of antisemitic sentiment. When reputable forms of media shy away from revealing the truth of the issue, they negatively influence the public opinion. The American media’s failure to cover the realities of the Holocaust add another layer to American inaction, also leading to public dissent. 

Despite being aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, through government decisions and the media, the American public’s response further validated American inaction. A 1938 public Gallup Poll asked two questions to the American public in the midst of the Holocaust: “Do you approve or disapprove of the Nazi treatment of Jews in Germany?” and “Should we allow a larger number of Jewish exiles from Germany to come to the United States to live?” Approximately 94% of the public surveyed disapproved of the Nazi treatment of Jews during the Holocaust, highlighting that not only was the American public aware of the atrocities of Nazi Germany, but that an overwhelming majority of the nation is against these actions. Despite this anti-Nazi sentiment in the U.S. 72% of those who were surveyed were against offering Jews refuge (Daniel, Phillips 77). This sentiment was very clearly reflected in the government’s decision to send back the St. Louis ship to Europe which was filled with over 900 Jewish refugees. Some might argue that the American public was misguided by the media, and World War II had a major impact on domestic America. But that doesn’t justify the nation looking the other way and abandoning the refugees that turned to the U.S. in hopes of finding support. A democracy is built on the people, and the people give the government the right to make decisions. Although the government makes the decisions and is capable of swaying the public, the public has the power to change laws and bring attention to issues that are overlooked in society. Unfortunately, the American public simply did not care enough about the impacts of the Holocaust to advocate for Jews in Europe and bring change into their lives.

The government, media, and American public’s inaction during the Holocaust was not justified. Propagating antisemitic views, and not covering the truth of the atrocities of the Holocaust hurt more lives than saved. Although there were several other factors that affected various facets of America during this tumultuous era like the war itself, domestic unrest, and even the reach of the Nazi influence, it doesn’t justify the American government, media, and public’s lack of efforts. Had the government used the extent of its power, it could have saved thousands of lives who would have had the opportunity to start new lives in America, protecting themselves and future generations from the horrors overseas. Had the media covered the true extent of the Holocaust, the public would have been more educated. Had media publications garnered support for Jews rather than mocking them, the country would have been more unified. If the public had been more aware, and unified, perhaps it could have forced the government to help the victims of the Holocaust. Today, there are protests throughout the nation against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with people standing up for each other. While it’s true that a protest won’t stop the war, being united as a people regardless of nationality is the essence of humanity. The government is a reflection of what the people believe in, and standing united to bring change is integral to the growth of any nation.