[C.] Evian
[conference in summer 1938]
[Supplement: The reasons
of anti-Semitism are not discussed
Also at this moment the industrial leaders of Roosevelt's
"USA" are delivering and working for Hitler's Third Reich,
and at the same time "US" Jewish banks are financing
Communism.
The Pope with it's Bible which says that the Jews had
murdered Jesus is the main cause for anti-Semitism. This
would have been the main problem to discuss. But the Pope
is not at the Evian conference, and the problem of
anti-Semitism in the Bible and the existence of Jesus is
not solved until now.
So, the Evian conference is discussing only the effects of
anti-Semitism and plans to dislocate Jews. The Conference
is not discussing the real reasons for anti-Semitism and
by this cannot make real conclusions which could have
saved many lives...]
[6.6. Preparation meeting for Evian Conference
on 22 March 1938]
[22 March 1938:
Preparation meeting: "President" Roosevelt invited 33
governments]
On March 22, 1938, President Roosevelt
[who gives to his industry bosses the approval to support
NS Germany's industry against Communism and the "American"
banks are financing Communism at the same time]
invited 33 governments to a conference in Europe that was
to deal with refugees from Germany and Austria. In his
book
While Six Million
Died, Arthur D. Morse traces the origin of this
conference to Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles, who
suggested in a memorandum that an American initiative on
the international level would counteract liberal pressure
about the restrictive quota system.
The international body that would presumably be set up
would take on the responsibility for finding places of
settlement for the refugees other than the U.S.
(End note 25: Morse, op. cit. [Morse, Arthur D.: While Six
Million Died; New York 1968], pp. 203-4
This memorandum seems to have represented the thinking of
the State Department and its chief officials.
Another political reason behind the president's move was
probably the anti-isolationist policy it implied. The fate
of the refugees was used as a means to other ends rather
than as a problem that had to be solved. The fact that
until well into June the State Department proved incapable
of expressing what it wanted to achieve at the conference
indicated that there was little intention to do something
tangible for the refugees.
(End note 26:
-- Wyman, op. cit., [Wyman, David S.: Paper Walls;
Amherst, Mass., 1968], p.44
-- Michael Mashberg: America and the Refugee Crisis; M.A.
thesis; City University of New York, 1970)
[Myron C. Taylor
convening the conference - Roosevelt: "USA" will not
change their quota]
Myron C. Taylor, former chairman of U.S. Steel and a Roman
Catholic, was appointed as Roosevelt's representative and
given the task of convening and chairing the conference.
His appointment was probably intended to demonstrate real
American interest in the refugees. At the same time,
however, the president made it clear that the U.S. quota
system would not be changed; also, all expenditures for
emigration and settlement would have to be borne by
private agencies. The task of the American government was
to exert pressure on Germany to permit the refugees to
leave and to influence countries of immigration to receive
them.
[East European Yiddish speaking Jews are not considered!]
["USA" conditions after
Austria accession (Anschluss)]
Two steps were taken in April to supplement the American
initiative.
-- First, the administration declared that the Austrian
quota would be added to the German quota, and the
resulting quota of 27,370, it was hinted, would be filled
to a much greater extent than heretofore.
-- Second, it was made clear that the U.S. government
believed that the solution to the problem lay in
requesting (p.231)
the Germans to allow Jews to bring some of their property
with them when they left Germany. If Jews came with money,
they had a good chance of being accepted; if they came
without funds, all doors would be closed.
[Creation of an Advisory
Committee on Political Refugees]
Having made his invitation public - in the end South
Africa, Iceland, El Salvador, and Italy refused to
participate, thus reducing the number of the countries
involved to 29 - Roosevelt created an Advisory Committee
on Political Refugees. There was marked anxiety not to
make it appear that Jewish refugees were involved at all.
Indeed, the very word "Jew" was considered to be somehow
unmentionable;
[The term "political
refugees"]
"political refugees" was the official terminology, despite
the obvious fact that the overwhelming majority of the
refugees were in fact Jews.
[Only one European Jew is
in the Advisory Committee: Wise, a Zionist - JDC has no
representation there]
The first meeting of the Advisory Committee was held on
April 13 under Roosevelt's chairmanship. Eleven non-Jews
and three Jews (Henry Morgenthau, Sr., Bernard M. Baruch,
and Stephen S. Wise) participated. Baruch and Morgenthau,
of course, belonged to the immediate political family of
the president, so that the only political invitee was
Wise, head of the American Jewish Congress and the World
Jewish Congress, and the acknowledged leader of American
Zionism. Naturally, this was a blow to the leadership of
the American Jewish Committee and JDC, who made some
bitter comments about Wise's membership on the new
committee.
[Baruch against higher
"US" quotas - suspicion of coordination between Baruch
and Roosevelt]
Welles had prepared the president against any move to
liberalize American immigration policy, but at the meeting
one of the Jews, Baruch, went a step further: he was the
only one among the participants who opposed the
president's initiative. He wondered whether "it
would be wise for our government to encourage the idea
that more refugees should come here." The fact that this
had been preceded by a private visit by Baruch to
Roosevelt on the same day would seem to indicate that this
"opposition" was prearranged.
(End note 27: 9-44, memorandum on White House conference
on refugees, 4/13/38 [13 April 1938]; see also: Morse, op.
cit. [Morse, Arthur D.: While Six Million Died; New York
1968], p.204
[Roosevelt denies any
financial help for Jewish emigration! - and Jewish
organizations make no protest]
Roosevelt explained that private agencies would have to
pay for all emigration and settlement expenses, because
any government appropriation would have to be passed by
Congress, and that was not very likely. (p.232)
McDonald was elected chairman of the new committee, and it
was he who proposed that Paul Baerwald be invited to join.
The president's letter of invitation to the JDC chairman
went out on April 18. In the meantime, the JDC leadership
had agreed, at a meeting with American Jewish Committee
officers late in March, that large-scale settlement
projects were the order of the day.
(End note 28: 8-21, meeting of 3/28/38 [28 March 1938])
In all matters concerning refugees it was preferable that
non-Jews take the lead, in order to avoid anti-Semitic
feelings. JDC accepted the government's policy - no
questions were asked, no requests were made, no hint of
any criticism of the government's attitude was heard.
Nothing was said regarding the government's decision to
put the burden of expenses on "nongovernmental sources".
(End note 29: Executive Committee, 4/20/38 [20 April
1938])
