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Julia Kimbel
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History, P-Period 6
10 April 2016
The United States and the Holocaust
The Holocaust was the annihilation six million Jews during World War II. Although this
did not take place in the United States, eventually the U.S. intervened saving many lives overs
seas. The United States saved as many as 200,000 Jews from the Holocaust, but they did have
very strict rules regarding Jews entering their country. Before the war started the most countries
were recovering from the Great Depression and World War I, and the thought of letting more
people into the U.S. frightened the citizens of the U.S. for several reasons. During the time of the
Holocaust the Untied States stance was a little confusing because they were very back and forth
on whether or not they should allow Jews to seek refuge in their country. During the Holocaust
the US did several thing including; setting a limit on how many German, mostly Jewish, citizens
could enter the county, so they didnt have the people to worry about immigrants coming into the
country, they enforced even stricter laws as the war got more serious and denied visas, but they
also helped end the war which saved many Jewish and non-Jewish people lives.
The United States government set a quota, or limited, the number of people entering the
United Stated during the Holocaust. Like many European country, the United States was not
keen on the idea of welcoming Jewish refugees. Only approximately 20,000 visas were approved
to enter the United States in the early stages of the Holocaust. Americans support this idea of a
quota because many of them feared that needy immigrants would take precious jobs or place an
added strain on an already burdened economy (Website 2). Since the United States economy

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was still recovering from the Depression and the prior war, the U.S. felt if they were to stand as a
refuge for these people their economy would suffer supplementary than it already had. The
citizens of the U.S. also feared that the immigrants would take the little of jobs there were at that
time. In 1936 about 7,000 German refugees were approved; by 1938 that number had increased
to more than 20,000, but an opinion poll revealed that 82 percent of Americans still opposed
admitting large numbers of Jewish refugees into the United States (Website 2). Despite the fact
the number of those who sought refuge increase, thus saving more lives, the American people
still did not want their country to house these refugees. Despite the economic concerns that
certainly played a role in Americans attitudes toward immigration, so too did feelings of fear,
mistrust, and even hatred of those who were different (Website 3). This fear that the people had
was infiltrated by the idea that if they were to welcome refugees that Nazi spies were sneak in.
Antisemitism also play an important part in the publics opinion toward the Jews. As the war
progressed on the laws became stricter.
As the war progressed on, and became more serious the United didnt hesitate to deny
many Jewish people from entering the country. At the start of the war the U.S. government did
not believe the reports about Hitler planning to annihilate an entire race. As the war progressed
on the evidence was overwhelming. In November of 1942, the American Jewish leaders
appealed to Roosevelt: if the president would ask Congress to change the immigration laws,
more refugees could escape the Holocaust, [but] again, FDR refused (Website 2). Even though
the U.S. knew about the treacherous plans Hitler had instore for the Jews he still refused to
budged and allow more Jews into the country. Instead he did the opposite and enforced the
immigration law even harder than before. This bought a sharp decline in immigration [because]
the government imposed even stricter visa regulations (Website 2). The government feared the

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spies might enter the country. Regardless of all the ting the Jews had to face to get to America
200,000 Jews did manage to reach the United States between 1933 and 1945; still, this number
is a small fraction of those who attempted to come (Website 3). Throughout the course of the
war the U.S. denied thousands of visas. Though this calamity happened the U.S. did manage to
save many lives as well.
Ultimately the United Stated helped rescue Jews from Europe, which saved thousands of
Jewish lives. For the United States, winning was the priority, rescuing the Jews came second. As
the American people became aware of what was going on in Europe they began to demand that
the United States do something to rescue the remaining Jewish people of Europe (Website 2). In
1943, a rescue committee was put together to try and find a solution about the refugee problem.
It wasnt until 1944 President FDR took action. Although it took a little time to kick start the
rescue, the efforts of the War Refugee Board contributed to the rescue of approximately 200,000
Jews (Website 1). The U.S, along with the help of some European countries saved thousands of
Jews. The U.S, although at first wanted nothing to do with the Jews, ended up helping save many
live, and giving them a new start.
During the Holocaust the U.S. restricted the number of immigrant allowed into the
country, then later made these laws stricter when they war out the war was serious, but they
also helped rescue thousands of Jews. At first the U.S. along with many European countries
wanted nothing to do with the Jews. When the United Stated found out that Hitler was serious
about killing an entire race and, with a little help from the American people say the government
need to do something to help; the U.S. became a major part in the refuge of the Holocaust.