Daniel in 1939, on september 1, germany invades poland and world war ii breaks out that week. What is on americans minds in 1935 is staying out of war. You see deep concern about spies, nazi spies in the United States. At the time, called a fifth column. Americans are asked if they believe that germany is starting to organize a fifth column of spies in america, and 71 say yes. You start to see these fears of spies play out in our Popular Culture and in our political culture. The First American movie, big studio movie to take on nazism is a warner bros. Movie. From its called confessions of 1939. A nazi spy. We are showing the trailer here. Its based on a true story of a nazi spy ring in the United States. I am a nazi spy. I am one of thousands stationed in every part of the United States to steal the secrets of your national defense. There are spies stationed in all of the navy yards in brooklyn, philadelphia, newport news. There are nazi agents in the airplane and munition factories in places like buffalo, seattle, washington. The chief United States inspector in one of your factories is a german spy. A trial in the United States federal court first brought to the attention of a startled this amazing danger to its safety and freedom. Daniel even as americans are thinking about threat of nazism in 1939, they are worried about nazis here, on our shores. You see j. Edgar hoover, the head of the fbi, writing in popular magazines about stamping out the spies. By the time we go to war, you will see posters like this. The warning from the fbi about spies and saboteurs. And we were fascinated to find, reported in the Washington Post, that the fbi was getting 3000 tips a day by 1940 about spies. This influences american Popular Culture, but it deeply influences the state department as well. This man, breckenridge long, is the head of the Visa Division for the state department. He is in charge of overseeing all the issuance of visas. There is no doubt there is a deep culture of antisemitism in the u. S. State department in the 1940s. Long himself, if you read his diary, you see deeply antisemitic sentiment about wanting to keep jews out. Publicly what the state department is doing is citing this National Security concern. To keep refugees out. The secretary of state sends this instruction to all the consulates in 1940, saying that every application for a visa has to be examined with extreme care. And if you have any doubt concerning the applicant, keep them out. The state department institutes a series of rule changes in the summer of 1941 that effectively takes a door that is slightly open to refugees and slams it shut. And they use these National Security concerns about spies. They basically argue that we cant be letting refugees in if there is any doubt that they may might be spying for nazi germany. That fear of spies really does get ginned up in the United States through the actions of hoover, the fbi, as well as through our Popular Culture. Also on americas mind is staying out of the war. Americans get asked a version of this question almost every week between 1939 and pearl harbor. In may of 1940, as western european nations are falling to nazism, americans are asked whether we should declare war on germany, and 93 of them say no. In the aftermath of world war i, there is not appetite among the americans to go to war. The loudest, most influential isolationist organization is the America First committee. Here you see a propaganda poster for the America First committee saying that wars First Casualty will be liberty itself. America first was founded by a group of students at Yale University in the fall of 1940. But they moved to chicago and find their rankandfile in the midwest. America first is an isolationist organization that wants to stay out of war. Protect the borders of the United States. Charles lindbergh becomes the loudest spokesperson for the America First committee. Lindbergh was one of the most famous americans, maybe the most famous american, after his solo flight across the atlantic and the kidnapping and murder of his child in the 1930s. This is a really powerful artifact in the show. Lindbergh had gone to nazi germany in october of 1938 to advise them on their air force and their airpower. He meets with hermann goehring, one of the top nazi officials, and goehring gives him this, one it is the Service Cross of the german eagle. Lindbergh says, i didnt know i was getting this. I was surprised to receive this award. But he receives it a month not krstal istallnacht and he is pressured to give it back, which he never does. We borrowed the lindberghs diary from the archive at Yale University. You see lindbergh writing about a speech he gave in des moines, iowa, on september 11, 1941. During this speech, he asks, who wants us to go to war . He lists three groups. He says the british want us to go to war. And of course, this makes sense. France has fallen, western european nations have fallen. The british are the last line of defense. He says f. D. R. Wants us to go to war, called f. D. R. A warmonger and argues the of administration has been lying to the american people. And third, he says, and the jews want us to go to war. He cites his belief that america has been a tolerant land for jews, and he basically issues a threat to jews in america. He says, if we go to a war that is perceived as a jewish war, that tolerance might fade. And then he quickly slips into many antisemitic tropes arguing ishness,ws clann controlling hollywood, controlling the International Banking system. I think what he is doing there is saying out loud what Many Americans believe at the time. And one of the loudest and most effective critics of lindbergh is a political cartoonist known as theodor geisel, who we now know as dr. Seuss. What you see in this newspaper and on this screen are multiple cartoons published by p. M. That show geisel attacking the isolationism of America First. Here is one of my favorites where you see lindbergh on the top of a pile that geisel calls nazi antisemitic stink wagon. Lindbergh is wearing the gas mask and shoveling this nazi propaganda. You see geisel with this fantastic attack on America First. Here he is showing the ostrich of isolationism ringing the hands that should be ringing hitlers neck. In the aftermath of lindberghs speech, he draws this fantastic cartoon about America First. You see the grandmotherly figure with an America First sweater reading a scary childrens story called adolf the wolf to these children. She is reading, the wolf chewed up the children and spit out their bones, but those were foreign children and it didnt really matter. What we do in this film is take on f. D. R. s president ial leadership. Between the period that europe goes to war in september 1939 and pearl harbor in december 1941. One of the things we want visitors to think about here is , when europe goes to war, americans want to stay out of that war and americans dont want to let in refugees. F. D. R. Spends all of his Political Capital during this period, trying to move Public Opinion from isolation to intervention. Hes doing this as hes making the unprecedented choice to run for a third term, which is unpopular among Many Americans. But the American Government and f. D. R. Specifically doesnt spend any time trying to move Public Opinion on that refugee question. This film looks at his president ial leadership instituting the first peacetime draft in u. S. History, running for a third term, trying to get americans to support the lend lease bill to arm the allies, and ultimately moving us to the brink of intervention by the time of pearl harbor in december of 1941. This is the attack on pearl harbor on december 7 of 1941 that pulls us into war. What you see in this exhibition is one of our first responses to pearl harbor is to round up our own japaneseamerican citizens and forcibly remove them from the west coast. Nearly 120,000 people of japanese ancestry are removed. Forcibly to 10 inland camps. Twothirds of those are citizens. This again speaks to National Security fears. This is one of f. D. R. s worst moments as president , issuing the executive order that allowed these citizens to be forcibly removed. And its done in the name of National Security, a fear of spies among these communities. Interestingly, some americans call these places concentration camps. You see congressman john rankin in 1942 saying, im in favor of i am for catching every japanese person now and putting them in concentration camps. The naacps magazine writes about american concentration camps and says color seems to be the only possible reason why thousands of american citizens of japanese ancestry are in concentration camps. The mainstream press, by contrast, life magazine calls a camp in independence, california, a scenic spot of lonely loveliness. You see some of the racist antijapanese propaganda. These are japanese hunting licenses, or licenses and pins encouraging people, as it says here, shoot a jap a day, the defense stamp way. Open season declared december 7, 1941. American Public Opinion is very much for rounding up and removing japanese aliens away from the pacific coast. You see that 93 of americans argue that that is the right thing to do. We wanted to show in the exhibition how americans saw nazism during war time. And here, you see images of hitler that americans would have seen during war. There is a range of images. There is one making fun of hitler on the cover of the new yorker, comparing him to the wicked witch of the west. Theres a pincushion that encourages you to stick a pin in hitlers rearend. Tag thatat came the has awith the figurine pa pin and says to stick it in. Or hitler as a skunk, hitlers a pincushion, hitler on a toilet bowl. He also see american heroes, like captain america. This is a reproduction of the first issue of captain america, where captain america is punching out hitler. You also see hitler as a madman and a murderer. A wanted poster, buttons that show hitler wanted for murder, and even one with a string on it saying, lets pull together, where you can lynch hitler. You hang him from a tree. There is a range of opinions about hitler and a range of images of hitler, but he remains a key figure in our Popular Culture. The poster art for more time is graphically fascinating, but also, the messages are fascinating. What you see here in a poster like this one, with the dagger going through the bible, is nazism being portrayed as an enemy of christianity, as an enemy of american children, as an enemy of american values. What you dont see here is nazism as an enemy of european jews. The key is to understand that americans go to war to fight fascism to defeat nazi germany, but the message is not to rescue jews. The priority is never to rescue jews. Thats an essential question we ask in this exhibition. Why rescue of jews didnt become priority during wartime. One way to think about this is, the nazis fight two wars. The nazis fight a war against the allies and a war to destroy the jews. And in response, the allies decide to fight one war. They fight a war to fight nazism but not a war to rescue the jews. You see this in the poster art, in the messages that these are governmentissued posters. You see it in hollywood films. Most hollywood films dont mention jews specifically. There are some deeply antinazi interventionist films that start to get made by 1940, 1941, 1942. Films like the mortal storm, or foreign correspondents, or sergeant york, casablanca maybe most famous film of the 20th century, is a film about refugees stranded, waiting for visas. But what you dont see is a direct mention of jews. There are a lot of coded messages in the films about jews, but there is not a language of jews. The exception is Charlie Chaplins great dictator. A slapstick film in many ways, which he makes in 1940 independent from the studio system. Heres a great clip where chaplin plays a fictional dictator of a fictional country. Here you see him addressing the nation. Using a combination of english, german, and nonsense. [indiscernible] daniel we were fortunate enough to be able to borrow a costume that chaplin wore from the great dictator, which you see here, as well as an oscar that gary cooper won for best actor for his portrayal in sergeant york. Sergeant york is a world war i film, or its set in world war i, but made and released out of in 1941, arguing he began as learns,st and then sometimes you need to fight to preserve democracy. And americans seeing that film in 1941 certainly would have understood this world war i story as a commentary on the necessity to intervene in world war ii. One of the things you see in casablanca is a language of concentration camps, without the specific mention of jews. One of the best scenes is when rick, Humphrey Bogarts character, learns that Victor Laszlo is coming to ricks cafe in casablanca, and rick says hes escaped from a concentration camp, the nazis have been chasing him all over europe. Bogarts character is sure that laszlo will figure out how to get visas. But the character doesnt read as jewish, as many of the characters in casablanca dont. There was a reluctance among the Hollywood Studio system to specifically mention jews, even though you hear about a language of concentration camps in movies like casablanca. [video clip] he escaped the concentration camp and the nazis have been chasing him all over europe. Daniel by 1942, americas at war, and our nation has changed significantly by going to war. Our military has doubled in size. You have millions of women entering the workforce. We still go to war with a segregated army, but African Americans launch a doublev campaign, arguing for victory against fascism abroad and against racism at home. One of the points we wanted to make to visitors is, its in 1942 that americans learned about what nazis called the final solution. We are showing how that information makes it from the u. S. Government to the u. S. American public between august and november of 1942. This man is the World Jewish Congress representative in switzerland. He learns through a german industrialist that the nazis have a plan to murder all of the jews of europe. He sends this information, he wants to get it to rabbi stephen wise, one of the leading reform rabbis in the United States and the head of the World Jewish Congress. He writes this letter. Hes trying to get the information to him through the state department. The content of this letter is harrowing. He says, in hitlers headquarters, a plan is being considered to wipe out in one blow from 3. 5 million to 4 million jews this autumn. And what the state department writes is, they have no information which would confirm this rumor and believes it is one of the many unreliable war rumors circulating in europe today. This is august 13 of 1942. You see that the state department has written on here, do not send. They block disinformation from wiseng it to stephen l because they dismiss it as an unreliable war rumor. He also sent the information to this man, a member of british parliament, samuel silverman. Here, you see a facsimile of the telegram that is then sent to rabbi wise in 1942. The information does make it to wise from silverman that there is a plan, as silverman writes, that jews numbering 3. 5 million to 4 million should after concentration should be exterminated. Wise goes to the state department to see undersecretary of state sumner welles. Welles says dont go public. Let me confirm first. The state Department Takes three months to confirm throughout the fall of 1942. Wells calls wise back to the state department and says its true. He allows wise to talk to the press about this. By november of 1942, you get articles like this across the country. This was the l. A. Times from 1942. Nazis wiping out jews in cold blood. The u. S. Government in the next month, december of 1942, issues a declaration, all the allied nations issue a declaration against what they call coldblooded extermination. That language is in this declaration in december of 1942. Its frontpage news for a short time. Americans will hear edward r. Murrow saying millions of human beings, most of them jews, are being gathered up with ruthless efficiency and murdered. We cant say americans didnt know. We didnt have all the details. But if you think about, what is the crux of the story . The story is that the nazis are deporting jews to the east for mass murder. That story we had, and that story was reported even if all the details were not known. It doesnt mean that all americans believed it. Americans are asked in january of 1943 by gallup, just months after this news becomes public, they are asked, do you believe that 2 million jews have been murdered . The results were about half and half. About 42 of americans believe it was true. What we are showing here is how the american magazines picked up that story. You see a chart like this in pm magazine, a graphic in pm magazine from august of 1943, showing country by country how many jews have been murdered and how many remain. You also see pictures from newsweek magazine, soviet photos that had leaked out of remains at one of the concentration camps. Victims shoes. And even himmler, heinrich himmler, on the cover of the magazine. The article and interior reads that the gestapo have organized a program of extermination without parallel. We show multiple american magazines are covering this story. We dont have a name for the crime. Winston churchill famously says, in 1941, we are in the presence of a crime without a name. We wanted to tell the story of this man, who coins the word genocide. During the war, he defines genocide as the deliberate destruction of a nation or ethnic group. In 1944, the Washington Post runs an editorial simply titled genocide, which speaks about the atrocities going on as purposeful killing. I think part of americans doubt and their unwillingness to believe what was happening as it was happening is the fact that we dont have a name for the crime until very late. But genocide is coined during the war as the mass murder of jews is going on. In this animated map, we are mapping two things on each other. The nazi killing process and the movement of the allied troops. You see here that by dday, nazi germany has murdered more than 5 million jews already. The blue on the map, the swastikas are the six Major Killing centers that the nazis are operating. The blue is the advance of the allied troops. It was important to us in this exhibition to put the timeline of the holocaust and the war together. When news becomes public in november of 1942 about what the nazis call the final solution, thats the moment that our troops are just landing in north africa in operation torch. We dont have the military means at that moment to reach the death camps, to reach the killing centers. As you just saw, by june of 1944, when u. S. And other allied troops are finally landing on the coast of normandy, thats very late in the holocaust. More than 5 million jews are dead. When we ask in this exhibition, what more could have been done, we are trying to be very careful about showing what was militarily possible. Historians in this field frequently debate the question about whether the rail lines leading to auschwitz should have been bombed or the camp itself or the crematorium should have been bombed. We take up that question later, but what this map is supposed to do is provide a foundation of thinking about what was militarily possible. That certainly was not militarily possible in 1942. By 1944, it is absolutely possible. But the u. S. Government decides not to do it. We are looking in this last section of the exhibition at individuals who are trying to pressure the u. S. Government to take action. One of the Great Stories is this man, who works for the polish underground. He is about 27 years old or in his late 20s in 1943. And the polish underground smuggles him into the warsaw ghetto. He also witnesses the transit of jews to one of the killing centers. Nine months later, hes in the oval office talking to f. D. R. About this. You see f. D. R. s appointment book, that the polish ambassador is coming to the white house with this man. He meets with f. D. R. Tells him , about these atrocities that he has witnessed, and pleads with f. D. R. At the end of the meeting, what can i tell the polish people . F. D. R. Says tell them we shall , win the war. That speaks directly to u. S. Government priorities. The priority is always the defeat of nazism and not the rescue of jews. The u. S. Government unfortunately sees what we would see today as humanitarian missions as a diversion from our war aims rather than central to our war aims. The government policy can be summed up as rescue through victory, that you stop the killings by stopping the killers. He goes public. He writes this fantastic book about the story of the secret state, published toward the end of the war. This is a bookofthemonth club book in the United States by 1945. He is also writing in popular magazines, this Article Polish death camps about what he has seen. It is not only used telling the president privately. The American Public could have picked this up in 1944 and read this article with really harrowing details, deeply disturbing details about some of the atrocities that karsky had witnessed. Another force of pressure on the government is this man, peter bergson. That is actually a pseudonym. His real name was hillel cook. He works in many different ways to advocate for Government Action on behalf of jews. He worked with members of congress to get them to introduce a rescue resolution. Ultimately, he is successful in getting members of congress to start moving that rescue resolution through. He also stages a pageant called we will never die. He works with some of the leading hollywood personalities of the era. It is produced by billy rose. The story of this pageant, you see a still from the pageant up here. He tells the story of jewish history in this pageant. And the end of the story, the end of this pageant, is the murder of all the jews in europe. There is this haunting refrain in the pageant, remember us. There is this assumption that the nazis are going to successfully murder all the jews in europe, unless there is action by the u. S. Government. The pageant was staged across the country. It plays in Madison Square garden, chicago stadium, the hollywood bowl, among other places. It played in Constitution Hall in the spring of 1943. Eleanor roosevelt goes to the pageant. Multiple Supreme Court justices go to the pageant. A couple hundred members of congress go. And been hect rewrites the end of the pageant for the performance in constitution home hall. He says, you are the people who have the power to do something about this, are you going to do something to rescue the jews of europe . He is also writing fullpage newspaper ads, incendiary fullpage newspaper ads, to spur action. This is a response to a refugee conference. The bermuda conference, a conference between Great Britain and the United States, a gathering in april 1943 that was really for show. There was no intention of changing refugee policy. But they wanted to be able to say they had met. They are calling for mass action on behalf of the jewish victims in europe. What we show here is breckinridge long comes back into the story, the head of the Visa Division for the state department. Long goes to congress in november 1943 and tells him the tells them the state department had already admitted 580,000 refugees. That claim is absolutely false. We had admitted roughly 200,000 refugees. Long goes to congress. This is secret testimony. He says, we were bound by immigration laws, we did everything we could possibly do. A congressman from brooklyn calls out long as a liar. He asks him to quit, he calls him out for lying about the number of refugees that had been let in. He gives this fantastic statement in december of 1943. If men of the temperament of breckinridge long continue in control of the immigration administration, we may as well take down that plaque from the statue of liberty and black of the lamp beside the golden door. He is speaking to this tension that is so central to this exhibition. The tension between american ideals, thinking of ourselves as a land of refuge and nation of immigrants, but at this moment of crisis being so closed to immigrants and to rescue refugees. The Treasury Department, lawyers in the Treasury Department also discovered the state department is actively obstructing information about the murder of jews from making it to intended recipients in the United States, and actively obstructing aid. They go to their boss, the secretary of the treasury, with a report that they call a report on the acquiescence of this government, the u. S. Government, in the murder of the jews. They ask him to take that information to f. D. R. He does. He changes the title and calls it personal report to the president , but the information here is harrowing. The first line, one of the greatest crimes in history, the slaughter of the jewish people in europe is continuing unabated. They are asking f. D. R. For a refugee policy. The United States government did not have a refugee policy. They take this report to f. D. R. In january of 1944, and on january 22, he issues an executive order that establishes the war refugee board. It is an interagency effort between the state department, War Department, and Treasury Department. Their charge is to rescue jews. As long as it doesnt impede the war effort. And that, as long as it doesnt impede the war effort, is a key provision and key fact that will be debated. And that will have deep implications for the remaining yearplus of the war. The board coordinates with refugee organizations. They work with International Refugee aid organizations. They aid people like the swedish diplomat so wellknown for going into hungary and issuing visa and protection papers to hungarian jews. The first is about the question about whether or not there should be direct bombing of auschwitz. The war refugee board was receiving recommendations from jewish organizations and from the American Public about how to save lives. Among these recommendations was bomb the rail lines leading to auschwitz, bomb the crematorium themselves. The war refugee board received this request many times. This man, a Treasury Department lawyer who had become the head of the war refugee board, initially in the summer of 1944, forwards this to the War Department without comment. But by november of 1944, hes convinced this should happen. He says i strongly recommend the War Department give serious consideration to the possibility of destroying the execution chambers and crematoria through direct bombing action. He is writing that on november 8 of 1944 to the assistant secretary of war. Mccloy responds, as he always does, by saying this is not a war aim. The War Department consistently said we will study the problem, or we have studied the problem. There is not evidence the War Department deeply studied this problem. Mccloy always says its militarily not possible. We know by 1944 that wasnt true. The War Department was authorizing and running bombing raids on german industrial targets less than five miles from auschwitz. So weve studied it, its impractical. Then he always says, and its not a war aim, not a war priority. And that for the War Department was true. They saw this as a diversion from the war effort. This is one of the most controversial and difficult topics in memory of americans in response to the holocaust. There is a lot of moral outrage about americans rallier to bomb failure to bomb the crematoria. What we are trying to show in the exhibition is what did happen. Not what we think should have happened. The war refugee board made these multiple requests, and the War Department always said thats not a priority. And it was not a priority for them. That was consistent with the u. S. Governments war effort. One thing the war refugee board does is bring in 982 refugees to a camp in new york. You are seeing universal newsreel footage of refugees arriving in this camp in new york in august of 1944. These are refugees who had been in italy and are brought over by the refugee board outside of the immigration quota system. They are not admitted as immigrants. They are held as guests. What you see here is a boy on one side of the fence talking to residents on the other side of the fence. All 992 had to sign papers that said they would go back to europe when the war was over. This was the only instance during the nazi period where the u. S. Government brings over a mass of refugees outside of the immigration quota system. They hold them at this camp behind barbed wire fences. They hold them until february of 1946, until well after the war ends. Harry truman is president by that time and says, we cannot send these people back. Ultimately they are admitted to the United States as immigrants. But it is the only time the united State Government makes an exception outside of our immigration policy to admit a mass of refugees. This is a piece of the fence that has been lent to us, the barbed wire fence, that surrounded those refugees. They published their own newspaper called the ontario chronicle. What you are seeing here is a cartoon from the ontario chronicle showing the before and after, the excitement of the refugees as they arrived in new york harbor, seeing the statue of liberty on august 5, 1944. One year later, they are still held behind this barbed wire fence. And the promise of liberty seems to be at such a distance. This is an illustration that appeared in their own newspaper in august of 1945. Drawn by one of the refugees. This speaks to the contrast we want to get out through the exhibition between the promise of liberty, the idea of america as a land of refuge, and the political reality on the ground that made it difficult for americans to make good on that promise. We end the exhibition with a ander of contrasts in april may of 1945. In april, you see here that american soldiers encounter nazi concentration camps. You will see in a moment eisenhower walking through a sub camp in april of 1945. This is happening at the same moment that f. D. R. Dies. F. D. R. Had been president for 12 years. Many americans, its hard for them to imagine f. D. R. Not being president. You have that contrast going on in april. More importantly, in may, you have americans here celebrating the defeat of germany. We went to war to defeat meshes and thenazism, fascism, and americans celebrate that, the sacrifices that are made during war. What we wanted visitors to think about at this point in the exhibition is that winning the war doesnt solve the refugee problem. You are left with millions of displaced persons in europe. Americans are still very reluctant to let in these displaced persons. This is a poll from december of 1945, showing that only 5 of americans by december of 1945, 6 months after the defeat of nazism, want to let in more refugees than we did before the war. The other key at the end of the exhibition to think about, this is times square in may of 1945. Then again, we are showing some of the press coverage from april and may of 1945. Americans are celebrating the fact that hitler is dead. You have an american giving a mocking nazi salute. This magazine spread on atrocities found in german concentration camps is may 7, 1945. There are some key things to think about here. You see a boy walking on the side of the road, littered with victims. These pictures on the right side of the spread are from buchenwald. Life magazine says in this article that americans have been hearing stories about german brutality for 12 years, and now they can no longer doubt it. Why . Because we finally have visual evidence. What you have seen throughout the exhibition is americans had a lot of information about the threat of nazism, about the persecution and murder of jews, but not a lot of it was visual evidence. I think for americans in the 1940s, seeing is believing. Americans start to see images like this in life magazine. They might go to the newsreels and see harrowing footage with titles like nazi murder mills. [video clip] six furnaces, each holding bodies, used in cremating the dead. Dont look away. Horror unbelievable but true. Here, a mere handful were found alive when the americans overran the area. War is not a pretty thing at best, but no words can express the disgust at germanys organized carnage. Daniel this starts to push against that doubt that had always been there. Americans were asked in 1944, for example, do you believe the germans are murdering jews in concentration camps . 76 ofend of 1944, americans say they believe it. Then they are asked about the numbers, and what the polling shows is americans cant grasp the scale and the scope of the crime until its over. Unfortunately, that doubt remains. Fore magazine is saying the first time now we have irrefutable evidence speaks to that doubt. The other key to this is that the captions refer to the victims that you are seeing as prisoners of all nationalities. But it never mentions jewish victims. That thread even remains as nazism is defeated. That thread of not putting jewish victims front and Center Remains in some of the american press. At the close of the exhibition, we come back to rafael, the man who coined the word genocide. Limkin himself is a refugee from poland, jewish, who lost 49 relatives. He spends all of his energy trying to get genocide recognized as an international crime. In his autobiography, which he wrote in pieces over the course of the late 1950s, one of the things he wrote was about the importance of telling the story to the american people, that all over europe, nazis were writing the book of death. And the importance of repeating this story to americans on the street, in churches, on the porches of their homes. That is central to the mission of the u. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to continue telling the story as a warning. The haunting part of this quote for me is lemkin saying, im sure they would understand me. Because part of what is central to this exhibition is americans lack of understanding of this crime as it was happening. We had a lot of information. That information didnt always translate to clear understanding. Today, with the benefit of hindsight, we have the clear understanding. This exhibition tries to push against hindsight and say, what did americans understand at the time, how do they understand their roles and responsibilities as american citizens to fight against nazism as it was happening . This was part two of a twopart american artifacts. You can view part one and all other American History tv programs online at cspan. Org history. American history tv is on cspan3 every weekend. All of our programs are at cspan. Org history. You can watch lectures, archival films, and see our schedule of upcoming programs. Cspan. Org history. Watching American History tv, covering history, cspanstyle with event coverage, eyewitness accounts, archival films, lectures in college classrooms, and visits to museums and historic places. All weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. When it comes to trying to keep people from gathering . Ogether, how close are we is one chamber closer to that happening than the other . No, it does not seem like it. Is there some type of guideline on why the virus affects people differently . I think this virus is much more transmissible than many other viruses. And number two, it appears to be much more serious and severe and deadly than other viruses like influenza. Do you guys have any way of pushing the idea of Disaster Recovery preparedness up into the government organizations so it is more of a top priority instead of the secondmost important priority . Thatm smiling as you say because im surprised he was say is the second highest priority. I would argue it is oftentimes dead last. Share your expenses deal with the coronavirus pandemic and ask experts your questions every morning on washington journal. Night on verage at washington journal primetime. Apollo 13 blasted off on what was to be the third nasa mission to land humans on the moon. An onboard explosion forced the mission to abort and return to earth. American history tv tells the story this sunday with archival footage and crew interviews. Here is a preview. Minde thought crossed our that we were in deep trouble. But we never dwelled on it. Said, whatve up and is going to happen if we dont get back . My thoughts were this. If everything failed and we still had life support in the lunar module but could not get back to earth, the heat shield was damaged or we went past the earth because the orbit we were ,n would take us past the earth i said we will send back information. We will keep on operating as long as we can. That is the end of the deal. That was what i had planned to do in my mind should something happen. About theen ask me poison pill. It is ridiculous. You did not have anything to kill yourselves with . We could have blown up the cabin and gone like that. Why bother to carry poison pills . Did the three of you have any conversation about the fact you were about to have bought the farm . We never admitted to ourselves we are not going to make it. Foundne time when fred out we had about 45 hours worth of power and we were 90 hours from home. I think he said Something Like i dont think we are going to make it the way we are right now. I said i agree with you. What we are doing now is not going to hackett. Learn more about the apollo 13 mission American History tv. President Franklin Roosevelt died 75 years ago on april 12, 1945. He was serving his fourth time. Het on history bookshelf, talks about his book in which he president in which he looks at the challenges president henry Truman Harry Truman faced. Alex aj baime is an awardwinning journalist, public speaker and occasional onscreen personality. In addition to the accidental president , his books include an epic quest to harm, go like hell, forward, ferrari and their battle for speed. Both of them won the kim curry award. Aj is a longtime regular contributor to the wall street