Germany invades poland and world war ii breaks out that. Week what is on americans minds in 1939 is staying out of war. And you see in the section of the exhibition, deep concern in the United States about spies, about nazi spies in the United States. At the time called a fifth column. Americans are asked by gallup to believe that journeys are already beginning to organize to deploy spies. 71 of americans say yes. You see the fear of spice played out in our Popular Culture and in our political culture the First American movie, big studio movie to take on naziism is a warner bros. Movie. 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 stations in brooklyn, philadelphia, newport. In places like buffalo, seattle, washington. Our trial in the United States federal court, brought to the attention of a startled nation, this amazing danger to the safety and freedom. Even as americans are thing about the threat of his him of nazism. You see J Edgar Hoover writing in popular magazines about stamping out the spies. By the time we go to war, you will see posters like this. 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 was Popular Culture, but if deeply influences the state as well. This man 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. If you read his diary, you see deeply antisemitic sentiment about wanting to keep jews out. The secretary of state sends this construction to consulates in 1940, saying they have to be examined with more extreme care. If you have any a doubt any doubt about the applicant, keep them out. The state department institutes a procedure that effectively takes a door that is slightly open to refugees and slams it shut. They use these National ConcernNational Security concerns about spies. They argue we cant be letting refugees, and if there is any doubt that they may be spying for nazi germany. 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 on most every week between 1939 and pearl harbor. Americans are asked whether we should declare war on germany come 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 hearing, saying that wars First Casualty will be liberty itself. America first was founded by a group of students at yale university. They moved to chicago and found their rankandfile in the midwest. America first is an isolationist organization that wants to stay out of war. Charles lindbergh becomes the loudest spokesperson for the America First committee. 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 not nazi germany. And he handed this box, which contained this pen. It is the service cost of the german eagle. Lynn burke says, i dont know i was getting this. And he is surprised after kristallnacht to give this award back. We borrowed the lindberghs diary from the archive at yale university. Whay you see here is lindbergh writing about a speech he gave in des moines iowa on september 11, 1941. During his speech he asks, who wants to go to war . He says the british wants to go to war and this makes sense, france has fallen and western european nations have fallen. The british are the last line of defense. He says fdr wants us to go to war, calls fdr a warmonger. And third he says, the jews want us to go to war. He cites his belief the jews want us to go to not i think would lindbergh is doing their is i think what lindbergh is doing there is one of the most effective critics is a political cartoonist, who we today know as dr. Seuss. Who we today know as dr. Seuss. What if see in this newspaper and on this screen are multiple cartoons published by p. M. That show him attacking the isolationism. You see lindbergh on the top of a pile, and shoveling this nazi propaganda. You see him with this fantastic attack on America First. Here he is showing the ostrich of isolationism ringing the hand that should be hitlerss neck. In the aftermath, he draws this fantastic cartoon about America First. You see a grandma reading a scary childrens story called adolf the wolf to these children. What we do is take on fdrs president ial leadership. Between the pumping that europe ghost warns of timber 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 in americans dont want to let in refugees. Fdr spends all of his Political Capital trying to move Public Opinion from isolation to intervention. Hes doing this as hes making the own president a third term, which is unpopular among many americans. But they dont spend any time try to move Public Opinion on that refugee question. This film looks at the president ial leadership and issues the first peacetime draft, running for a third term, trying to get americas support 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 seven 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 of people of japanese ancestry are removed. Two thirds of those our citizens. This is one of fdrs worst moments as president. And its done in the name of National Security, in fear of spies among these communities. Some americans call these places concentration camps. You see a congressman in 1942 saying, im 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. They call a camp in independence, california, they call it a phoenix spot of lonely. 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 a day. The defence stamp way. The American Opinion is rounding up and removing japanese aliens away from the pacific coast. We want to show in the exhibition how americans saw nazism in the war time we see images of hitlers that americans would have seen. There is a range of images. We are making fun of hitler on the cover of the new yorker, comparing him to the wicked witch of the west. Theres a pincushion here that encourage you to stick a pin in hitlers end. Or hitler as a skunk, hitler is 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, with captain America Punching out hitlers. You see hitler as a madman and a murderer. A wanted poster, buttons that showed him wanted for murder, and even one with a string on it saying, lets pull together, where you can lynch hitlers. There is a range of opinions about hitler, but he remains a key figure in our Popular Culture. What you see here in a poster like this one, with the dagger going through the bible, is nazism per trade as an enemy that portrayed as an enemy of christianity. Portrayed as an enemy of christianity. Nazism is an enemy of american values. What you dont see here is nazism as an enemy of european jews. Americas go to war to fight fascism, to defeat nazi germany, but the message is not to rescue jews. The priority is not to rescue jews. Thats an essential question we ask in this exhibition. Thats one quick why a rescue jews didnt become priority in wartime . The nazis fight two wars. They fight a war against the allies and a war to destroy the jews. In response the allies decide to fight one more, they fight a war to defeat nazism. You see this in the poster art, in the messages that these are government issued posters. You also see it in hollywood films. Most hollywood films dont mention jews specifically. There are deep nazi interventionist films that starts to get made. Films like the mortal storm, or foreign correspondents, or sergeant york, casablanca may be most famous film of the 20th century. Its a film about refugees stranded, waiting for visas. What you dont see is a direct mention of jews. The exception is Charlie Chaplins the great dictator. A slapstick film, in many ways, which he makes 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. We were fortunate enough to be able to borrow a cost in the chaplin war from the great dictator, which you see here, as well as an oscar that gary cooper won for best actor for his portrayal of our york in sergeant york. Sergeant york is a world war i film, where its set in world war i, but made and released out of 1941, arguing he began as a pacifist, and then learned sometimes you need to fight to preserve democracy. And americans seeing that film would have understood this world war i story as a commentary on the necessity to intervene. 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, says hes escaped from a concentration camp, the nazis have been chasing him all over europe. Bogart 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 in the Hollywood Studio system to specificly mention jews, even though you hear about a language of concentration camps in movies like casablanca. You been chasing them all over europe. By 1942, americas at war, and our nations change significantly. Our military doubles in size. We still go to war with a segregated army, but African Americans launch a double v 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 call the final solution. Here we are showing how that information makes it from the u. S. Government to the u. S. 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 rabbis in the United States and the head of the World Jewish Congress. Hes trying to get the information 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 300 million to 400 million jews this autumn. What the state department writes here is they have no information which would confirm this rumor, and believe it is one of the many unreliable war rumors circulating in europe today. This is august 13 of 1942. The state department has written on here, do not send. They blocked this information, because they dismiss it as an unreliable war rumor. He also sent the information to this man, a member of british parliament. You see a facsimile of the telegram that is sent to the rabbi you see in pennsylvania. The information does make it to wise from silverman that there is a plan, as silverman writes, should after deportation and concentration in east at one blow exterminated to resolve once and for all the jewish question. Wise goes to the state department, goes to see under secretary of state sumner welles. Wells 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. In november 1942 you get articles like this across the country. This was the l. A. Times from 1940 two, nazis wiping out jews in cold blood. The u. S. Government in the next month issues a declaration, all the allied nations, 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 crooks of the story . The story is not these 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. Americans are asked in january of 1943, do you believe the stories that 2 million jews at that point had been murdered . The results were about half and half. 40 of americans believe it was true. What we are showing heres how the american magazine picked up that story. You see a chart like this in pm magazine, a graphic in pm magazine showing country by country how many jews had been murdered and how many remained. You also see pictures of newsweek magazine, soviet photos of remains one of the concentration camps. Victims shoes paid and even himmler, Heinrich Himmler on the cover of the magazine. The article and interior reads that the gestapo had organized an extermination without parallel. Magazines are covering this story. We dont have a name for the crime. Winston churchill famously says, we on the presence of a crime without a name. We wanted to tell the story of this man, who coins the word genocide. He defines genocide is that the lord destruction of a nation or ethnic group. In 1944, the Washington Post runs an editorial simple he titled, genocide, which speaks about the atrocities going on. I think part of american runs america does doubt and their unwillingness to believe what was happening when it was happening was the effect that it didnt have a name for the crime until very late. 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 nazikilling process and the movement of the allied troops. You see nazi troops murdered more than 5 million jews already by dday. 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 for us to put the timeline of the holocaust and the war together. When news becomes public in november 1942 about what the nazis call the final solution, thats the moment that our troops are just landing in north africa in the operation. We dont have the military means 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 landing on the coast of normandy, thats very late in the holocaust. When we ask in this exhibition, what more could have been done, we are trying to be careful about what about showing what was militarily possible. We frequently debate the question about whether the rail lines leading to auschwitz should have been bombed or the camp itself 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. 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. Individuals were 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 27 years old or in the late 20s in 1943. The polish underground smuggles him into the warsaw ghetto. He saw the transit of jews to belgium. Nine months later hes in the oval office, talking to fdr about this. You see fdrs appointment book, that the polish ambassador is coming to the white house with karsky. Tells him about these atrocities that he has witnessed and pleads with fdr at the end of the meeting, what can i tell the polish people. Fdr says, tell them we shall win the war. That speaks directly to u. S. Government priorities. The priority is always the defeat of nazism. The u. S. Government and forcefully sees what we would see as a humanitarian division that see today is a Man Government unfortunately sees what we would see as a humanitarian Mission Today as 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. Hes writing in popular magazines, this Article Polish death camps about what he is seeing. The American Public could have picked this up in 1944 and read this article with really harrowing detail, deeply disturbing details about some of the atrocities that karski had witnessed. Another force of pressure on the government is this man. He works in many different ways to to agitate 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 commerce to get that rescue resolution through. He also stages a pageant called, we will never die. He works with the leading hollywood personalities of the era. The story of this pageant, you see a still of 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 and there is this haunting refrain, remember us, remember us, remember a there is this assumption that the nazis are going to successfully murder all the jews in europe, unless there is action. It plays in Madison Square garden, hollywood stadium, in the hollywood bowl. 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 he rewrites the end of the pageant for the performance in Constitution 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. A conference between Great Britain and the United States, a gathering in april 1943 that was really for show. There was no intention of rate of changing refugee policy. They want 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 he comes back to the story, the head of the Visa Division for the state department. He goes to congress in november 1943 and tells him the state department had already admitted 580,000 refugees. That claim is absolutely false. Long goes to conference to congress. 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 calls him out for lying about the number of refugees that had been let in. Gives this fantastic statement in december of 1943. We may as well take down that plaque from the statue of liberty and black out the lamp beside the golden door. He 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 a 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 recipient in the United States, and actively obstructing aid. They go to their boss, the secretary of the treasury, with a report, a report they call is the acquiescence of this government. They asked him to take that information to fdr. Morgan does. But the information here is harrowing. The first line, one of the greatest crime in history, the slaughter of the jewish people is continuing unabated. They are asking fdr for a refugee policy. The United States government did not have a refugee policy. After they take this report fdr in january of 1944, and on january 22 he issues an executive order that establishes the war refugee board. It is a joint effort, and 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 will have deep implications for the remaining year of the war. The board coordinates with refugee organizations. They work with International Refugee aid organizations. And issuing visas and protection papers. 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. A 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. By november of 1944 hes convinced this should happen. He says i strongly recommend the War Department give series consideration to the possibility of destroying the execution chambers and crematorium through direct bombing action. You see here the assistant secretary of war. Mccoy responds as he always does, by saying this is not a war aim. The department consistently said we will study the problem, or we have studied the problem. There is not evidence the ward apartment deeply studied this problem. He always says its militarily not possible. We know 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. And he always says its not a war aim, not a war priority. And that 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 the americas failure to bomb the crematorium. What we are trying to show 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. 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 footage of refugees arriving in this camp in new york in august of 1944. These are refugees who had been in italy and had been brought out outside of the immigration system. They are not admitted as immigrants. What you see here is a boy on one side of the fence talking to residents, all 982 had a 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 massive refugees outside of the immigration quota system. They hold him at this camp behind barbed wire fences. They hold him until february of 1946, until well after the war ends. Ultimately they are admitted to the United States as immigrants. But 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 a fence that has been led to us, the barbed wire fence that surrounded those refugees. They published their own newspaper called the ontario chronicle. You are seeing 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. One year later they are still held behind us barbed wire fence and the promise of liberty seems to be at such a distance. This is an illustration that appeared in the newspaper in august of 1945. This speaks to the contrast we want to get out through the exhibition between the promise of liberty and the idea of america as a land of refugee and the political reality on the ground that made it so difficult for americans to make good on that progress. We end the exhibition with a number of contrasts in april and may of 1945. In april you see here that american soldiers encounter nazi concentration camps. Will see eisenhower walking through a sub camp in april of 1945. This is happening at the very same moment fdr dies. Many americans, its hard for them to imagine fdr not being president. You have that contrast going on in april. In may you have americans here celebrating the defeat of germany. 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 them these displaced persons. 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. We are showing some of the press coverage. Americans are celebrating the fact that hitler is dead. You have an american such a 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. The right side of the spread and life magazine says in this article that americans have a hearing stories about german brutality for 12 years, and now they can no longer doubt it. 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. Not a lot of it was visual evidence. I think americans in the 1940s, seeing is believing. Americans start to see images like this in life magazine, they may go to the newsreels in april 1945. Six furnaces, each holding a buddies used in creating the dead, each holding bodies, war is not a pretty thing at best, but no words can expressed that express the worlds discussed at germanys organized carnage. 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 . By the end of 1944, 76 of percetn of americans say they believe it. They are asked about the numbers, and what the pulling shows is americans cant grasp the scale and the scope of the crime until its over. Unfortunately that doubt remains. Life magazine is saying for 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 they never mention jewish victims. That thread even remains as nazism is defeated. Not putting jewish victims front and Center Remains in some of the american press. At the close we go back to rafael, the man who coined the word genocide. He himself is a refugee from poland, jewish, who lost 49 relatives. He spends all of his energy trying to get genocide recognized as a national 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 this story to the american people, that all over europe the nazis were writing the book of death. And importance of repeating the story, it is impart central to the mission of the u. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to continue telling the story as a warning. The hunting part, for me is, lemkin saying, im sure they would understand me. Part of what is central to this accident to this americas lack of understanding of this crime as it was happening have a lot of information, that information didnt translate to clear understanding. Today, we have a clear understanding, but the sixth contrast so hard to push against hindsight, and say what do americans understand at the time, how do they understand their roles and responsibilities as american citizens to fight against nazism as its 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