Understand commissioner yachi, youre on the telephone . I am. Thank you. A quorum of the commissioners is president. Is the Court Reporter yes . I need a verbal yes. Thank you. Is the staff director present . Protect. I as our motion to approve the agenda for this business meeting . So moved. Thank you. Is there a second . I second. Thank you. I begin the call for amendments with one of my own adding a discussion and vote on the wyoming state Advisory Committee appointment. I also move to place the voting items at the top of the agenda. I understand at least one commissioner will need to leave in order to catch a flight. Is there a second for my amendments . Second. Thank you. Any other amendments . I have an amendment. Id like to amend the agenda to include a vote on a draft statement circulated earlier this week from the commission including the enforcement of hate crimes against white nationalism. Okay. Thank you. Is there a second . Second. Thank you. Is there any other amendments . If there are none, lets vote im im sorry. I think your microphone is off. Turn it on . It appeared as if commissioner yakis statement was already included in the agenda. Is it not . Its not. Okay. Then i would also move that my statement be included in the agenda. Terrific. Is there a second . Second. Second. Is there any other amendments . Hearing none, lets vote to approve the agenda as amended. Those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed . The motion passes unanimously. Our first item on the agenda today is the next iteration of the commissions Speaker Series timed american responses to the rise of naziism and the refugee crisis in the 1930s and 1940s. The commission was privileged this morning to receive a tour at the u. S. Holocaust museum of the exhibit entitled americans and the holocaust. A special thanks to stacey berdebt for inviting us and coordinating our visit, the museums coordinator and director. Were grateful to welcome back to the commission, a historian at the United StatesHolocaust Memorial museum for 15 years. Shes been affiliated with the museum for 17 years. She holds a ph. D. In American History. Her book was published in april of 2008 and just won a National Jewish book award for outstanding writing based on archival material. We heard from her two years ago regarding the ms st. Louis. Were very glad to have her again with us today. The floor is yours. I want to start by thanking the commissioners for inviting me today and also for coming to the museum this morning to see the americans in the holocaust exhibit which for anyone listen who did not come is available for people online for those who cant come to washington. The exhibit is part of a major new initiative to Share New Research on the United States during the holocaust and to explore along with our visitors what americans knew and did during the nazi era. I work on these questions. My role this afternoon is to present information on the factors that played into american responses to the refugee crisis in the 1930s and 1940s. The context of the period is crucial here. Its not meant as an excuse for inaction nor to provide a litany of reasons to argue why this period of history is similar or different from today. Instead, when we look at the u. S. In the 1930s and 1940s, we realize the past is not a foreign country. We cant look back and assume all decisions were collie in the past. It was an easy call is everything is more complicated today. Decisions in the 1930s and 1940s about refugees about national security, about economic insecurity and about the roles and responsibilities of america and americans were difficult. Americans had fears and challenges. Just as we do today. But this is a reality and should not become an excuse just as it should today. Before i get into the particular details of the refugee crisis in the 1930s, i heard a quote recently id like to share. In the plot against america, phillip roths novel about a distaupe yan america, he wrote the relentless unforeseen is what we School Children studied as history. Harmless history where everything unexpected is chronicled on the page as inevitable. The terror of the unforeseen is what the terror of history hides turning a disaster into an epic. We want to remind our visitors of it. Particularly when we look at the holocaust, we look at history backwards. We skip to the end of the story. But americans back then dont have those images at hand. Theyve not seen them. The holocaust has not happened yet. Theres no word genocide yet. It is unforeseen and will be terrible. Americans are acting or choosing not to act without this knowledge. Until the 1920s, the United States was open to immigrants without numerical limits so long as they were considered physically, mentally and morally healthy. The exception was chinese immigration and japanese immigration which the japanese government promised to restrict in 1907 in order to avoid their own version of the chinese exclusion act. The right to become a citizen was limited to free white persons of good character. And after the civil war to african americans. Asian immigrants could not become citizens until 1952. In the first 15 years of the 20th century an average of about 900,000 persons immigrated to the United States each other. The u. S. Grew about 1 every year just through immigration. These are the immigrants we tend to picture. People who are arriving at ellis island waving and going and presenting their paperwork in the hopes of qualifying for admission. In the first 15 years after of the 20th century, 40 to 50 of the immigrants listed as poli polish, italian or hebrew, but during world war 11, immigration drops. By the time is war is over, Congress Becomes determined to limit immigration. Theres a confluence of factors. The u. S. Is isolationist after world war i. The senate doesnt approve of joining the league of nations and the u. S. Demilitarizes vowing never to go to war again. This results in antiimmigration sentiment. They felt as though the pressure of large numbers of foreign born who had close ties overseas might pressure the u. S. To intervene in future conflicts. Theres the worldwide influenza pandemic in 1919. It led to 615,000 deaths in the United States. Americans understand that disease as infiltrating the u. S. From overseas. At the time history books are focussed on the closure of the american frontier and wrapped American History up in an idea the americas were the place of opportunity for many. But now that we settled from sea to shining sea, the opportunities were going to be limited from now on. Their fears surrounding the Russian Revolution and there are anarchist attacks on wall street and red scares. Roundups and deportations of activis activists. And perhaps most crucially, the desire to limit immigration was based in pseudoscience. The idea that buy logically some people are better than others and that by cultivating good racial stock, america could retain its white socalled superior culture and avoid being soiled by immigrants. The researchers calculated the between 40 and 50 of all arriving immigrants were feebleminded. Americans read mass market books like the passing of the great race which argued there was a superior nordic race and this race was in danger, and this is another title. The rising tide of color against White Supremacy. It went through 14 printings in three years. Historians noted hitlers mine komph borrows from some of these. Eight unique bills are introduced proposing to suspend immigration to the United States for a period of between two and ten years. In december of 1920 the house passes a bill to end all immigration to the u. S. For one year. And this is a quote, to provide for the protection of citizens of the u. S. That is why they would end immigration to protect americans. The vote is bipartisan. Its 293 for. The senate was unwilling to take up that bill as written, but starts considering an amended version limiting immigration based on National Origins. The idea of National Origins is, again, based in eugenics. They argued and this is a quote, immigration is an insidious invasion just as clearly as and works more certainly and national conquest than an invading army. The nordic man which in its purity this is another quote. In its purity as a fair skin was the ideal. Racial mixture, they argued, whether it was between black and white or good or bad immigrants would only result in the lowering of the offspring. The ku klux klan which boasted 2. 5 million members called far 100 american campaign. These ideas are everywhere. In 1921 for the first time in u. S. History the u. S. Passes a quota law. The doors to the u. S. Remain open, but immigration is now limited. The opportunity available to immigrants is based on their country of birth. Privileging nordic countries while severely limiting visas available to southern and Eastern Europeans. Places have jews and catholics live. At the last minute theres a rejection of a proposed amendment which distincts between immigrants and refugees. By exempting immigrants who could prove they were escaping racial or had this amendment been enacted in 1921, americas response to the refugee crisis might have been very different. For more than two years after the passage of this emergency quota act of 1921, the quotas administered at the u. S. Border and it is chaos. Ships are racing across the atlantic trying to deliver their passengers before the monthly quotas are filled onnelis island. Shipping Companies Start complaining to congress because they are being fined if they deliver immigrants and those immigrants, the quotas of those countries have already been filled. So to deal with this, congressman albert johnson, who is the chair of the House Committee on immigration and a member of the klan. He had once written that he was in congress to bring about a heavy reduction of immigration by any method possible. He proposes a new, comprehensive bill coauthored by senator david reed. Washington is from washington state, reed is from pennsylvania. The johnsonreed immigration act of 1924 becomes law on may 24, 1924. And it remains u. S. Law with very few amendments until 1965. The quota system capped immigration from quota countries, basically all countries outside of the western hemisphere at approximately 164,000 people per year and then it divvied up that number by country. They do not have quota as a quota you have to hit. Instead, the quota is the maximum number of immigrants that could enter, the upper limit, not the goal. Germany and Great Britain in a higher version of the quota since they saw those immigrants as white, protestant and easily assimilated into the u. S. In fact, 86 of the quota is reserved for immigrants for southern and Eastern Europe and 2 for elsewhere. Some country his quotas of 100 people per year. The entirety of africa had 1100 quotas of visas available each year. The johnsonreed act has a zone defined by longitude and latitude from when immigration was prohibited to entirely. The law made exemptions for nonquota immigrants meaning professor, clergy, rabbis, people born in the western hemisphere, they were not in the quota by the johnsonreed act, and state Department Consular officers were now responsible for approving the paperwork. So applicant his to wait in their countries to receive their visas. Although all of this happens in the 1920s, 15 years before the refugee crisis of european jews. This is when the bulk of the American Governments response is decided. The seeds are sown long in advance of naziism and not in response to it. The refugees crisis is the unforeseen. Immigration is limited and those limits are rooted in racism and antisemitism. Immigrants have to wait in their countries and it is a slow, deliberate crisis that is not designed to work in a crisis. And besides agreeing that people fleeing persecution could be exempted from a literacy test there is no differentiation between refugees, and it will not change until after world war ii. There are no new laws to pass to let jews in or keep jews out because the act of 1924 did that. Most of the u. S. Governments actions or inactions in the 1930s makes sense at least intellectually when you know these things. For example, i spoke here a few years ago about the st. Louis carrying 937 mostly germanjewish passengers and most are on the waiting list for the u. S. To obtain visas and are planning to wait in cuba to present their paperwork. When cuba turned them away for having fraudulent landing permits the u. S. Does not allow them to enter. We had no refugee or asylum policy and the quota for germany was filled that year already and antiimmigrant sentiment was still strong and although americans express sympathy for the refugees theres no appetite toinge c to change the law or make an exception for them. I skipped ahead. Lets go back for a second. When johnsonreed passes, the quota was basically filled for a few years. The quota allocations are revived and theyre lowered from 164,000 total people to 153,000. 1929, though, is also the year of the stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression and as has happened before and has happened since, economic stability exacerbates antiimmigration sentiment. Our unemployment problem was transferred to the foreign lands and if wed refused admission to the foreign born in our midst. There would be no serious unemployment problem to harass us. To strictly enforce a public charge clause forcing an immigrant to prove he or she would never need public assistance. Immigration drops from 147,000 quota immigrants in 1929 to fewer than 13,000 in 1932. 1933 there are 8,220 immigrants that enter the United States. 20 years ago it had been over a million. Adolph hitlers appointed chancellor of germany and roosevelt takes office a few months later in march, and as the front pages of american newspaper spread the word that nazi germany was boycotting jewish businesses and banning and burning subversive books, 21 of the American Workforce is unemployed. The Labor Department which housed the ins and the department whose Consular Office is responsible for issuing visas get into a debate for germanjewish refugees and ultimately nothing changes. Approximately 90,000 germans sit on the u. S. Waiting list. This is the consistent list of the waiting list from 1931 before the nazis take power to 1937 mainly because german jews were escaping nazi germany and traveling locally going to france or belgium or the netherlands to kind of wait the nazis out or because they know they cant qualify to come here. Between july 1933 and june 1944 the first full year that hitler is in power they issue 4,000 visas to people born in germany out of the 29,957 visas available through the law. Roosevelt adjusts the state departments interpretation of this public charge clause in 1933 and again in 1937 and as more germans join the waiting tlos get here, the consulate slowly begin to issue more visas. Its clear by 1938 that its becoming unbearable for jews. Austria is bringing 200,000 jews under the german control. Thousands wait and suicides skyrocket. President roosevelt combines the german and austrian quotas, but that still means 27,370 people can emigrate each year. Roosevelt also calls an International Conference in evian france. 22 nations depend in diplomatic language that theyre not willing to take any more immigrants for economic reasons or in the worlds of the australian delegate they do not have a racial problem and theyre not interested in importing a racial problem. The attacks in 1938 are Headline News in the u. S. With font much larger than the coverage of the elections or the end of the anniversary of world war i. Polls show americans overwhelmingingly, 93 disapprove the nazi treatment of jews, but only 21 think the United States should bring in jew immigrants. Congresss unwillingness to adjust the Immigration Laws. The situation is so bad that in april 1938 a group of jewish congressmen get together amongst themselves and decide none of them will introduce new legislation to open immigration any further. That even having the debate will only lead to bills that will restrict immigration and dozens of those bills are introduced in 1939 from bills to end quota immigration entirely to bills to say that an immigrants entire family has to be subjected to intelligence tests prayer to receiving a visa. None of these bills pass, but the few bills that call for opening immigration, none of them do either. The members of congress who favor emigration restriction echo public opinion. In january 1938 americans are asked if they want their member of congress to open the doors of the United States to more european refugees. Only 9 say yes. President roosevelt is a politician and eleanor consistently voices his support for refugees, he prioritizes recovery from the Great Depression and victory from world war ii. At times he acts in small ways to aid refugees and normally he does not and it is becoming more and more difficult to physically leave europe and not just because of the quota system and the massive demand on visas, but because of june 1940 the german waiting list is over 200,000 people and after september 1, 1939, when world war ii begins it becomes impossible to physically escape. For example, in october 1938, the month before crystal knocked 5,504 jewish refugees emigrated from europe to new york on 55 ships from 14 different european cities. Three years later in october 1941 the month that nazi germany forbids jewish immigration from its territory, three ships, all from lisbon, carrying only 100 passengers are able to make the crossing.