(Jewish Group) Why didn't the US save more Jews from the Nazis? The American people were against it

[Behind the Aegis]

Why didn’t the United States do more to help Europe’s Jews during the Holocaust?

This question haunts the history of the United States and the Holocaust, and lurks behind practically every storyline in the new film on the subject from Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, to be aired for three consecutive nights on PBS beginning Sept. 18.

The question, of course, isn’t just about the Holocaust, but about the years before the war, when the Nazi vise tightened around the Jews of Germany and more than half of them sought to obtain visas to immigrate to the United States. The vast majority never made it in.

The simple answer to this question is that the American public was against granting Jews refuge in the United States, and in this area President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration hewed close to public opinion.

But, as the documentary, “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” demonstrates, there is more to it than that.

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I wonder how many today even know this. I doubt many.

The Ken Burns' documentary starts Monday night (next week) on PBS. Check local listings.