The following is a letter to editor in the Washington Post regarding a previous article in the publication:
Geoffrey Wheatcroft [Outlook, Sept. 28] recalled that in the 1920s, Congress slammed the door on “immigrants (even desperate Jews fleeing Nazi Europe).”
That’s true, as far as it goes. But immigration quotas were only part of the story. Many more Jews could have been saved if President Franklin D. Roosevelt — without changing a single law — had simply permitted the existing quotas to be filled.
The quota for immigrants from Germany and Austria would have allowed 27,370 refugees to enter the country each year. But the Roosevelt administration encouraged U.S. consular officials abroad to create bureaucratic obstacles to reduce refugee immigration to levels far below what the law allowed. Thus, during Hitler’s first year in power, 1933, less than 6 percent of the German quota was filled. The following year, less than 14 percent of those spaces were filled. During Hitler’s entire reign, 1933-45, less than 36 percent of the German-Austrian quota places were used.
During the years that the Nazis were slaughtering 6 million European Jews (1941 to 1945), nearly 190,000 quota places from Axis-controlled countries sat unused. That is 190,000 lives that could have been saved, had FDR shown even a minimal amount of humanitarian interest in their plight.
RAFAEL MEDOFF
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21 Responses
As a class trip at the end of the school year, many yeshivas go to Washington, D.C. Most schools visit FDR’s memorial. No school should allow their students to go to this memorial since it is giving him kovod. Please call your principals and demand that the students not visit his memorial.
Halcha hi b’yaduah! Eisav soneh l’yaakov!
FDR is still burning in Gehenim not too far away from Hitler himself.
Wow, it doesn’t take much to convince some readers of anything. Do you believe everything you read in the WaPo?
Read “The Jews: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Holocaust” by Rosen for a much better argument for how Roosevelt was probably the most sympathetic and powerful friend of the Jew during WWII and how much he really did to save the Jews of Europe. Despite your impression from Bush that a president can do whatever he pleases, FDR could not. He did have constrictions as he had to obey the rule of law.
FDR was a bigger Jew-hater than even Jimmy Carter.
To cast false dispersions against another such as Carter or Roosevelt is to light the fuse on a keg of gunpowder upon which one stands. Hashem will met out to you the same judgement in the same manner in which you bring judgement against another. and that includes hating someone because they are not Chasidim.
Joseph, in your opinion which American presidents have done the most for the Jews? Please list your top 5.
This has been known for ages, the number 190,000 is lower than originally thought.
and people still register as democrats!!!
people, the god of the democratic party, fdr yimach shemo, was a sonei yisroel, just like truman and kennedy after him, and carter after him. lbj was the only dem in almost 100 years who was a oheiv yisroel (criminally so while in congress). clinton, if not for the fact that he was a product of an overly abusive father, and had a need for everyone to like him, would not have been decent to jews. his friendship, like his wife’s, to jews is clearly politically motivated!
and people continue to take the scraps in handouts from these pigs!
please reregister now as a republican. show the republican party that we see what they are doing for us. it is basic hakaros hatov. getting new garbage cans once in a blue moon is not reason to be a democrat. it makes you a lemming. just following orders. jews are democrats, and that is it. well, it is truly time for change!
change to the republican party, and dont any longer be associated with the party of murder, toevah marriage, thievery in forms of high taxes, and anti self protection. the party that doesnt trust you to make decisions for yourself is not a party that jews should be associated with.
Doesn’t everyone know the famous Jewish wisecrack? “Yidden gloiben in drei velten; der velt, yenne velt, und ROOSEVELT! Jews believe in three worlds; this world, the next world, and ROOSEVELT!”
anon, I don’t know that there are 5. Post WWII, Carter was the worst anti-semite, while Reagan, Bush II, and Nixon were the best, and the others are debatable.
Those who fail to read history are condemned to live it. Rosen, a liberal self hating jew I assume is a typical liberal historical revisionist. It is common knowledge that FDR’s cabinet was comprised of many rabid anti semites. Socially he traveled in circles with Joe Kennedy, Ford et al who not only anti semites but nazi supporters. Say what you wish – he could have saved 190,000 jews or 1 million or perhaps only 10 but he cared less and jews died because of it.
For that – not caring about the slaughter of the innocent – he should be rightfully condemned.
6,
With all due respect, your comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. That sentiment should be used for an appropriate subject, certainly not in defense of Rossevelt and others like him!
Thank You YWN for appropriately calling this rasha merusha Roosevelt ym’s, who he is.
Who is Rafael Medoff??? Running out of things to write about?
GROW UP and learn the history of the Jewish people of the last 70 years. Ever hear of Hillel Kook aka Peter Bergson and Rabbi E. Silver and the Rabbis March on Washington on October 6, 1943. They are all one. These dedicated rabbis a day before Yom Kippur went to Washington to meet goodole Pres Roosevelt, who snubbed them as any jew-hater would. The rally was started by Kook, and Medoff is the historian behind all of these events.
Chopnik #4 (and stan the man #20 on your question)
Whew, have you got it wrong. Rosen is a lawyer who dabbles in writing history books. He is an active democrat politician and like so many American Jews, the democrat party is their religion and FDR is one of their gods.
His book was completely demolished by the same Rafael Medoff, who happens to be Director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies an outstanding respected historical research organization with the highest reputation for research. Go here to see the demolition job on Rosen. It shows him to be the complete hack and sychophant that he is regarding FDR. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/WhitewashingFDR.pdf
Sorry stan the man, I see that you were just quoting another poster. Meant that for NeveAliza.
# 23 NeveAliza:
“Thank you for pointing out who Medoff is. Now I will grow up.”
Ah, you see, Hashem, how wonderful the Jewish people are? NeveAliza sees the errors of her (his?) ways, is modeh, has charata and vows never to make this mistake again. Complete Teshuva!
Gmar Chasim Tova to one and all.
#14, Nixon spoke about the Jews no differently than any lowly bigot and anti-semite. Such transcripts are easily yahooed or googled.
FDR, Nixon, and Carter were/are genuinely against Jews because they are Jews. The other presidents were not overly fond of Jews personally, either.
#25, Forget what Nixon said (at the end of the day every goy is an anti-semite), look at what he DID. In practice, comparably speaking, he was one of our best friends in the Oval Office.
BTW what does “yahooed” mean? “google” has become a verb, “yahoo” has not. In fact Yahoo started out as a directory service (while Google was always a search engine.)