Editor’s note: This commentary is by Amy Carst, a human rights activist with experience working and living in Africa and the Middle East.
[I]n last month’s column, I discussed the similarities between American response to the Holocaust and our response to the Syrian refugee crisis today. I received significant feedback about that article. The overwhelming sentiment was that the comparison is ridiculous because Jewish refugees never flew planes into buildings or blew themselves up. While this may be true, it ignores one very important fact. It wasn’t the “ordinary Jew” who was feared. Rather, Americans feared that Nazis — the terrorists of the time — would sneak in with the Jewish refugees. And we are all very aware of the violence and bloodshed at the hands of the Nazis.
But we also feared the communists.
Before World War II and the Holocaust, we had World War I and the first “Red Scare,” the fear that communism would take over the United States. According to political scientist Murray B. Levin, the Red Scare was a “nationwide anti-radical hysteria provoked by a mounting fear and anxiety that a Bolshevik revolution in America was imminent — a revolution that would change Church, home, marriage, civility and the American way of Life.” Media at the time further exacerbated these fears by warning of the threat of radical anarchism, claiming that the actions of left-wing, foreign agents were “radical threats to American society.”
The “left-wing revolution” had begun. In April 1919, a foiled plot to mail 36 bombs to American political and economic leaders was uncovered. On the list of targets were John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan Jr., and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. A few months later, bombs exploded in eight U.S. cities.
Unfortunately, when in the midst of any type of unpleasant experience, whether an argument with a spouse, the loss of a job, or the torture and murder of more than 6 million people, we don’t always see things clearly.
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Fast forward to the 1930s. The threat of communism was still looming. Americans feared that Nazi spies and communist infiltrators would sneak in with the wave of Jewish refugees arriving from Europe. In 1939, the SS St. Louis, a ship with nearly 1,000 Jewish refugees on board, sailed to Cuba. Most had applied for U.S. visas and wished to remain in Cuba only until they could enter the United States. German Nazis and right-wing movements among the Cubans themselves warned that incoming Jews were communists and Cuba would be endangering its citizens by allowing the refugees to set foot on its shores. Prior to the arrival of the ship, a massive anti-Semitic protest, sponsored by a former Cuban president, was held in Havana. The rally was attended by more than 40,000 spectators. Cuba refused to admit the refugees and the ship was turned away.
The SS St. Louis changed course, sailing to Florida. Some passengers even cabled then President Franklin D. Roosevelt; their requests for refuge went unanswered. The State Department issued a statement informing passengers that they must “await their turns on the waiting list,” a process that would have taken years. Of course, Roosevelt could have admitted the refugees through the issuance of an executive order, but such a politically unpopular move would have been disastrous to his consideration for re-election. The SS St. Louis had no choice but to return to Europe. Following their return to Europe, many of those on board became victims of the Holocaust.
How could we have turned our backs on so many innocent people during the Jewish refugee crisis? Looking back, our actions seem cruel and inexcusable. But, at the time, the reality of the situation wasn’t clear. Anti-semitic propaganda, and media and government warnings of Nazi and communist threats were everywhere we looked. And the Nazis used our fear to their advantage.
To help its cause, the Nazi Party in Germany depicted the United States as a place of extreme decadence. Americans were portrayed as criminals and gangsters. Scantily clad women were pictured with cigarettes hanging from their mouths. Nazis used this propaganda to compare the evils of America to the virtues of Nazi Germany to recruit more members.
The parallels between this refugee crisis and that refugee crisis are astonishing. Unfortunately, when in the midst of any type of unpleasant experience, whether an argument with a spouse, the loss of a job, or the torture and murder of more than 6 million people, we don’t always see things clearly. Thankfully, we have history to guide us through this current crisis.
The Holocaust was one of the greatest atrocities of all time, and our inaction was one of the most terrible mistakes. Winston Churchill said, “All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.” To ignore the lessons learned from the mistakes of our forebears would be a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. We are wise men and women. Let’s make sure the history books of the future agree.