In the 1920s FDR felt it was okay to limit the number of Jews in Hyde Park to 4 or 5 families.
He felt the same when he was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard, noting that one third of the students were Jewish. He went along with limiting Jewish enrollment to 15%.
He commented that federal employees in Oregon constituted too many Jews. He also wanted to “thin out” the number of Jews so concentrated in metropolitan areas.
His administration denied allowing the German ship the SS St. Louis to land in the USA. The 903 Jewish passengers were sent back to Europe, where ultimately 231 were murdered by the Nazis. Canada also rejected the ship and recently apologized for having done so. This was in 1939, four months after Kristallnacht, the beginning of vicious anti-Semitism.
When FDR was asked to bomb railroads leading to concentration camps, though they were only five miles from airplane bombers’ targets. He said that he was too busy fighting a war.
Then there was Oswego. FDR was pressured to transport the three thousand Jewish survivors in Italy. He only allowed one thousand to be transported to Oswego, there to be held in an internment camp. He said that after the war was over, they were to be sent back to Europe. He died and President Truman let them stay.
Much has been written about FDR and his attitude toward the Jews. However, Marvin, I rest my case. Sadly, the much-adored FRD by Jewish voters was not fond of Jews.
Sol Koenigsberg
Overland Park, Kansas
