How did the US initially respond to the Holocaust?

Answer 1

Reports came out of Europe during WWII but some in the news media and some politicians did everything that they could to keep the U.S. from entering the war.

Of course, the moral thing to do would have been to stop the advance of Hitler's Germany before so many people died. But politics affected the lives of so many innocent people. Almost nothing was done until American armies started liberating the camps in 1944 and 1945.

The rescue of Jews from the Nazis was not a priority in the United States due in part to anti-semitism, xenophobia and isolationism. A lack of commitment on the part of Americans and the lack of any military plan or means to stop the Nazis from their planned extermination of the Jews allowed the atrocities to continue for years.

The US State Department held secret the news about the planned murder of Jews as early as 1942. The wartime refugee problem was addressed in 1944 and by that time most of the Jews who would become victims of the Nazis were already dead.

You can read the tragic timeline of the persecution and extermination of the Jews at the related link.

Answer 2

They liberated some of the concentration camps. Unfortunately for the Jews, many were not permitted into the United States. They had nowhere to go.

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Basically, nothing. Until the closing stages of World War 2, no other country had access to Germany. After this time, the remaining Jews - and many others interred in camps - were freed by the Allies.

However , when faced with with Jews fleeing Germany before the war, many had been refused entry.

Answer 3

When the U.S. Army finally defeated the German lines, the damage of the Holocaust was already done. America did what they could...save people, who were still alive in concentration camps and arrest Nazis responsible for the holocaust. Hitler was dead (suicide), and many Nazis fled Germany, so Americans only had the chance to arrest some of them. Therefore, the U.S. did what they could, but there was not much to repair.

Answer 4

We were appalled that such a cruel thing could go down, but don't worry, Adolf Hitler and the nation of Germany got brought to justice.