Impact of

World War II on

Jewish Americans

Introduction

Jewish Americans, like all Americans, made sacrifices such as recycling metal, preserving food, buying bonds, growing

“victory gardens”, and many joining the Military. Even with Jewish Americans making all of these sacrifices, they still faced faced anti-Semitism at home as well as being persecuted throughout

Europe. Although they weren’t acknowledged at the time, they still

fought to help Jews in Europe.

Key Terms

Anti-Semitism : discrimination against Jewish people

War Refugee Board : Established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1944, was a U.S. executive agency created to aid civilians victims of the Nazi and Axis powers

Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht) : Nazi-instigated riot against Jews in Germany, burning synagogues, smashing Jewish shop windows, and killing 90 Jews

National Origins ACt :limited the number of immigrants admitted yearly to the United States down to 2% of the number of people from that specific country already living in the United States

Knowledge of Jewish Suffering

Jews were being murdered in Europe,and Jewish Americans felt great pain from this. They knew that their friends and family were being killed in Europe, but it was difficult to help them. However, American Anti-Semitism caused ignorance of the Jewish suffering✘Jews weren’t allowed to immigrate to the United States✘Many reports of Jewish murders were largely ignored by American news sources✘Stories that did make the news never made headlines

Immigration Refusal of Jews

✘ Many Jewish people from Europe wanted to flee from those areas to America

✘ Because of the 1924 National Origins Act, many Jewish people could not migrate to America all at once

✘ Very few Americans wanted a flood of new immigrants into the country, especially right after the Great Depression

✘ All of this and the anti-semitism acts led to incidents like the St. Louis steamship.

The St. Louis SteamshipIn 1939, the St. Louis carried 930 Jews from

Germany all the way to Cuba. Cuba refused to accept the refugees so they were forced to go to

Florida. President Roosevelt ignored the pleas from the ship. Running out of food and water, the St. Louis decided to head back to Europe.

Some Jews ended up in France, and most ended up back in Germany, in the concentration

camps.

Jewish Americans Opportunities at Home

Many Jews decided to take action to help family and friends overseas, such as: join the military, boycott German supplies, hold public demonstrations, and raise money for refugees. These Jewish Americans

also tried to plead to the legislature and the president to help Jewish immigrants but they were

ignored until 1944 when President Roosevelt decided to create the War Refugee Board, which kept refugees in Italy and North Africa, gave many

refugees food, a place to stay, and hope.

Jewish Americans GIs Go to War

● Jews did whatever it took to help support the war.● 500,000 Jewish Americans went into war at ages 18-44● Jewish Americans often felt the sting of prejudice in

armed forces● Many Jewish Americans were unaware of the life outside

urban neighborhoods, but the opportunity to serve in armed forces changed their lives.

● Other Jewish Americans soldiers had different experiences that affirmed their faith in their country and its ideals.

Created by:

Kaili WilkinsDerek Hsu

Megan SollenbergerShawn Williamson

Jaden Ramos