Question

How did the United States respond to the Holocaust? Be sure to explain U.S. actions before World

Answer 1

The United States did not have good relations with the Jews before the war. Cases of anti-Semitism in the US often occurred, though not to the same degree and aggressiveness as in Europe. Moreover, the American government was indifferent to the suffering of the Jews.

The United States joined the Allies struggle against the Axis countries (i.e. Germany, Italy, and Japan) in World War II to defend democracy, not to save the Jewish victims of the Nazi regime.

However, in January 1944, the US government established a War Refugee Commission to try to rescue and provide assistance to Jews and other minority groups being decimated by the Nazis. During the last year of the war, US initiatives effectively saved tens of thousands of lives. In the spring of 1945, the Allied Forces, now counting on the collaboration of millions of US soldiers, defeated Nazi Germany and its Axis collaborators, thus ending the Holocaust process.