A Plan Of Investigation Of The Franklin D. Roosevelt...

Part A: Plan of Investigation How prevalent was anti-Semitism in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration? The discussion of this question focuses on the Roosevelt presidency from 1933 to 1940. At this time, the United States was in a state of economic collapse, which provided an ideal environment for the harboring of prejudicial sentiment. In addition, Germany was undergoing a state-run anti-Semitic campaign that made living in Germany increasingly dangerous for German Jews. This essay specifically focuses on actions (or lack thereof) taken by Roosevelt in matters pertaining to the Jewish community, as well as his personal sentiments towards Jews. This question will be explored by utilizing firsthand accounts such as Vice President Henry†¦show more content†¦Roosevelt did not even grace their pleas with an answer. After attempting and failing to enter Cuba as a last resort, the St. Louis was eventually forced to return to Europe. During the 1930s, when Jews were emigrating from Germany en-masse, many attempted to immigrate to the United States only to be met with various difficulties and often-insurmountable obstacles. The U.S. government established a yearly quota of just under 26,000 for Jewish immigrants, which was never met in all its years of use. One reason for this is that several unrealistic and sometimes unachievable qualifications needed to be met to be viable for admission into the United States. One such qualification is that no family member must be left behind, out of fear that the German government would utilize the Jewish immigrant’s family members as extortion, and force the immigrants to spy for Germany. Another obstacle to Jewish immigration was the requirement of several sponsors to apply for entry. The oppressive conditions for Jews in Germany often made it very difficult to acquire sponsors, and meeting this requirement would only assure them a position on a waiting list of th ousands of potential immigrants. This grueling and bureaucratic process was a result of Roosevelt’s compliance with prevalent anti-Semitism in the public, and his fear of critique by anti-Semites. This idea is further reinforced by the fact that Roosevelt never took an official