Jewish Refugees

             they do?.
             Persecution of the Jews in Germany began officially on April.
             1st 1933. Hitler had come to power a few weeks earlier and he immediately began.
             the plan, as outlined in his book Mein Kampf, to eliminate "the eternal mushroom.
             of humanity - Jews".2 German Jews were stripped of their citizenship by the.
             Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935 and had their businesses and stockholdings seized in.
             1938. Civil servants, newspaper editors, soldiers and members of the judiciary.
             were dismissed from their positions, while lawyers and physicians were forbidden.
             to practice. Anti-Jewish violence peaked on 9 November 1938, known as the.
             "Night of the Broken Glass" or Kristallnacht, when over 1000 synagogues were.
             burned. Jewish schools, hospitals, books, cemeteries and homes were also.
             destroyed3.
             The mistreatment of non-Aryans in Germany was common knowledge in the.
             U.S. in 1938. After the anschluss, the flow of refugees exceeded the.
             capabilities of both the Nansen Office and the Autonomous Office of High.
             Commissioner for Refugees. The commission had been formed in response to the.
             anti-Jewish persecution and had but the "tacit endorsement of the United States".
             In light of the League's incapability, President Roosevelt and then Secretary of.
             State Cordell Hull, invited the representatives of more than 30 nations and 39.
             private organizations to an international conference at Evian, to discuss the.
             refugee problem. Myron C. Taylor, past chairman of U.S. Steel Corporation, was.
             named the chairman of the American delegation. In the weeks before the.
             conference, Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, in London, felt the growing concern in.
             the British Foreign Office as to the American position on the conference and the.
             refugee question in general. He cabled the U.S. State Department expressing his.
             concern, and received an evasive reply from Secretary Hull. Hull explained that.
             it was the French, that had assumed control of the planning of the conference.