Later that year, Hitler threatened to unleash a European war unless the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany. The Anschluss, however, was only the beginning of Nazi Germany’s territorial expansion and the resulting refugee crisis. Even if the State Department issued the maximum number of visas it could have under the existing laws each year, new German- and Austrian-born applicants could anticipate at least a nine-year wait for a US immigration visa. Time magazine summarized the stance of participating countries as follows: “All nations present expressed sympathy for the refugees but few offered to allow them within their boundaries.”īy September, the waiting list for a German quota visa had reached 220,000 people. Even as the conference was going on, the American press criticized the participants at Evian for their inaction. Delegates from 32 nations met in Evian-les-Bains, France, in July 1938, but most countries, including the United States, refused to expand their laws to admit more immigrants. Recognizing that the plight of Jews under German control had reached a point of crisis, Roosevelt called for an international conference to discuss the refugee problem. By June 30, 1938, however, nearly 140,000 people were on the German quota waiting list for US immigration visas. The State Department could then issue a maximum of 27,370 visas per year for immigrants born in those countries. Roosevelt combined the US immigration quotas for Germany and Austria to give greater immigration opportunities to Austrian Jews. At the urging of Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, US President Franklin D. The Austrian immigration quota to the United States was very small. At the US consulate, tens of thousands of Austrian Jews applied for immigration visas to the United States. They lined up at various consulates throughout Vienna to apply for immigration. Others took more formal steps to immigrate to other countries. In order to avoid falling into Nazi hands, some raced for the borders without visas or any long-term plans. Many Austrian Jews immediately sought to flee the country. The Anschluss led to a wave of antisemitic violence against Austria’s Jewish population, especially in the capital city of Vienna. In March 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the neighboring country of Austria, an event known as the Anschluss. Nazi Territorial Expansion and the Start of the Jewish Refugee Crisis Rather than focusing on the growing humanitarian crisis, the Roosevelt administration prioritized supporting the Allies and preparing the United States for war. The American government took limited action to assist these Jewish refugees. Hundreds of thousands of Jews sought to flee from under Nazi control.
Nazi Germany’s territorial expansion and the radicalization of Nazi anti-Jewish policies triggered a mass exodus. Beginning in 1938, Europe and the United States faced a refugee crisis.
0 kommentar(er)
