Was Franklin Delano Roosevelt responsible for the death of my Great Grandparents? On the surface it sounds like a crazy thing to say. In the 1930’s, FDR’s failure to act helped lead to the killing of six million Jews by the Germans. FDR knew that the Jews were being killed and as the leader of the most powerful country in the world, he did nothing about it. FDR was aware of the genocide of the Jews, but instead of acting on it he turned his face. In addition, FDR also had the opportunity to change the immigration laws of the U.S to allow the Jews of Europe to enter. Lastly, although he appeared to be a friend of the Jews, he said many things that could be viewed as Anti-Semetic. As the saying goes, with friends like that, who needs enemies?

In January 1933, the Nazis became the ruling power in germane. At the same time, FDR began to start his presidency. The policies killing of the Jews in Germany were known to him. Over 90% of American Jews voted for him, but he turned a blind eye to their counterparts in Europe. FDR was perceived to be a great friend to the Jews and many people even called him Rosenfeld. However, this perception was in name only and not through his actions. Even though the period in the U.S was known as the economic “Great Depression,” the real “depression” was that FDR didn’t do enough to save the Jews.

The United States had a policy in the 1930’s of isolationism, which meant that they didn’t want to allow immigrants into the country. FDR had a policy of “win the war,” which didn’t take into account the Jews that would die under German control. The most well known episode was in 1939 when almost one thousand Jewish refugees on the SS St. Louis were denied entry into the USA. They were denied due to America’s isolationism and policy not to let in any immigrants. According to professor David Wyman, Roosevelt’s handling of the Jews is one of his biggest failures during his presidency. In almost one thousand press conferences, FDR did not mention the problems of Jews in Europe. In The Daily Caller, by Jamie Weinstein, on April 4, 2013, he noted other ways Roosevelt could of helped with the immigration. The quotas of the Jews were only a small percentage of the legal limit. The U.S could of put more pressure on the British to open up Palestine for the Jews. There were unused supply shops that could have been used to bring the Jews, as well. Lastly, they could have gone someplace like the Virgin Islands and allow the Jews to visit as “tourists.” In a letter found from November 13, 1936, FDR accepts the advice from his press secretary that “it would not be appropriate for the President to support and appeal for