50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany (34 page)

8      “In this hour I can report”: Weyr,
The Setting of the Pearl
, 37.

CHAPTER 2

13    “Miss Eleanor Shirley Jacobs”: “Prosecutor’s Aide Weds,”
Evening Public Ledger
, October 9, 1924.

14    In 1892 he was chosen: “S. C. Kraus Dies; Charities Leader,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, July 30, 1928.

14    The gathering turned into: “Pattison Named for the Mayoralty,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, January 17, 1895.

15    “Greenfield and Kraus had similar”: quoted in “The Rise of Albert M. Greenfield,” an essay in
Jewish Life in Philadelphia: 1830–1940
, edited by Murray Friedman ISHI Publications, Philadelphia, 1983, 218, 219.

15    By the time that Gil began: Ibid, 219.

16    Solomon played a leading role: History of Eagleville Hospital—www.eaglevillehospital.org.

17    Without obtaining a formal diploma: “‘Buddies’ Now Lawyers,”
Philadelphia Bulletin
, October 14, 1921.

18    “Give her about a week”: Albert M. Greenfield Papers, Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadelphia.

19    A photograph accompanying: “Former U. of P. Grid Man Gets City Post,”
Philadelphia North American
, February 5, 1924.

20    “To work for his people”: “Solomon C. Kraus Dies Suddenly in Atlantic City,” Philadelphia
Jewish Exponent
, August 3, 1928.

21    “Stokowski pioneered what later became”:
New York Times
, September 13, 1987.

CHAPTER 4

36    “And so, I take leave”: Schuschnigg’s farewell radio broadcast quoted in
The Nazification of Vienna and the Response of Viennese Jews
, Ilana Fritz Offenberger, doctoral dissertation, Clark University, May 2010.

37    Three weeks earlier:
Setting of the Pearl
, 72.

37    By the end of April:
American Jewish Yearbook 5698
, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia 1938, 214.

38    “The Jew must know”:
Washington Post
article, March 27, 1938, cited in
The Jewish Trail of Tears
, Dennis Ross Laffer, dissertation, University of South Florida, 2011, 30.

40    “Undesirable interruptions and delays”: An English translation of Bürkel’s memo can be found in the online Jewish Virtual Library, a project of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org).

40    “This is like an automatic factory”: Höttl’s remark comes from his testimony in the trial of Adolf Eichmann, Session 17, Volume I, p. 269, found at the online Nizkor Project (www.nizkor.org).

42    During the previous twelve months:
American Jewish Year Book
, Ibid.

CHAPTER 5

46    “May God forgive me”:
The Day the Holocaust Began
, Gerald Schwab, Praeger, 1990, 43.

46    Shortly after midnight: Heydrich’s memo can be found in the Jewish Virtual Library.

47    “Anti-Jewish activities”: “All Vienna’s Synagogues Attacked; Fires and Bombs Wreck 18 of 21,”
New York Times
, November 11, 1938.

47    “It is true”: “Thousands Hopeless Amid Wreckage,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 13, 1938.

47    “The justified and understandable anger”: “Bands Rove Cities,”
New York Times
, November 11, 1938.

48    “All Jewish organizational”:
New York Times
, Ibid.

48    A news brief: “Noted Leaders Among 35,000–50,000 Jews Arrested,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 14, 1938.

CHAPTER 6

53    “The members of Brith Sholom”: Kraus to Messersmith, NARA 150.626 J/610.

53    In 1933, during Hitler’s first year:
The Politics of Rescue
, Feingold, 16, 335.

53    “The Department of State”: Morgenthau’s diary entry is cited in
Bureaucratic Response to Human Tragedy
, Melissa Jane Taylor, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Volume 21, Number 2, Fall 2007, 246.

56    As early as 1934: Wilkinson’s memo cited in
Frances Perkins and the German-Jewish Refugees
, Bat-Ami Zucker, American Jewish History, Volume 89, Number 1, March 2001.

57    George Kennan, the veteran diplomat:
American Refugee Policy
, Breitman and Kraut, attributed to
George Kennan, Memoirs, 1925–1950
, Pantheon, 1969.

58    “The extreme brutality”: Messersmith to Phillips, 0109_0312-00, Messersmith Papers.

58    In an earlier nine-page: Messersmith to Hull, 0109_0127-00, Messersmith Papers.

59    During his tenure: Messersmith, in notes he wrote for an unpublished memoir, attributed Hitler’s comment about him to Gestapo chief Rudolf Diels; 0109_1971-00, Messersmith Papers.

59    in November 1936: Messersmith to Moore, 0109_0784-00, Messersmith Papers.

59    “The Jews in Germany”: Geist to Messersmith, 0109_1087-00, Messersmith Papers.

59    Only a few days after:
Frances Perkins and the German-Jewish Refugees
, see footnote 90.

60    Despite Messersmith’s strenuous:
Frances Perkins and the German-Jewish Refugees
, see footnote 94.

60    In a “personal and confidential” memo: Messersmith to Geist, 0109_1093-00, Messersmith Papers.

62    “We will supply satisfactory”: Kraus letter to Messersmith, NARA 150.626 J/610, February 3, 1939.

62    On the same day: Messersmith cable to Geist, NARA, Ibid., February 3, 1939.

63    Three days later: Messersmith letter to Kraus, NARA, Ibid., February 6, 1939.

63    “I believe that this group”: Messersmith memo to Warren and Coulter, NARA, Ibid., February 7, 1939.

64    “They have approached this whole problem”: Messersmith letter to Geist, NARA, Ibid., February 6, 1939.

64    Two weeks later: Geist telegram to Messersmith, NARA 150.626 J/612, February 20, 1939.

CHAPTER 7

65    “What is American citizenship”: The text of Reynolds’s radio broadcast appears in 84 Congressional Record, p. 501, February 13, 1939.

66    “Millions of innocent and defenseless”: 84 Congressional Record, p. 1278, February 9, 1939.

66    “In Germany you have”: Rogers’s testimony before the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, U.S. House of Representatives, 76th Cong., First Session, p. 291.

67    “It is difficult to see”: This and other newspaper editorials appear in 84 Congressional Record, p. 641, February 21, 1939.

68    “It is impossible to offer”: 84 Congressional Record, p. 982, March 14, 1939.

68    A 1938 survey:
Jewish Trail of Tears
, Ibid, 83.

68    Even 20 percent of American Jews: Ibid, p. 84.

68    A series of public opinion polls:
Jews in the Mind of America
, Charles Herbert Stember et al., Basic Books, 1966.

69    “It is my opinion”:
Anti-Semitism in America: 1879–1939
. Harold Quinley, ed., Arno Press, 1977.

69    “All Jews are enemies”: “Kuhn Admits Aims Are Same As Nazis’,”
New York Times
, June 24, 1938.

70    Rabbi Stephen Wise:
American Refugee Policy and European Jewry
, Breitman and Kraut, 229.

70    “As heartless as it may seem”:
America, Its Jews and the Rise of Nazism
, Gulie Ne’eman Arad, Indiana University Press, 2000, 200.

71    Her actions, however, prompted: Fletcher memo to Hogdon, NARA 150/01 2168, January 8, 1934.

71    “My husband says”:
Eleanor and Franklin
, Joseph P. Lash, Norton, 1971, 576. Eleanor Roosevelt’s correspondence with Justine Wise Polier can also be found at the American Jewish Historical Society in New York City.

72    Agnes Waters, representing a group: Hearings on H.J. Res 165 and H.J. Res 168, Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Reps, 76th Congress, First Session (page number unknown).

72    “I know it must be difficult”: Ibid.

72    “Shall we first take care of our own”: 84 Congressional Record, p. 1011, March 16, 1939.

73    Instead, she casually remarked:
The Politics of Rescue
, 150.

74    “He says that personally”
Eleanor and Franklin
, 576; Polier papers at AJHS.

74    “Caroline O’Day asked me”: Ibid., p. 577; the original copy of Watson’s memo, with FDR’s notation, is at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York.

CHAPTER 8

76    Two days later: “Plans Penna. Home for Reich Children,”
Evening Public Ledger
, March 1, 1939.

76    A slightly longer article: “Brith Sholom Brings 50 Refugee Children Here,” Philadelphia
Jewish Times
, March 3, 1939.

76    “We had a telephone message”: Goldman letter to Warren, NARA 150.626 J/604.

77    In his response: Warren letter to Goldman, NARA, Ibid.

77    In the fall of 1933:
Cecilia Razovsky and the American-Jewish Women’s Rescue Operations in the Second World War
, Bat-Ami Zucker, Vallentine Mitchell, 2008, 31 et seq.

77    But news of their arrival:
Frances Perkins and the German-Jewish Refugees
, footnote 10.

78    only about one hundred children:
Frances Perkins and the German-Jewish Refugees
, footnote 71.

78    “We not only are not taking”: Cecilia Razovsky papers, AJHS.

78    “Since the quota waiting list”: Ibid.

78    “I am afraid there will not be”: Ibid.

79    “Persons who received affidavits”: Ibid.

81    “We saw Mr. Geist”: Clarence E. Pickett’s Journal, September–November 1938, AFSC.

82    “The Department desires you”: Hull cable, NARA 150.626 J/609A.

83    “Visas have been withheld”: Geist telegram to Hull, NARA 150.626 J/621.

83    One day later: Warren memo to Messersmith, NARA, Ibid.

CHAPTER 9

89    A few months earlier: “Wilson to Depart from Reich Today,”
New York Times
, November 16, 1938.

93    “They are sailing, I believe”: Messersmith cable to Geist, NARA 150.626 J/625A.

CHAPTER 10

97    The dinner service began: I am grateful to Robert Braun for providing an original dinner menu from the
Queen Mary
, dated April 9, 1939.

99    Billikopf for many years: Billikopf Papers, AJA.

100   Its popular bar:
In the Garden of Beasts
, Larson, 225.

101   Geist was a man of imposing:
The Virginia Plan
, Robert Gillette, The History Press, 2011, 30, et seq.

101   “Now that I cannot work”: Cecilia Razovsky papers, AJHS.

101   Julius Seligsohn’s wife: “Dr. Seligsohn, Outstanding Jewish Leader in Germany, Dies in Concentration Camp,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, April 30, 1942.

103   “You must walk past”:
Report of Thirty-Fourth Annual National Convention
, Independent Order of Brith Sholom, June 1939.

104   “The visa section is in a state”: Wiley memo, NARA 124.63/98, March 22, 1938.

104   “We hear constantly”: Wiley cable to Messersmith, NARA 124.633/261, March 19, 1938.

104   “The object is not”: Messersmith memo to Hull, NARA 150.01/2458, November 13, 1936.

CHAPTER 11

113   “Never before had Chancellor Hitler”: “Hitler Becomes Citizen of Danzig,”
New York Times
, April 21, 1939.

115   “France is not the only place”: “Parisians Blame It All on Hitler,”
New York Times
, April 23, 1939.

CHAPTER 13

134   Hammond was later accused:
Bureaucratic Response to Human Tragedy
, Taylor, 255 et seq.

135   “We can delay”:
No Ordinary Time
, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Simon & Schuster, 1994, 173.

137   “You will remember”: Geist letter to Messersmith, NARA 150.626 J/649, May 4, 1939.

137   “I pointed out that”: Geist letter to Messersmith, NARA 150.626 J/649, May 4, 1939.

137   Two days after Geist: Morris cable to Geist, NARA 150.626 J/649, May 6, 1939.

CHAPTER 14

143   About 50,000 Jews:
In the Garden of Beasts
, Larson, 57–58.

CHAPTER 15

146   “I am genuinely delighted”: I am grateful to Steven Zulawski for providing me with a copy of Gil’s letter to the parents.