| Panel
11: What about the USA?
People
around the world are worried by the rise of
the Nazis in Germany. Though very few in the
United States take any kind of action before
the war, some feel they must do something. In
1933, for instance, 18-year-old Sara Roth chains
herself to a street lamp in Washington D.C to
call attention to the mass arrests taking place
in Germany.
Some
Americans, though a minority, openly support
the Nazi rise to power. Much of this support
is based on the widespread racism and prejudice
against people of Jewish origin that exists
in the United States at this time. Even some
prominent people in the United States, such
as Henry Ford, make their support for Hitler
and Nazis quite clear.
The
US government decides not to allow more Jewish-German
refugees into the country in the late 1930's,
despite their desperate situation.
|
 |
| A
public opinion survey conducted in the USA
in 1938 finds that a majority of Americans
believe that Jews were at least partially
responsible for their own persecution. This
is a good example of how we often "blame
the victim". |
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