While activists raised public awareness of the plight of European Jews, American policymakers also advocated for the United States to do more for those fleeing from Nazi terror. Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Jr., changed America's refugee policy with the assistance of his fellow bureaucrats and created opportunities for Jews to resettle in the United States.

Stephanie Hinnershitz, PhD, fellow with The National WWII Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy (JCISWD), discusses those eighteen months of plight with Mike Bell, PhD, Executive Director for the JCISWD.

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In response to pro-Nazi groups and figures, activists like Peter H. Bergson, a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania, led a publicity campaign with theatrical flourishes to encourage Americans to act against Hitler’s murderous policies. Bergson’s “Committee for a Jewish Army” produced a 1943 staging of the We Will Never Die pageant at Madison Square Garden—a sold-out show that was a counterpoint to the pro-Nazi rally held there four years earlier.

Stephanie Hinnershitz, PhD, fellow with The National WWII Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, discusses the Pageant and its impact with Rebbeca Erbelding, PhD, historian, author, curator, and archivist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

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This episode explores the movement from Nazi-sympathizers to pro-Nazi support among American groups, particularly the German-American Bund. The Bund’s 1939 “Pro-American” rally at Madison Square Garden was a watershed moment for pro-Nazi organizations, whose numbers grew in the pre-war years.

Stephanie Hinnershitz, PhD, fellow with The National WWII Museum’s Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, discusses the Bund with Bradley Hart, PhD, Military Historian for the Museum.

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Some Audio Courtesy of Past Daily/Global ImageWorks, LLC.