Refugees and Rescue: The Diaries and Papers of James G. McDonald, 1935-1945

by Richard Breitman (Author), Barbara McDonald Stewart (Editor), James G McDonald (Author), Severin Hochberg (Author)

New
Illustrated
2009
$46.22

New evidence presented in Refugees and Rescue challenges widely held opinions about Franklin D. Roosevelt's views on the rescue of European Jews before and during the Holocaust. The struggles of presidential confidant James G. McDonald, who resigned as League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1935, and his allies to transfer many of the otherwise doomed are disclosed here for the first time. Although McDonald's efforts as chairman of FDR's advisory committee on refugees from May 1938 until nearly the end of the war were hampered by the pervasive antisemitic attitudes of those years, fears about security, and changing presidential wartime priorities, tens of thousands did find haven. McDonald's 1935-1936 diary entries and the other primary sources presented here offer new insights into these conflicts and into Roosevelt's inconsistent attitudes toward the Jewish question in Europe.
Following the lauded Advocate for the Doomed (IUP, 2007), this is the second of a projected three-volume work that will significantly revise views of the Holocaust, its antecedents, and its aftermath.

Synopsis

New evidence presented in Refugees and Rescue challenges widely held opinions about Franklin D. Roosevelt's views on the rescue of European Jews before and during the Holocaust. The struggles of presidential confidant James G. McDonald, who resigned as League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1935, and his allies to transfer many of the otherwise doomed are disclosed here for the first time. Although McDonald's efforts as chairman of FDR's advisory committee on refugees from May 1938 until nearly the end of the war were hampered by the pervasive antisemitic attitudes of those years, fears about security, and changing presidential wartime priorities, tens of thousands did find haven. McDonald's 1935-1936 diary entries and the other primary sources presented here offer new insights into these conflicts and into Roosevelt's inconsistent attitudes toward the Jewish question in Europe.

Following the lauded Advocate for the Doomed (IUP, 2007), this is the second of a projected three-volume work that will significantly revise views of the Holocaust, its antecedents, and its aftermath.

$46.22

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 644
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 01 May 2009
ISBN 10: 0253353076
ISBN 13: 9780253353078
Book Overview: A compelling new source on FDR and America's refugee policies

Media Reviews

Refugees and Rescue is a remarkable account that sheds new light on the plight of European Jews during the horrific decade from 1935 to 1945.Autumn 2009 * The Hudson River Valley Review *
The papers of James Grover McDonald represent a major resource for the research of one of the greatest humanitarian crises of the twentieth century. . . . The editors of the present volume have . . . considerably illuminated, both for the scholarly community and the public, how Americans and their leaders coped with the Third Reich.Spring 2010 -- Wolfgang G. Schwanitz * Jewish Political Studies Review *
The book . . . will undoubtedly reignite the charged debate over whether Roosevelt could have done more to rescue millions of Jews, Gypsies, gay people, dissidents and others who died in Nazi death camps. -- Patricia Cohen * New York Times *
These newly discovered documents . . . show an American president more interested, more horrified and ultimately more involved in these issues in the period leading to the war than previously believed.June 7, 2009 -- David Shribman * Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *
New evidence presented in this book challenges widely held opinions about Franklin D. Roosevelt's views on the rescue of European Jews before and during the Holocaust. May 6, 2010 * Menorah Review *
This is the fascinating diary of James McDonald, later to become the first United States emissary to the State of Israel. The volume provides keen and thoughtful insight into the political machinations of 1935-1945, when McDonald served the League of Nations and later American President Roosevelt in various positions regarding the plight of refugees.June 2009 * Jewish Tribune *
[The book] . . . sheds considerable light on [James McDonald's] tireless efforts to secure refuge for Jews fleeing Nazi persecution . . .Vol. 40, no. 1 * Journal of Palestine Studies *

Author Bio

Richard Breitman is Professor of History at American University and author of Official Secrets: What the Nazis Planned, What the British and Americans Knew. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Barbara McDonald Stewart has taught at George Mason University and is author of United States Government Policy on Refugees from Nazism, 1933-1940. She lives in Vienna, Virginia.

Severin Hochberg, a historian formerly at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, teaches at George Washington University. He lives in Washington, D.C.