Discussion of State Department Failure to Rescue European Jewry

During a meeting of officials, John Pehle reads from a “Personal Report to the President” written by Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau to President Roosevelt which outlines how the State Department failed to rescue European Jews. The second part of the report, “Suppression of Facts Regarding Hitler’s Extermination of the Jews,” documents the evidence to justify the title and recommends that “the matter of rescuing Jews from extermination is a trust too great to remain in the hands of men who are indifferent, callous, and perhaps even hostile.” The text of the executive order establishing the War Refugee Board is also read during the meeting. The discussion also faults the British Foreign Office and its influence on the State Department. Click here to read the document.