Operation Texas was an undercover operation to relocate European Jews to Texas in the United States, far away from Nazi persecution.

In 1938, Lyndon Baines Johnson - then a Congressman who would later become the 36th President of the United States - worked covertly to establish a refuge in Texas for European Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.[1] Johnson eventually helped hundreds of European Jews enter Texas through Cuba, Mexico and South America.

Johnson was partly influenced in his attitude towards the Jews by the religious beliefs that his family, especially his grandfather (Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr.) who was a member of the Christadelphian church, shared with him.[2][3] Christadelphians believe that the Jews are God's chosen people, and LBJ's grandfather once said to him, "Take care of the Jews, God’s chosen people. Consider them your friends and help them any way you can."[2][4]

In reference to Operation Texas, Texas historian James M. Smallwood commented that LBJ "apparently took seriously his grandfather's charge."[2]

Sources:

Dallek, Robert (1991). Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1908-1960. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-505435-0. Retrieved 2008-04-05.

Smallwood, James M. "Operation Texas: Lyndon B. Johnson’s Attempt to Save Jews from the German Nazi Holocaust". Institute of Texan Cultures. Retrieved 2008-04-04. [dead link]

Banta, Joseph (January 1964). "President Lyndon B. Johnson". The Christadelphian 101: 26.

Pearce, David M. "Israel: God's People, God's Land". The Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association. Retrieved 2008-04-04.

Holocaust Rescue: Operation Texas