The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

the vast majority” of the public as a legitimate reason to go to war. 121 Wilson did support
the convening of the Evian Conference as a means of “banish[ing] the hatred in which
Germany was held abroad”; compassionate concerns were of secondary value. 122
Several days prior to the opening of the conference Roosevelt stated that he
expected “deeds and not speeches.” He regarded the establishment of a permanent
intergovernmental committee that would facilitate and oversee emigration to be the
ultimate goal of the meeting. 123 Peter Novick had argued that FDR sought to enlighten
the American public—especially “nativists and isolationists”—that greater involvement
in European affairs enhanced American self-defense and did not represent “some
globalist do-gooding.” Jewish affairs and problems would not be allowed to dictate or redirect
American foreign policies. 124 Jewish attendee Solomon Adler-Rudel expressed
similar sentiments believing that “inner political considerations” and calculations rather
than issues of humanitarianism regarding the Jews motivated the President to convene the
Evian Conference. The invitation itself served as a symbolic expression of the desire to
help others while preserving morality. Although Jews accounted for ninety percent of the
real and potential refugees that fell under the scope of the assembly a deliberate choice
was made to avoid direct referral to Jews, Hitler or Germany 125
121 Wilson to Welles, June 20, 1938 cited in Wilson A Career Diplomat, 38-39. Ibid., 96.
122 Discussion with the Nazi Minister of Economic Affairs Wilhelm Funk as related to Hull quoted in
Wilson, A Career Diplomat, 43-44. Ibid., 97.
123 Davar July 3, 1938 cited in Beit-zvi, Post-Uganda Zionism, 143.
124 Peter Novick, The Holocaust in American Life (NY: Mariner Books, 2000), 52.
.
125 Adler-Rudel, “Evian Conference,” 238-239
96