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

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efugees “dispassionately, in spite <strong>of</strong> the tragic circumstances surrounding their plight.”<br />

Visitors’ visas would be granted only if the alien had a permanent residence in their<br />

country <strong>of</strong> origin (an impossibility in Nazi Germany when the policy <strong>of</strong> forced<br />

emigration was adopted) and documentation <strong>of</strong> the means to return home as well as a<br />

certificate <strong>of</strong> good character and behavior to be obtained from the local German and<br />

Austrian police. 55<br />

Having achieved “almost nothing <strong>of</strong> substance” Frank Brecher has argued that<br />

the creation <strong>of</strong> the Intergovernmental Committee on Political Refugees from Germany<br />

merely served to extend the longevity <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Evian</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> “under a new name” that<br />

would serve as a “face-saving device” for the Roosevelt Administration. None <strong>of</strong> the<br />

participating countries was <strong>com</strong>mitted to any particular plan <strong>of</strong> action and the <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />

financing <strong>of</strong> the IGCR would be limited with the bulk provided by private <strong>Jewish</strong> and<br />

non-<strong>Jewish</strong> sources. 56<br />

<strong>Jewish</strong> Congressmen also lacked the will to pursue modification <strong>of</strong> the<br />

immigration laws. Representatives Emanuel Celler (NY), Adolph Sabath (Illinois) and<br />

four others approached George Messersmith on April 17, 1938 regarding the facilitation<br />

<strong>of</strong> refugee immigration and the consolidation <strong>of</strong> unused national quotas. <strong>The</strong>y were<br />

warned that such actions could prompt a nativist reaction and a call for more restrictive<br />

55 Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, History <strong>of</strong> the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 96 th<br />

Congress, 2 nd Session, Committee Print, December 1980, 43; Frances Perkins to Cornelia Bryce Pinchot,<br />

December 21, 1939, Frances Perkins papers, 1939 Correspondence File, General Records <strong>of</strong> the Labor<br />

Department, Record Group 174, National Archives, Washington, D.C. cited in Tichenor, Dividing Lines,<br />

161-162.<br />

56 Brecher, Reluctant Ally, 63.<br />

328

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