Did The Us Do Enough To Stop The Killing Summary

Throughout Chris Bodenner’s article, “The Holocaust: Did the U.S. Do Enough to Stop the Killing?”discussing the issues on whether the United States government truly did everything they could to stop the Holocaust. Some would state that the United States continues further delaying the efforts to assist the Jewish refugees. Whereas others would state that the United States used all of their resources that could be provided to better help the Jewish people in this great time of need. Further stating, “The U.S. has saved more Jews than all other countries combined” (2). Two valid beliefs on the United States’s contribution to the survival of the Jewish refugees. In the case against the U.S. intervention, Senator Robert Rice Reynolds stated before

was having our own problems, which a majority was due to The Great Depression, and had their own people to think about. Bodenner mentions that critics insisted, “The Holocaust was so hidden, that from the onset of the war in 1939 until it was confirmed by the State Department in late 1942 the U.S. was unaware of its true nature” (16). This was largely due to the rumors of genocide being such an unfathomable situation it was difficult for not only the U.S. but other neighboring countries to believe as well. Bodenner clearly states the numerous ways, and tactics, that the U.S. could have enforced a stronger intervention in the Holocaust. He gives us a great point on how the U.S. denied the rescue of so many Jews, “How could Congress kill the Wagner-Rogers Bill, and thus refuse entry to thousands of Jewish children endangered by the Nazi regime?” (14). This caused a major setback for the justification that the U.S. did everything they could to help, when in fact they turned down a bill that could have potentially saved thousands if not more. Bodenner goes further, “Had the U.S. government been more openly outraged regarding Hitler’s actions, other national governments might have been shamed into doing more to help the Jews”