Rafael Medoff. The Jews Should Keep Quiet: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rabbi Stephen W. Wise, and the Holocaust; Graham B. Cox. Seeking Justice for the Holocaust: Herbert C. Pell, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Limits of International Law.

Abstract

It has been said that during the tenure of the thirty-second president of the United States, the Jews of America held on to three faiths: “di velt, yener velt, un Roosevelt.” Tenaciously, they maintained their belief in this world, in the world to come, and in Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They showed deeper fealty than did any other ethnic bloc to the occupant of the White House in the years from 1933 to 1945. Upon FDR’s sudden death while on vacation in Warm Springs, Georgia, World Zionist Organization head Chaim Weizmann echoed their conviction when cabling his widow Eleanor Roosevelt that “the world has lost an inspired leader and fighter for freedom and peace, America a great President and noble son, and the Jewish people a true friend and most powerful champion.” In a memorial service at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Stephen Wise, American Jewry’s foremost leader at...