War Refugee Board
Encyclopedia
The War Refugee Board, established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
in January 1944, was a U.S. executive agency
created to aid civilian victims of the Nazi and Axis powers. Created largely at the behest of Roosevelt's Secretary of the Treasury
Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
, Roosevelt "stressed that it was urgent that action be taken at once to forestall the plan of the Nazis to exterminate all the Jews and other persecuted minorities in Europe." http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/wrb1.html Subsequently credited with rescuing as many as 200,000 Jews from Nazi occupied countries, through the efforts of Raoul Wallenberg
and others, the commission has nevertheless received mixed praise because of the failure of the United States
to act sooner despite clear evidence of ongoing atrocities in Nazi-occupied Europe.http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/wrb.html'
later succeeded Pehle as executive director until its dissolution at the end of the war.
The war refugee board worked from the U.S and helped the Jews that suffered in the war.
The board was represented internationally in Turkey
, Switzerland
, Sweden
, Portugal
, Great Britain
, Italy
, and North Africa
.http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/academic/upa_cis/11129_%20WarRefugeeBoardPt1.pdf
the inauguration of effective measures for (a) the rescue, transportation,
maintenance and relief of the victims of enemy oppression, and (b) the establishment of havens of temporary refuge for such victims.” The board enlisted the cooperation of foreign governments and international refugee and rescue organizations in carrying out these functions. Such neutral countries as Switzerland, Sweden, and Turkey were of particular importance, serving as bases of operation for the rescue and relief program. The Vatican
rendered invaluable assistance both as a channel of communication into enemy territory and as a means of rendering direct aid to the persecuted in Nazi hands. The board obtained the cooperation of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
, and the International Committee of the Red Cross
in rehabilitating and resettling refugees, finding temporary shelters for rescued victims, transporting these victims to the shelters and providing for their maintenance in transit, and making relief deliveries inside enemy territory.
The board worked closely with private U.S. relief agencies in formulating,
financing, and executing plans and projects. A Treasury Department licensing policy
that permitted established private agencies to transfer funds from the United States to their representatives in neutral countries aided in financing the rescue of persecuted peoples living under Nazi control. Under this licensing policy, it was possible to communicate with persons in enemy territory and to finance rescue
operations with certain controls designed to bring no financial benefit to the enemy. Approximately $20 million in private funds was made available in this way. The board obtained blockade clearances for food shipments of private relief agencies for distribution by the International Red Cross to detainees in German concentration camps and supplemented these private projects with a food-parcel program of its own financed from the emergency funds of the president.
Through the efforts of the board, refugee camps were prepared in North Africa and
safe haven was arranged in Palestine, Switzerland, and Sweden. Emergency Refugee Shelter at Fort Ontario
, Oswego, New York, housed one thousand refugees permitted to enter the United States outside the immigration laws.
By attracting international attention to the Hungarian government and putting pressure on them, the WRB was able to stop the deportations of Jews from Hungary, saving the Jews of Budapest. The board sent the Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg
, and others to protect the Jews of Budapest. The WRB funded Wallenberg's rescue work there.
In August 1944 the WRB brought 982 Jewish refugees from Italy to a Fort Ontario. The board intended to create other such places
of asylum, and thus also influence other countries to provide sanctuary for
World War II victims. President Roosevelt, however, disabled one of the board's most important rescue programs by refusing to establish any other havens.
The board lobbied Roosevelt to publicly condemn the mass murder of Jews
by the Nazis. Members also argued that the US air force should bomb Auschwitz
. This, however, was never done.
By the end of the war in 1945 almost 200,000 Jews had been rescued by
the War Refugee Board. About 15,000 Jews and more than 20,000 non-Jews
had been evacuated from Nazi domain. At the very least, about 10,000 Jews
were protected within Nazi-controlled territory by underground programs
funded by the WRB. The board removed the 48,000 Jews in Transnistria
to
safe areas of Romania. About 120,000 Jews from Budapest also survived due
in part to the WRB's activities. However, WRB director Pehle described their work as too little, too late.
With the close of the war in Europe, the work of the board was at an end. By the
terms of Executive Order No. 9614 the board was abolished on September 15, 1945.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in January 1944, was a U.S. executive agency
Executive Office of the President of the United States
The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The EOP is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, currently William M. Daley...
created to aid civilian victims of the Nazi and Axis powers. Created largely at the behest of Roosevelt's Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
Henry Morgenthau, Jr. was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal...
, Roosevelt "stressed that it was urgent that action be taken at once to forestall the plan of the Nazis to exterminate all the Jews and other persecuted minorities in Europe." http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/wrb1.html Subsequently credited with rescuing as many as 200,000 Jews from Nazi occupied countries, through the efforts of Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
and others, the commission has nevertheless received mixed praise because of the failure of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to act sooner despite clear evidence of ongoing atrocities in Nazi-occupied Europe.http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/wrb.html'
Composition
John W. Pehle, the assistant to the secretary of treasury, was appointed executive director of the board, which was directly responsible to the president. Its members included the secretary of state, the secretary of the treasury, the secretary of war, and a staff of approximately 30. Brigadier General William O'DwyerWilliam O'Dwyer
William O'Dwyer was the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950.-Biography:O'Dwyer was born in County Mayo, Ireland and migrated to the United States in 1910, after abandoning studies for the priesthood...
later succeeded Pehle as executive director until its dissolution at the end of the war.
The war refugee board worked from the U.S and helped the Jews that suffered in the war.
The board was represented internationally in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
.http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/academic/upa_cis/11129_%20WarRefugeeBoardPt1.pdf
Activity
The functions of the board included “the development of plans and programs andthe inauguration of effective measures for (a) the rescue, transportation,
maintenance and relief of the victims of enemy oppression, and (b) the establishment of havens of temporary refuge for such victims.” The board enlisted the cooperation of foreign governments and international refugee and rescue organizations in carrying out these functions. Such neutral countries as Switzerland, Sweden, and Turkey were of particular importance, serving as bases of operation for the rescue and relief program. The Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
rendered invaluable assistance both as a channel of communication into enemy territory and as a means of rendering direct aid to the persecuted in Nazi hands. The board obtained the cooperation of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
, and the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
in rehabilitating and resettling refugees, finding temporary shelters for rescued victims, transporting these victims to the shelters and providing for their maintenance in transit, and making relief deliveries inside enemy territory.
The board worked closely with private U.S. relief agencies in formulating,
financing, and executing plans and projects. A Treasury Department licensing policy
that permitted established private agencies to transfer funds from the United States to their representatives in neutral countries aided in financing the rescue of persecuted peoples living under Nazi control. Under this licensing policy, it was possible to communicate with persons in enemy territory and to finance rescue
operations with certain controls designed to bring no financial benefit to the enemy. Approximately $20 million in private funds was made available in this way. The board obtained blockade clearances for food shipments of private relief agencies for distribution by the International Red Cross to detainees in German concentration camps and supplemented these private projects with a food-parcel program of its own financed from the emergency funds of the president.
Through the efforts of the board, refugee camps were prepared in North Africa and
safe haven was arranged in Palestine, Switzerland, and Sweden. Emergency Refugee Shelter at Fort Ontario
Fort Ontario
Fort Ontario is a historic fort situated by the City of Oswego, in Oswego County, New York in the United States of America. It is owned by the state of New York and operated as a museum known as Fort Ontario State Historic Site....
, Oswego, New York, housed one thousand refugees permitted to enter the United States outside the immigration laws.
By attracting international attention to the Hungarian government and putting pressure on them, the WRB was able to stop the deportations of Jews from Hungary, saving the Jews of Budapest. The board sent the Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
, and others to protect the Jews of Budapest. The WRB funded Wallenberg's rescue work there.
In August 1944 the WRB brought 982 Jewish refugees from Italy to a Fort Ontario. The board intended to create other such places
of asylum, and thus also influence other countries to provide sanctuary for
World War II victims. President Roosevelt, however, disabled one of the board's most important rescue programs by refusing to establish any other havens.
The board lobbied Roosevelt to publicly condemn the mass murder of Jews
by the Nazis. Members also argued that the US air force should bomb Auschwitz
Auschwitz bombing debate
The issue of why Auschwitz concentration camp was not bombed by the Allies during World War II continues to be explored by historians and Holocaust survivors....
. This, however, was never done.
By the end of the war in 1945 almost 200,000 Jews had been rescued by
the War Refugee Board. About 15,000 Jews and more than 20,000 non-Jews
had been evacuated from Nazi domain. At the very least, about 10,000 Jews
were protected within Nazi-controlled territory by underground programs
funded by the WRB. The board removed the 48,000 Jews in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
to
safe areas of Romania. About 120,000 Jews from Budapest also survived due
in part to the WRB's activities. However, WRB director Pehle described their work as too little, too late.
With the close of the war in Europe, the work of the board was at an end. By the
terms of Executive Order No. 9614 the board was abolished on September 15, 1945.
Primary sources and research databases
- Yad Vashem Shoah Research Center
- Executive Order Creating War Refugee Board at the Jewish Virtual Library
- Lexis Nexis Papers of the War Refugee Board
- Lexis Nexis Papers of the War Refugee Board Part 2