This evening, I went to Symphony Hall to see a preview of Ken Burns' The U.S. and The Holocaust as well as a discussion with Burns and his collaborators Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein with Pam Johnston, the general manager and news director of GBH, the PBS affiliate here in Boston which sponsored the event. The U.S. and The Holocaust premiers on PBS stations beginning on Sunday night and will air two more installments on successive evenings.
My seat was in the second row, stage right. While I was up, close and personal I was also something of a thoroughfare as dozen of people had to pass by me to give from Point A to B and back to A. Though given the subject matter whatever momentary inconvenience that I experienced is an amusing triviality. If anything I had the perfect view of not only the film excerpts but of the music which was performed live by violinist Johnny Gandelsman and guitarist Kyle Sanna.
The U.S. and the Holocaust centers on the question as to why this country did not do more to admit Jewish refugees from Europe. It is not an unfamiliar question to me. Growing up in Canada, one of the most influential books of the past 40 years is None is Too Many by Harold Troper and Irving Abella (who passed away in July) which documented how the Canadian government led by Prime Minister MacKenzie King and his civil service moved Heaven and Earth to prevent the admission of Jewish refugees into Canada. Compared with the United States which admitted an estimated 200,000 Jewish refugees, Canada only admitted 5,000 during the same period. This book has profoundly influenced the way Canada treats refugees most notably those from Vietnam and most recently from Syria.
As for the United States' Jewish refugee policy, I am familiar with the story of the efforts of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau who served under both FDR and briefly under Truman to admit Jewish refugees into this country as well documented in Michael Beschloss' 2002 book The Conquerors. Until the establishment of the War Refugee Board in 1944, the U.S. was slow to accept Jewish refugees. I do wish there had been a question and answer period permitted so that I could have raised these subjects. No doubt others in attendance had questions of their own.
In the excerpts of the film shown, the emphasis is not only on the lackluster efforts of the U.S government to admit Jewish refugees but the broad public opposition within U.S. civil society as demonstrated by the American Legion, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the German American Bund.
Burns embarked upon the film beginning in 2015 not long after the release of The Roosevelts. Given his affection for the Roosevelts, particularly Eleanor Roosevelt, it will be interesting to see if the film ultimately minimizes their opposition to the settlement of Jewish refugees.
What Burns did make clear was that The U.S. and the Holocaust was "not to be enjoyed" but rather "appreciated". Notwithstanding this directive, the last excerpt shown by Burns was that of a brother and sister who managed to flee to America through the tireless efforts of their father. Warm laughter ensued when the sister spoke of the joys of Wonder Bread and chewing gum. Even nearly 80 years after escaping Europe, the joy they felt in coming to America is as if they arrived here only today.
The question very much remains if we are any more welcoming to refugees now than we were during WWII. While not part of the sneak preview, we were told the last three minutes of the film focuses on what has been happening in America since they began working on this film in 2015 - the same year Donald Trump descended the escalator and many among us have continued to descend to our darkest depths whether in Charlottesville, the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and the ongoing effort to undermine free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power all of which has led to the ascension of anti-Semitism in America.
Although it is important to question why America didn't do enough where it concerned Jewish refugees during the Second World War it is also important to remember that hindsight is 20-20. When presented with a tough choice or asked to sacrifice our material comfort most of us take the easy way out.
As for The U.S. and The Holocaust, I have seen 37 minutes of it. Now I need to see the remaining six hours.
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