Salient features concerning Lost Ten Tribes and their Involvement in WW2.
Contents:
1. Before WW2.
3. Britain Goes it Alone! Sympathy for Persecuted Jews a Crucial Factor.
4. North Africa Campaigns and the Battle of Britain.
6. President Roosevelt as Epitome of the USA.
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Before WW1 there were periods when it looked like Britain and the USA might go to war. The psychological preparations were in place especially on the American side. In fact anti-British sentiment continued into the 1960s and may have been a factor in the stand-down demanded by Eisenhower from Britain and France and Israel (versus Egypt) in the Suez Crisis of 1956. The USA entered WW1 towards its end in April, 1917. US casualties had been less than those of Australia. Nevertheless in many ways it was an American victory. Many Americans had supported Germany at the beginning but as the War progressed US public opinion had turned against her. This was due, among other factors, to German atrocities in Belgium; the sinking of an American passenger ship, the Lusitania, by a German U-boat; the pro-British and democratic beliefs of President Woodrow Wilson; and the efforts of Germany to induce Mexico to attack America. After the War the USA withdrew into herself. This policy of Isolation was paradoxically accompanied by the unfolding of long-range US intentions to become the dominant world power. The British Empire had reached the height of its expansion. In hindsight we now realize it was reaching its end. This was not so obvious in Britain at the time. When the USA entered the Second World War it received British acquiesence to let the Americans take the lead in world affairs.
Saving the Jews was one of numerous considerations and possibly the one that in the end swayed the balance.
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2. Opening Stagtes of WW2.
The opening phases of World War 2 may be divided into three.
(1) The outbreak of war and the War until the fall of France.
(2) The decision of Britain to go on fighting, if necessarily, alone.
(3) Pearl Harbor and the entry of the USA into the conflict.
The USA and Britain were to be aligned against Germany for several reasons. Keep in mind that before the war it was Germany that was aggressively upsetting the balance of power. It was Germany that broke the Versailles Treaty and marched into the demilitarized Rhineland. It was Germany that made aggressive threats and fomented unrest in the Muslim World. It was Germany that annexed Austria; Germany that broke its assurances and dismembered Czechoslovakia. On 1 September 1939, Germany attacked Poland from the west. Soviet Russia moved in from the east on September 17. Germany had attacked Poland in the knowledge that both Britain and France were obligated by treaty to Poland. For 6 months after the invasion of Poland very little happened in the west. Even so, on the Oceans German submarines sank more than a 100 merchant ships trading with Britain.
On 28 April 1939, Nazi Germany offered Norway, Sweden, and Finland, non-aggression pacts. To maintain its neutrality, Norway turned down the German offer, as did Sweden and Finland. Norway did not want to oppose Britain. It resolved to protect its neutrality, and to fight against Germany for its freedom and independence.
The British planned to invade Norway, to reach and destroy the Swedish iron ore mines that the Germans were exploiting and perhaps open a war front in south Sweden. The Germans however pre-empted the Allies with an invasion of their own. They conquered Norway but had to garrison 300,000 to 500, 000 German soldiers in Norway for the rest of the war. This ensured the supply of iron ore from Sweden as well as naval and air bases with which to strike at Britain. It also prevented an invasion by the Allies of Germany through Scandinavia. Norwegian Resistance did not do enough to protect the few Jews it had but it did keep German forces tied down and denied the Germans the use of Heavy Water that Norway had and that was needed to produce an atom bomb. The damage done to the German Navy in the campaign over Norway helped save Britain from invasion. The British Government led by Neville Chamberlain was heavily criticized over the Norway
debacle and consequently resigned. In the re-shuffle Winston Spencer Churchill became Prime Minister. In April 1940 Germany had conquered both Norway and Denmark. The Danish People unanimously co-operated with each other in passing their Jewish citizens into the care of neutral Sweden for the duration of the War. The Jewish community of Denmark numbering ca. 8,000 souls was saved.
In May the Germans took Belgium and the Netherlands. In June Italy joined Germany and so did the France of Marshal Petain with northern France being occupied by Germany. Germany may not have wanted a war with Britain but it had wished for the one with France. Britain had obligations to the conquered countries especially to Belgium.
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3. Britain Goes it Alone! Sympathy for Persecute Jews a Crucial Factor.
After Dunkirk (June, 1940) and the evacuation of France the British may have had an option to reach an accommodation with Germany. Many among the British elites were inclined to explore this option. Most of the Public was against it. Nevertheless, the British may theoretically have accepted an agreement if that had been forced upon them. Or they may not have. We will never know. (A British citizen I spoke to some years ago vehemently denied the possibility!) At all events antipathy towards the Nazis was great enough to put Churchill in power in May 1940. This made certain a continuation of the war with the utmost resolve. The anti-Jewish policy of the Nazis even from before the beginning of the War was the major single factor in turning British public opinion against Germany (A. J. P. Taylor, "English History 1914-1945," Oxford 1965, p.420, quoted by B. Wasserstein, "Britain and the Jews of Europe 1939-1945" ch.1, n.7). The cumulative effect of German actions against its Jewish population had had their effect. These included: Constant Nazi tirades against the Jews, beating Jews, raping them, boycotting and then depriving them of livelihood, anti-Jewish discrimination, the Nuremburg Laws, the creation of Jewish refugees with no-where to go, unrelenting anti-Semitic propaganda, etc. This was all before the Holocaust had really begun. All this had helped turn the British Public against Germany. It ensured the continued participation of Britain in the War. Once Britain was in the War "for keeps" the USA could not really keep out of it.
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4. North Africa Campaigns and the Battle of Britain.
The Italians in 1940 from Tripoli invaded Egypt and threatened British possessions in east Africa. The German Air Force from July 1940 to May 1941 attempted to defeat the British Air Force and to bomb Britain into submission. This was the Battle of Britain. The Germans were unsuccessful and withdrew with a significant loss of aircraft and aircrew. The Allies were also succesful in the Battle of the Atlantic which lasted throughout the War: In this striggle, the Germans failed to break the allied blockade of German naval traffic and also were not able to prevent supplies reaching Britain. Meanwhile in North Africa the British under O'Connor defeated the Italians who then requested German help.. There followed a to-and-fro struggle until eventually the Germans were defeated at El-Alamain in Egypt in October 1942.
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The threat of Japan was also a factor. Since November 25, 1936, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had been linked through the Anti-Comintern Pact. Japan had conquered Manchuria, was waging a war of conquest in China, and had designs against French and British possessions in Asia. This was followed on September 27, 1940, by the Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy, and Japan. The partner of Germany, Japan, was a threat to the USA. America had remained neutral but took bellicose sanctions against Japan. An American War with Japan would have led to war with Germany. In December 1940, President Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless. He called for the United States to become an "arsenal of democracy." The USA adopted a policy of supplying Britain at first and after that Russia with copious war martials via Lend-Lease.
Following the Outbreak of World War-2:
At the outbreak of the Second World the Germans had even more factors going for them in the US than before the first one. Russia and the threat of Communism were perceived as a serious threat to Religion, family values, social stability, and everything else. Prejudice against Jews was very strong, much stronger than previously. The War of Germany was considered a War against the Jews from the beginning. On the one hand, German anti-Jewish legislation, was not considered a negative factor in the eyes of many BUT the excesses were not tolerable, as discussed below. The strong and numerous American German, Irish, Italian, communities were all sympathetic to the Axis BUT here again only to a certain degree.
Before the War the US Congress had passed Neutrality Acts aimed to keep America out of any future conflict. President Roosevelt had declared himself on the side of Neutrality. Early German military successes raised the specter of a world dominated by Axis forces. Britain stood alone. In the eyes of many in the USA the British were fighting the War on their behalf. There was also the Japanese factor. Japan had been faced with a choice between expanding northward at the expense of Russia or southwards ultimately eliminating America from that sphere. The Japanese had lost an unofficial mini-war against Russia, the "Soviet-Japanese Border War," 1932-1939. After that the Japanese decided to concentrate on the conquest of China and southeast Asia. Japan became a threat to the USA in the Pacific. Japan was linked with Germany. At some time or other conflict with Japan was henceforth inevitable.
In retrospect the Foundation Values of America at that time were the following:
Democracy
Judeo-Christian Culture - this came to mean a concern for the Jews.
European, especially British, Heritage
Untrammeled Prosperity
The Axis were against Democracy. They were inimical to the Jews. Germany threatened British and West European Civilization. The Axis threatened to impede economic progress from the American point of view.
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6. President Roosevelt as Epitome of the USA.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was a cousin of Theodore Roosevelt. Franklin is often counted one of the three greatest U.S. presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, while his cousin Theodore is ranked as number four. See: Historical rankings of presidents of the United States - Wikipedia. FDR was of Old American Dutch stock. He had led the USA out of a Depression and instituted numerous social reforms. When FDR ran for the presidency in 1940 (his third term out of four) he promised the American people that the country would be kept out of war. Two months after being re-elected Roosevelt, in response to an appeal from Winston Churchill, informed the American People, "If Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere," and "We are the Arsenal of Democracy. Our national policy is to keep war away from this country."
In June 1941 the Axis forces invaded Russia. Murder of Jews had been going on since the beginning but it greatly intensified after the attack on the Soviet Union. Before the War was ended it seems to have become the prime aim of German War Intentions. Victory may no longer have been in sight for the Nazis but exterminating Jews was still a possibility. Henceforth German hostile intentions towards the Jews were even more blatant and hostile. Internal pressure on the US administration to do something was having its effects but was hindered by anti-Jewish sentiments around the globe as discussed below.
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7. Churchill and Roosevelt
FDR had initiated a correspondence with Winston Churchill 8 days after Britain and France had declared war on Nazi Germany and while Churchill was still only First Lord of the Admiralty, i.e. Head of the Navy. It was not until until May 10, 1940, that Churchill became PM. [Rooosevelt himself had once served as Assistant Secretary of the US Navy, 1913-1919. He claimed to have 10,000 books about naval matters in his private library and to have read nearly all of them]. Churchill understood that Roosevelt might eventually bring the US into the War on the side of Britain. Roosevelt did not deny it but kept making demands for British concessions. Nevertheless a strong bond developed between the two. This involved among other matters a secret correspondence of 1,700 letters and telegrams. See Franklin D. Roosevelt - Wikipedia .
Norwegian Crown Princess Martha (1901-1954) was the wife of the Crown Prince and designated successor to the Throne of Norway. Martha had initially taken refuge in Sweden. She was a member of the Swedish Royal Family. In Sweden the Crown Princess was under pressure to return to Norway and let the Germans crown her son as King. Meanwhile, her husband, the Crown Prince, was leading Norwegian resistance from Britain. Joining him was not feasible at the time so Martha went to the USA where for a time she lived with her children in the White House.
The USA Enters the War
On September 2, 1940, as the the Battle of Britain intensified, the USA had agreed to give several old destroyers to Britain in return for British Bases on islands in the Atlantic. Some of the destroyers were never even delivered. The real point of the agreement was to establish American military and naval bases alongside British ones. This meant the British bases would effectively be under US protection!
In January 1941 the USA started the Lend-Lease program that in simple terms gave Britain an open check to order what goods and weapons it needed from the USA and not pay for it. Russia also benefited from the same arrangement after the German invasion in June 1941. On 7 July 1941 American troops relieved British ones in the occupation of Iceland facing German occupied Norway.
The Crown Princess of Norway, Martha, being a refugee from her own country at that time, was residing with her children in the White House as a guest of the President. She was active in arousing American support for Norway and against Germany. Also in July 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt held in secret the first of their 11 meetings. The Atlantic Charter was a statement issued on 14 August 1941 that set out American and British goals for the period following the end of World War 2. It made it clear that the USA was supporting Britain. In September 1941, after German provocations, Roosevelt declared that the "U.S. Navy would assume an escort role for Allied convoys in the Atlantic as far east as Great Britain and would fire upon German ships or submarines (U-boats) of the Kriegsmarine if they entered the U.S. Navy zone." This "shoot on sight" policy against German ships, in effect, was a declaration of Naval War against German Shipping.
In July 1941 Roosevelt stopped the sale of oil to Japan. This deprived the Japanese of more than 95 percent of their oil supply. On December 7, 1941, came Pearl Harbor and the War with Japan.
On 7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese attacked US ships in Pearl Harbor. The day after Germany and Italy declared war on the USA. Meanwhile, Japanese forces attacked the Philippines (which was then an American possession) and the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. After this it reached in to Burma and aimed at India. The war with Germany was intertwined with that with Japan. Japan had attacked the USA at Pearl Harbor before declaring War. Hitler perhaps in coordination with Japan then declared war on the USA.
Technically speaking the USA did not choose a side but rather had a side chosen for her. The USA however under President Roosevelt had in effect placed both Germany and Japan in a situation whereby the USA was openly and aggressively hostile towards them. Access to vital supplies was withheld from Japan. Without going to war with America Japan may have imploded. Germany in theory could have ignored American provocations and concentrated on matters at hand. Germany however could not have conquered Britain without a confrontation with America. Hitler thought that the USA would take much longer than it actually did to place itself on a war footing. Meanwhile he hoped the conquest of Europe would be complete, Germany would be much stronger. The USA used the Declaration of War by Germany as an excuse for coordination with Britain to concentrate on the defeat of Germany BEFORE dealing with Japan.
All these details are interconnected. Most of them have little or nothing to do with the Jews directly.
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8. The 'Jewish War.'
Another point worth noting is that the Allies were afraid of being depicted as fighting a "Jewish War."
Before the War, anti-Semitic agitation throughout the world had promoted the idea that Communism was a menace and that it is was a tool of the Jews to seek world domination. Many believed in this. German propaganda harped on it continually. The anti-Jewish policies of Nazi Germany were regarded with sympathy by very many. Churchill frequently referred to the unspeakable crimes committed against the Jews but he had to do so alongside other reasons for condemning Germany. In German occupied Western Europe the armed Resistance against the Nazis was very important. In France from 20 to 30% of the active members were Jewish. What antagonism to the Nazis that there was in neutral countries such as Sweden and Switzerland was motivated in part by sympathy for the Jews.
Killing the Jews had been a war aim of the Germans.
In February 16, 1941 Goebbels drew parallels between the English and the Jews. ... The English were "the Jews among the Aryans." In March 30, 1941) Goebbels imputed murderous intentions to Nazi Germany's enemies, as he had done before and would do again. If Churchill could, he would "exterminate" Germany. On 13 September 1943 Goebbels said in a radio speech that the Jews were being killed. The extermiantion of the Jews was publicly admitted by German officials over the radio, in newspaper articles and pamphlets distributed to the German public along with their food rations. Robert Gellately, "Backing Hitler," reports that that the only thing many Germans may not have known about was the use of industrial-scale gas chambers. Jews however were being exterminated through induced sickness and starvation, shootings, and only thirdly by gas.
Did the USA and Britain fight against Germany during WW2 to stop the holocaust of the Jewish people, or was that not a consideration in their war aims?
An amplified reply could say that:
The decision of the British in May 1940 to keep on fighting is what in the long run helped save the Jewish People and it was motivated in part by sympathy for them.
The USA and Britain DID NOT fight against Germany during WW2 primarily to stop the Holocaust of the Jewish people?
BUT
It was a consideration that could not openly be expressed.
It was probably the main resason the British Public was opposed to making any peace compromise with Germany.
A need felt by the Allies to save the Jews may have helped determine the nature of the war and bring it to a definite conclusion.
Concern for the Jews was a Factor!
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9. Anti-Semitism in the USA.
The anti-Semitism of American ethnic groups was a passing phenomenon to a degree. Germans who had immigrated to the USA were mostly from a different stock than that of the majority of Germans in Germany. Today German Americans represent ca.17% of the total U.S. population, and Irish Americans ca. 10%. At the time in question the said percentages would have been higher. Both the German and Irish communities had a disproportionate influence on the American public. They were not on the whole anti-Jewish but had been aroused by agitators from outside. Germans who migrated to the USA before ca. 1900 had not, on the whole, been anti-Jewish, on the contrary. They were different in this respect from the Germans of Germany, see Stan NADEL, "Jewish Race and German Soul in Nineteenth Century America," American Jewish History, September, 1987. So too with the Irish. Both groups would put America first at all events.
Roosevelt himself was mildly anti-Semitic. He did not particularly want to see too many more Jews in America. He did however have some Jews in his administration and among his advisers such as Felix Frankfurter, Benjamin Cohen, Henry Morgenthau, and Louis Brandeis. Apart from these Jews however there were also blatant Judeophobes in positions of authority and influence. See: FDR and Henry Morgenthau, Jr. ca. 1940. Source: Dynasty - Tablet Magazine. In January 1944 Henry Morgenthau presented the President with the "Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews." Nevertheless, more than 200, 000 Jews were saved during the War by US intervention. While Roosevelt may have had his reservations he would not have wanted their destruction. He would probably have known about Nazi extermination policies almost from the beginning.
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In ADDITION to all the Above, another factor that may have helped Roosevelt go ahead with a belligerence attitude towards the Axis, may be inferred by what came after. Roosevelt in the first of his four terms as President had begun to take the USA out of a very severe Depression of almost disastrous proportions. The economy recovered, numerous social reforms were put in place, and benign Government involvement increased. Matters went ahead for the better. The more that was done came with an awareness of what was still possible and needed. There were impediments. Bureaucratic regulations, opposition from political elements, legal problems, business opposition, interested parties, and so on all combined to hold social improvement and the economy back. Consequent reforms were not as fast nor as complete as Roosevelt wanted. With Lend Lease followed by War all this changed for the better. Workers had jobs with plenty of overtime and rising salaries. Production increased all down the line. New methods and numerous innovations were adopted. Governmental authorities worked hand in hand with business and Labor. A regulated boom resulted. From before all this, Roosevelt with his hands on experience may have had an insight that it was a possibility. The War turned it into reality. FDR must have understood from the beginning that something like this could happen.
The USA entered World War-2 on the side of Britain due to geo-political reality, its own interests, belief in Democracy, the personal predilections of its leader, and a host of other factors. It was something the American People came to want and could not really avoid.
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In 1943 the British and Americans invaded Sicily and Italy.
From June 1943 incessant day and night British and American air attacks began crippling German industry and ruining its infrastructure. This greatly reduced German capacity to fight. The Air War did more than anything else to beat Germany. Britain and the USA were partners in this but the British directed it.
In 1944 came D-day with the Allies launching an invasion of Normandy, France, from Britain.
Landings were carried out at five points:
The Utah and Omaha beaches were taken by US forces, Gold Beach by the British, Juno Beach by British and Canadians, and Sword Beach by the British.
The success of the Allied invasions of Sicily and France were due in large measure to British Intelligence. The British were enabled to know what the Enemy was doing and thinking and thus succeeded in deceiving German strategists.
The British and Americans together defeated the Germans in the west. In terms of manpower British, Canadians, and Free French together equaled about half the number of Americans involved in the advance on Germany. The Russians came in from the east.
In Burma and China British and Chinese forces went on to defeat the Japanese. The Americans liberated the Philippines and islands that the Japanese had occupied.
The last great sea encounter of the War (perhaps the "largest naval battle in history"), was the Battle of Leyte Gulf in which American and Australian forces participated. The outcome was the isolation of Japan from its possessions and resources outside of Japan itself.
The USA with the help of British scientists had developed the atom bomb. This brought about the unconditional surrender of Japan.
When one includes under the term "British" all members of the British Empire and Commonwealth it is quite clear that the British were involved every step of the way from beginning to end on nearly every front.
They were instrumental in achieving victory in most theaters and significant contributors in others. They were the essence of the Allied side in the Second World War. Granted, the Final Victory was by virtue of ALL parties involved.
Nevertheless in quality as well as quantity the British did as much or more than any other party.
Quotes attributed to Stalin include the following:
"This war is being fought with British brains, American brawn, and Russian blood."
"The British gave time, the Americans gave money, and the Russians gave blood."
It is now generally agreed that Stalin probably said no such thing. Nevertheless British Military Intelligence and determination to stay the course were indispensable for ultimate victory. Information supplied by British Intelligence to the Russians enabled their victories.
In the epigraph to Their Finest Hour, Churchill said that the UK "held the fort Alone until those who had been half blind were half ready."