As war begins, some Americans work tirelessly to help refugees; others remain indifferent.

“Yearning to Breathe Free” (1938-1942) The U.S. and the Holocaust

Premiered September 20, 2022
“Yearning to Breathe Free” (1938-1942)

As World War II begins, Americans are united in their disapproval of Nazi brutality but divided on whether to act. Some individuals and organizations work tirelessly to help refugees escape. Meanwhile, Charles Lindbergh and isolationists battle with Roosevelt to try to keep America out of the war. Germany invades the Soviet Union and secretly begins the mass murder of European Jews.

About the Program

The U.S. and the Holocaust

Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Americans and the Holocaust” exhibition and supported by its historical resources, The U.S. and the Holocaust examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States and race laws in the American south.

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