What did the Jews of America do to help European Jewry during the war?What did the Jews of America do to help European Jewry during the war?
During the war, American Jewry found itself reacting to unprecedented and unbelievable news—the murder of all the Jews of Europe—at a time when ethnic assertiveness was unacceptable in American society and when antisemitism was clearly on the rise in the United States. Nevertheless, American Jewry organized to send funds and supplies into occupied Europe through aid organizations such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. They organized mass rallies at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and at similar arenas, condemning the murder and calling on the Allies to help. American Jewish leaders pleaded with their government’s leaders, including the president, to act on behalf of European Jewry, and they prepared rescue proposals, such as the one submitted jointly by eight American Jewish organizations to the Bermuda Conference in the spring of 1943. Rescue activities finally undertaken to a limited degree by the government, such as those implemented through the War Refuge
