Roosevelt and the Holocaust
A thorough examination of FDR’s response to the rise of anti-Semitism and the genocidal Nazi regime.
In the same year that Franklin Delano Roosevelt began his presidency, teenager Robert Beir experienced a shock when a classmate called him a “dirty Jew.” Over the next twelve years, FDR would restore optimism and help a suffering and fearful nation emerge from the Great Depression, saving the capitalist system from collapse and then defeating Hitler. The young Robert Beir, like countless other American Jews, revered him—but in looking back at history, questions haunted him: How much did the president know about what was going on in Germany? Could he have done more? Why wasn’t there a more urgent rescue effort? In this well-researched and provocative book, Bier paints an unvarnished portrait of a man caught in the confusion and chaos of global upheaval and war—celebrating his extraordinary leadership, while also exploring the whys and what-ifs to offer a thoughtful assessment of how America can exert moral authority in the most challenging times.
In the same year that Franklin Delano Roosevelt began his presidency, teenager Robert Beir experienced a shock when a classmate called him a “dirty Jew.” Over the next twelve years, FDR would restore optimism and help a suffering and fearful nation emerge from the Great Depression, saving the capitalist system from collapse and then defeating Hitler. The young Robert Beir, like countless other American Jews, revered him—but in looking back at history, questions haunted him: How much did the president know about what was going on in Germany? Could he have done more? Why wasn’t there a more urgent rescue effort? In this well-researched and provocative book, Bier paints an unvarnished portrait of a man caught in the confusion and chaos of global upheaval and war—celebrating his extraordinary leadership, while also exploring the whys and what-ifs to offer a thoughtful assessment of how America can exert moral authority in the most challenging times.
