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EVIAN CONFERENCE |
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EVIAN CONFERENCE |
The rise of the Nazi regime in Germany and the following military conquests by Germany created a "problem" of refugees fleeing Germany, Austria and wherever the Nazis had influence or were expected to enter. The use of the term "refugees" was a euphemism: everyone knew the refugees were Jews. In July 1938, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, responding to mounting political pressure, called for an international conference to address the refugee problem. Thirty-three countries including Britain, her dominions, and her colonies, Scandinavian and other European and Latin American countries were also invited. Some countries, which would have liked to be included, were not invited, including the Republic of Ireland, which eventually did attend, Portugal and Luxembourg. Poland and Rumania were rejected, as they were not regarded as likely countries of Jewish immigration but they, and the Union of South Africa sent observers to the conference. Germany was not invited since it was seen as the source of the problem.
The call came eleven days after Hitler annexed Austria, an action that was going to cause additional refugees, Austrian Jews being expelled from their homeland. In order to ensure the participation of as many countries as possible, the scope of the conference was limited to refugees from Germany and Austria. This narrow focus was chosen despite the fact that the situation for Jews throughout East Central Europe was rapidly becoming untenable. Switzerland was unwilling to host the conference, as they did not want to alienate Hitler. They also were embarrassed, as they too had begun to restrict immigration of Jews from Germany and Austria. It was decided that the venue should be Evian-les-Bains on the shores of Lake Geneva in France.
During the nine-day meeting, delegate after delegate rose to express sympathy for the refugees. But most countries, including the United States and Britain, offered excuses for not letting in more refugees. Only one country, the Dominican Republic, offered to grant large numbers of Jews sanctuary.
Roosevelt chose not to send a high-level official, such as the secretary of state, to Evian; instead, Myron C. Taylor, a businessman and close friend of Roosevelt's, represented the U.S. at the conference.
Responding to Evian, the German government was able to state with great pleasure how "astounding" it was that foreign countries criticized Germany for their treatment of the Jews, but none of them wanted to open the doors to them when "the opportunity offer[ed]."
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