"Acquiescence" Memo
1/13/1944
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This "Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews" was drafted at the request of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. by two Treasury Department officials: Chief Counsel of Foreign Funds Control Josiah DuBois and Director of Foreign Funds Control John Pehle. It was in response to reports that Morgenthau had received stating that the State Department was blocking attempts to rescue Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe.
In April 1943, the World Jewish Congress had asked the State Department for a license to use private funds to rescue Jews in France and Romania. The Foreign Funds Control Office at the Treasury Department had authority to issue such licenses, but the State Department had withheld the request and delayed action on it. Since 1940, the State Department, under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long, had been using a variety of tactics to limit the numbers of refugees who could enter the United States as immigrants. In this instance, however, officials at State were intentionally blocking information, such as Gerhard Riegner’s telegram with evidence of the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe (that was sent from Switzerland to the governments of Great Britain and the United States).
Word of the license delay leaked, and at a meeting in December 1943, Director Pehle brought the matter to the attention of Secretary Morgenthau. Morgenthau contacted the State Department to request copies of crucial cables but was refused. As a result, he requested that his staff prepare a thorough report on their findings. The 18-page report was presented to the Secretary on January 13, 1944.
Morgenthau and his staff presented a final version to President Franklin Roosevelt on January 16. At that meeting they requested the creation of a separate government body to organize the rescue of European refugees. On January 22, the President issued Executive Order 9417 creating the War Refugee Board. The Board was comprised of the Secretaries of the Departments of State, War, and Treasury. John Pehle was named Executive Director.
In April 1943, the World Jewish Congress had asked the State Department for a license to use private funds to rescue Jews in France and Romania. The Foreign Funds Control Office at the Treasury Department had authority to issue such licenses, but the State Department had withheld the request and delayed action on it. Since 1940, the State Department, under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long, had been using a variety of tactics to limit the numbers of refugees who could enter the United States as immigrants. In this instance, however, officials at State were intentionally blocking information, such as Gerhard Riegner’s telegram with evidence of the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe (that was sent from Switzerland to the governments of Great Britain and the United States).
Word of the license delay leaked, and at a meeting in December 1943, Director Pehle brought the matter to the attention of Secretary Morgenthau. Morgenthau contacted the State Department to request copies of crucial cables but was refused. As a result, he requested that his staff prepare a thorough report on their findings. The 18-page report was presented to the Secretary on January 13, 1944.
Morgenthau and his staff presented a final version to President Franklin Roosevelt on January 16. At that meeting they requested the creation of a separate government body to organize the rescue of European refugees. On January 22, the President issued Executive Order 9417 creating the War Refugee Board. The Board was comprised of the Secretaries of the Departments of State, War, and Treasury. John Pehle was named Executive Director.
This primary source comes from the Collection FDR-MORGEN: Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Papers.
National Archives Identifier: 28277400
Full Citation: Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews; 1/13/1944; Volume 693, January 11 – January 13, 1944; Diaries of Henry Morgenthau, Jr., 4/27/1933 - 7/21/1945; Collection FDR-MORGEN: Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Papers; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/acquiescence-memo, April 24, 2025]Activities that use this document
- U.S. Policy and the Holocaust Refugee Crisis
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