Draft Statement by the President on Kristallnacht
11/15/1938
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Nazi violence against German Jews escalated on November 9, 1938, when gangs of stormtroopers rampaged throughout the country destroying synagogues and breaking windows of Jewish business and homes. When the officially sanctioned violence — which became known as Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") — finally ended, nearly 100 German Jews were dead and 30,000 men sent to concentration camps.
President Roosevelt drafted this statement expressing his outrage at Kristallnacht and recalling the American ambassador to Germany. The changes and additions are in the President’s handwriting. He read the statement at his November 15th press conference. Kristallnacht failed to change the politics of immigration, and no increase in quotas was proposed in Congress. But FDR did take executive action, ordering the indefinite extension of the temporary visas held by several thousand German Jews already in the United States. “If the Congress takes no action, these unfortunate people will be allowed to stay in this country,” FDR declared. “I cannot, in any decent humanity, throw them out.”
President Roosevelt drafted this statement expressing his outrage at Kristallnacht and recalling the American ambassador to Germany. The changes and additions are in the President’s handwriting. He read the statement at his November 15th press conference. Kristallnacht failed to change the politics of immigration, and no increase in quotas was proposed in Congress. But FDR did take executive action, ordering the indefinite extension of the temporary visas held by several thousand German Jews already in the United States. “If the Congress takes no action, these unfortunate people will be allowed to stay in this country,” FDR declared. “I cannot, in any decent humanity, throw them out.”
This primary source comes from the Collection FDR-FDRPSF: President's Secretary's File (Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration).
National Archives Identifier: 16618463
Full Citation: Draft Statement by the President on Kristallnacht; 11/15/1938; Germany, 1933-1938; Diplomatic Correspondence, 1933–1945; Collection FDR-FDRPSF: President's Secretary's File (Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration); Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/draft-statement-fdr-kristallnacht, October 9, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.