Executive Order Establishing a War Refugee Board
1/22/1944
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Add only page 1 to activity:
Add only page 2 to activity:
President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9417 during World War II, creating the War Refugee Board. The Board's job was to coordinate governmental and private efforts to rescue those who could still be saved from the Holocaust. FDR declared it to be the policy of the U.S. Government "to take all measures within its power to rescue the victims of enemy oppression who are in imminent danger and otherwise to afford such victims all possible relief and assistance consistent with the successful prosecution of the war."
The War Refugee Board was comprised of the Secretaries of the Departments of State, War, and Treasury. The Order instructed those departments to execute all requests and facilitate all measures the Board might take in furtherance of its mission. The creation of the Board was prompted when President Roosevelt learned from Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. that the State Department had been obstructing rescue efforts.
The War Refugee Board was comprised of the Secretaries of the Departments of State, War, and Treasury. The Order instructed those departments to execute all requests and facilitate all measures the Board might take in furtherance of its mission. The creation of the Board was prompted when President Roosevelt learned from Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. that the State Department had been obstructing rescue efforts.
This primary source comes from the Ira Hirschmann Papers.
Full Citation: Executive Order No. 9417 Establishing a War Refugee Board; 1/22/1944; Executive Order No 9417 Establishing a War Refugee Board, January 22, 1944; Ira Hirschmann Papers; Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/executive-order-9417, September 15, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.