Book Three

A HOMELAND FOR THE JUST

            The Holocaust concerning Palestine and the licensing

            problem and anti-Semitism in the State Department

            during World War II

 

       To assist in the rescuing of the Jews in Europe, Roosevelt and the WEJ see that the establishment of a homeland for the Jews in Palestine is a necessity. He not only condones the use of violence to attain this end, but also subscribes to elaborate schemes to bribe Arab leaders, specifically King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, in order to realize the formation of a Jewish State.

       Also in defiance of Assistant Secretary of State, Breckinridge Long, and his colleagues at the State Department who attempt to thwart Roosevelt's Palestine policies and European rescue plans, Roosevelt simultaneously initiates and supports the covert transfer of "Joint" and US funds to Joint and WEJ contacts in Europe to save, ransom, or assist Jews anywhere even if the funds fall into enemy hands as bribes or pad Nazi bank accounts. He agrees with the WEJ to violate US law and by-pass his anti-Semitic State Department. It is Henry Morgenthau and his boys at the Treasury Department who compile data and evidence that Long and his people are anti-Semitic and are intentionally blocking Roosevelt's Palestine policies and the licensing and transfer of funds to Europe. They submit a secret report to Roosevelt entitled PERSONAL REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT ON THE ACQUIESCENCE OF THIS GOVERNMENT IN THE MURDER OF THE JEWS, JANUARY 16, 1944, which documents State's anti-Semitic activities and, if made public, would inflict a severe blow to the Roosevelt administration particularly during a presidential election year. Within days of its presentation to Roosevelt, this report leads to the formation of Roosevelt's War Refugee Board and to its overt public mission to save European Jewry.

 

                           -- Leo V. Kanawada, Jr.

The Holocaust Diaries: Book III

A Homeland For The JustBy Leo V. Kanawada, Jr.

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Leo V. Kanawada, Jr.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-5796-5

Chapter One

SPRING 1943 WASHINGTON, D.C. TREASURY DEPARTMENT

I just couldn't find that comfortable spot on my pillow or that position between the sheets that would satisfy my weary legs and my ice-cold toes, or my gangly, pliant arms or my palpitating chest or my growling stomach. As usual, I blamed my sleeplessness on the coffee, but I knew all along it was really Leland Harrison's cable from our legation in Berne, Switzerland, to the State Department that got to me.

Earlier in the evening just after I had finished my dinner, Rabbi Stephen Wise called. Stephen was one of Franklin's closest confidants, a member of our WEJ, and the head of the American Jewish Congress. He wanted to know if the bastards – that was his term, not mine, for Long and his boys over at State – if they had bothered to send me a copy of Harrison's cable of April 20. He had received a copy at lunchtime, but he said that his was sent directly from Gerhart Riegner, his representative in Geneva.

"That's today," I snapped. "They probably won't send – "

"Yeah. So?" he said with a cutting edge to his voice.

"Stephen, it's only –"

Annoyed, he clamored, "You watch, Henry. Those sonsabitches will never let it surface. Not in a million years. Thank God for the Boss and the WEJ. Where would we be without him? If we had to count on State to rescue our people, or to open Palestine, or to set up camps in North Africa, they'd all be six feet under by now.

"Riegner, as you know, is really saying that Saly Mayer, our Mister Joint in Geneva, could use some funds, and that he needs them now, mainly for our people in southern France in the Italian zone, but also for Romania. By hook or crook, he'll get the cash, there's no doubt about that. Saly'll get it from friends in France or Switzerland or Romania or from Schwartz because Schwartz and the Boss have seen to it. Guaranteed it. Joint funds will back his financial arrangements one way or another, or the funds will cross the Atlantic with or without State's blessing."

"Stephen, I –"

"Call me when – and I'm not upset with you, Henry. You know me. You know that. I just wish we could force State to play ball with us or, if not, just cut them loose to sail adrift on the Potomac and out its mouth into the clutches of the open sea."

And Stephen was right. I waited and waited, and waited some more for a copy of Harrison's cable from State. However, no contact. One week, one month. Nothing.

Finally, on May 25, Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles – also a member of our clandestined WEJ – called me from State to ask, "I've got this telegram here from Harrison, from Riegner, dated April 20, 1943. Why hasn't Treasury, why haven't you signed on to it yet?"

Welles tried to be serious, but being the gentleman he was, that proved difficult. He said Riegner wanted six hundred thousand dollars to save one hundred thousand Jews, and asked me why I hadn't allowed a license to be sent over to him yet.

Then, he started. Are you anti-Semitic, he said, are you afraid that some American coins may find their way into Heinrich Himmler's back pockets, are you opposed to trading with the enemy to save even one of your lancemen, are you a stickler for obeying the letter of American law when millions of lives are at stake, are you –"

"Having trouble polishing offyour indictment of me, Sumner? Want me to help you out?"

He laughed even longer than I did.

"Wise guy. Always the wise guy," I said. "Long and his boys just spit in our faces, don't they, Sumner? They have no inclination or desire whatsoever to cooperate with us. Not even for one iota of a second, not even for just a brief moment in time, do they?"

"No, I'm afraid not, Henry. Actually, if it weren't for Feis, I'd have never seen the cable.

"According to Feis, it seems like the directive I signed – the cable I unwittingly signed for Hull, number 354, back in February – was cited on the cable. On the cover note. Feis thinks my 354 is probably buried somewhere in Long's files. He says the directive even forbids me from receiving such cables from Riegner. Me! Can you fathom that one? When we contact Leland, we'll set him straight on this absurdity."

Absentmindedly, I said, "Who's Feis?"

JANUARY 13, 1943 GEORGETOWN, BRECKINRIDGE LONG'S HOME

"Welles wants to be Secretary of State. Everyone knows it, but we can't allow it. I won't allow it. I've worked on Hull for too long now for that position, and I won't have that Jew-lover take it away from me," Breckinridge Long scowled in a most uncommon, most undiplomatic manner. A reddish blush, usually reserved for a teenager fifty years his junior, consumed his face. With his right hand, he brushed away a long, wavy lock of white hair that had just fallen over his eyes. Then, he put his glasses back on.

His boys at State knew he loved his country. They also knew he followed the letter of the law – to a fault, actually. No bending allowed. No hint of impropriety. Straight arrow. The ideal State Department career officer. And to become Secretary of State was his overriding passion.

Not like Welles, not like "that man" in the White House, not like "Henny Penny". Long saw politics getting in the way of the laws of the land. And now, getting in the way of the war effort. Maybe even getting in the way of defeating Hitler, of prolonging the war and, if they had their way, probably ushering in another costly war, only this time in the Middle East. And on whose side would we be forced to be on? The Jews of Palestine, of course. And at what cost? The loss of America's future, the loss of our allies, our future oil supply, our Arab friends, our greatness. He would not let this happen. They would not let it happen.

This hastily called meeting at his Georgetown townhouse brought together all of his friends. James C. Dunn, a political relations adviser; Ray Atherton, John D. Hickerson, Elbridge Durbrow, Wallace Murray, and R. Borden Reams, all from the Division of European Affairs.

"I'm serious, gentlemen," Long said.

They were all serious – that was their nature. They believed that, after the war, Hull would become President and they would follow him to the White House. Roosevelt needed him, too, but didn't like to push him. Hull kept the Protestant South in the Democratic Party, and the Senate would accept almost anything he proposed. After all, the State Department was Cordell Hull, and they wanted to keep it that way.

However, they now surmised that their leader, their department, their views were being challenged, were being usurped, were being overridden, were being countermanded, by the WEJ, a closely-knit group loyal to "that man" in the White House.

"You know," Long said, "that Welles thinks Cordell is a do-nothing secretary. He has said on several occasions that Hull thinks a successful man is one who can sit on a fence and have a foot touching firm ground on either side – that everything is going along successfully as long as nothing is being done."

"If doing nothing means following the laws and regs of our country, then, God Bless our do-nothing Secretary," said Murray.

Reams and Atherton clapped their hands. The others smiled in agreement.

"The problem we face and the main reason for this meeting, gentlemen, is that Welles works for the White House. He is one of them, not one of us," Long said. "He tells all to Roosevelt, does all for Roosevelt, tells all to Wise and all the other kikes – sorry – Jewish leaders, and does all for them, tells all to Henny Penny, does all for Henny Penny." He stopped to take a breath.

"That group, gentlemen – plus Churchill, I may add – has become the other State Department. The new `Company', the new `Corporation', the new `Firm', the new `Foggy Bottom'. And their meeting place is in the bottom, the bottom of the White House. His basement, Franklin's Map Room."

"They want Cordell and all of us to take the heat for them, for the Jews. America's Wailing Wall – the United States Department of State. Old Foggy Bottom," Long said.

"FDR's Buffer Zone," Reams added.

"Gentlemen, we have to keep the sensational, unsubstantiated reports from Europe about Jews from getting into Wise's hands or into Welles's hands. We have to check them out first. We have a good track record of trying to help Jewish refugees but, let's face it, any massive rescue effort is useless until Hitler cries uncle," said Durbrow.

"When those Jew groups come here, don't they understand the fucking legal restraints under which we operate? Don't they know the laws forbidding trading with the enemy, forbidding financial transactions, forbidding negotiations?" Atherton interjected. "Don't they know we have to be careful about who comes into our country, who might be German agents? Don't they worry about anti-Semitism if we favor just Jewish immigrants? That really hurts their cause."

"Palestine's the biggest problem," said Murray. "Any statement by Roosevelt about opposing the British White Paper or favoring increased immigration there or calling for a Jewish homeland or commonwealth or state pisses off the Arabs. Jews just don't realize that such statements could lead to war in Palestine. They also hurt their own cause."

"What's more, Wallace, is that our Arab friends could tell our oil companies to take a hike, turn our oil supplies over to the Brits and wouldn't the Britslove that. And then, wha to four future, what of the war effort? Wouldn't the Germans love to exploit it? I can hear the German propaganda machine now – the Jew Deal is for real," said Dunn.

... Notes written by Herbert Feis, found in the legal folder containing Morgenthau's papers and diary

* * *

FEBRUARY 10, 1943 THE STATE DEPARTMENT, BRECKINRIDGE LONG'S OFFICE

This time they were really annoyed. Portraits of hate were etched on their faces. The "Patriots" at State – Dunn, Atherton, Hickerson, Durbrow, Murray, Long, and Hull – they now called themselves. All except Hull were present. Long was in charge and relayed the Secretary's demands.

"Since these reports and rumors come out of Weizmann's mouth and out of the department's pipeline, they are viewed as gospel truth," Breckinridge Long lectured. "We've got to put a halt to that. Simply put, we can't verify them, we don't know if they are exaggerated, we don't know the authors of them, we don't know if they are German or Jewish propaganda. Damnit, we don't know shit and yet we are looked upon as being officially responsible for the information contained in them."

"It's Wise who's the problem, isn't it?" querried Durbrow.

"It's Wise and his Jewish friends and their Jewish groups here in this country and in Europe that are the problem," Atherton added.

"Add the Boss and Welles to that list, Ray," said Murray.

"Yes. You're all right and wrong," Long interjected. "To get these Jew sympathizers off of our backs here at State, Cordell and I have decided to go after the source. Riegner and particularly Harrison in Berne, Switzerland."

They all listened intently. "We drafted a telegram to Harrison, basically telling him to stop sending reports to private persons in the United States. Here, have a look." Long gave each one a copy. "Take a minute to read it."

Telegram 354, February 10 Your 482, January 21

'In the future we would suggest that you do not accept reports submitted to you to be transmitted to private persons in the United States unless such action is advisable because of extroadinary circumstances. Such private messages circumvent neutral countries' censorship and it is felt that by sending them we risk the possibility that steps would necessarily be taken by the neutral countries to curtail or forbid our means of communication for confidential official matter.'

Murray finished first. "That should keep Harrison quiet. I like it. We'll see the reports first, we'll determine who gets them – if anyone – and we'll say which reports go public and which get shredded."

"I like it, too, mainly because it puts control over these messages where it belongs – here in our hands, not the hands of Roosevelt's eyes and ears in Europe, our Mister Leland Harrison," Dunn added.

Each had a favorable comment. "May I suggest one little addition to our diabolical scheme. It'll really secure Harrison's compliance," Atherton offered.

"Okay," Long said.

"Get Welles to sign it for Hull. Over the Secretary's name."

"Excellent," Dunn said. "We'll just include it in his reading file along with other cables for his signature. He'll just sign it in a routine manner with the other department telegrams."

"It's a pleasure to see all great 'Patriot' minds think alike," Long concluded, giving the original telegram to Dunn. "Do it."

... Notes written by Herbert Feis, found in the legal folder containing the papers and diary of Henry Morgenthau

Chapter Two

I knew Bernard Meltzer, though. He was like a mole for our WEJ in the State Department, in the foreign financial section. Apparently, he was a close friend of Dr. Feis.

Herbert Feis, I later discovered from Welles, was State's adviser on economic affairs and an exceptional economist in his own right. He and Welles would often have lunch together which, of course, tells you what Breckinridge Long and his cohorts thought of him.

It was Meltzer who showed Feis the April 20 cable that came from Harrison and the buck slip attached to it from Long. The slip specifically reminded Secretry of State Cordell Hull that the not-yet-formed Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, established as a result of the Bermuda Conference and slated to be headquartered in London, would be the proper authority and the proper organization to "look into this matter" that Riegner cited in France and Romania.

Great, I growled. No wonder its called a "buck slip".

So thanks to Meltzer and Feis and Sumner, we were able to confirm Riegner's plea and to illustrate for Franklin just how Long and friends intended to deal with the plight of European Jewry. A quiet soft-shoe would become their daily dance, a shuffle-off to London. The Intergovernmental Committee would become State's new depository for anything Jewish.

Long's laundry list of taboos on the "buck slip" was nothing more than more of the same time-worn, diplomatic jibe about the Joint, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and its mission of shipping funds to our WEJ contacts in Europe – it would make funds available to the enemy, it would involve payments to enemy officials which would be in the nature of ransom payments, it would make private US funds available to guarantee clandestine payments and activities for the relief of Jews, and so on.

I cringed and heard myself say facetiously, of course, "One day, such statements will no doubt reap for him a plethora of just rewards." In other words, one day they'll come back to bite him in the ass.

Meanwhile, Welles and I, and naturally with the Boss's consent, we immediately transmitted a cable to Harrison in Berne, Switzerland. We instructed him to contact Riegner and to ask him to provide in glorious detail all that he understood about the Romanian and French situations. And when completely knowledgeable and in possession of every conceivable fact, he was to cable Riegner's message and any future messages back to State regardless of any previous cable that told him not to do so.

Within a week or two, Harrison had dispatched Riegner's report to State. On the same day, Wise received, from Riegner himself, his own personal copy of the very same cable. However, it took not one month, but two months this time before State acknowledged that it had Harrison's cable in hand.

And even then on July 15, if we at Treasury hadn't pressured State to meet with us to discuss the Riegner proposal, it, too, might have been shuffled off to the ICR in London and never seen the light of day.

As we expected, State had opted to stonewall it on Riegner's cry for financial assistance. For over three months, they had successfully suppressed the cable, purposefully buried it from our view, and by mid-July, the clock was still ticking in their favor.

MARCH 1943 THE STATE DEPARTMENT

"It looks like the Boss has Henny Penny doing his dirty work," said Robert B. Reams, one of the State Department's Foreign Service Officers and expert on European refugees. And one of Breck's boys. He and Long sat next to each other in Long's office behind Long's desk. The rest of the boys – Brandt, Dunn, Atherton, Murray, and Durbrow – occupied the couches and chairs throughout the room. Dunn shut the drapes before he sat down. Brandt locked the door.

"So what's up, Bob?" asked Brandt, as he sat on the hassock next to the couch.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Holocaust Diaries: Book IIIby Leo V. Kanawada, Jr. Copyright © 2010 by Leo V. Kanawada, Jr.. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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