Explore the links on this page to find out more about American responses to some of the events described in the Museum’s Permanent Exhibition, The Holocaust.
The Museum’s Permanent Exhibition The Holocaust spans three floors of the Museum building. The exhibition is divided into three parts: “Nazi Assault” (opening floor), “Final Solution” (middle floor), and “Last Chapter” (final floor). The narrative begins with images of death and destruction as witnessed by American soldiers during the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945. Most first-time visitors spend an average of two to three hours in this self-guided exhibition. Recommended for visitors 11 years of age and older.
Between 1933 and 1945 the United States government, American organizations and institutions, and private individuals responded in a wide variety of ways to the news of Nazi persecution, the refugee problem, and the events leading up to and including the Holocaust. Explore the links on this page to find out more about American responses.
Library Bibliography
Bibliography: The United States and the Holocaust »
Holocaust Encyclopedia Article
The United States and the Holocaust »
On the day of book burnings in Germany, massive crowds march from New York’s Madison Square Garden to protest Nazi oppression and anti-Jewish persecution. New York City, United States, May 10, 1933.
National Archives and Records Administration / USHMM #69040
Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings »
This cartoon, The Modern Mercury, by Jerry Doyle appeared in The Philadelphia Record, December 7, 1935.
Provided by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
The Nazi Olympics, Berlin 1936 »
The Movement to Boycott the Berlin Olympics of 1936 »
Pro-Nazi German American Bund rally at Madison Square Garden. New York, United States, February 20, 1939.
Courtesy of the University of Southern California
The American Jewish Congress holds an emergency session following the Nazi rise to power and subsequent anti-Jewish measures. United States, May 1933.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum #89752
View of the “No help, no haven, 1938” display on the opening floor of the Permanent Exhibition, The Holocaust.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum #N02383
Emigration and the Evian Conference »
German Jewish Refugees, 1933–1939 »
Gerda Blachmann was a passenger aboard the St. Louis.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Aerial photograph of the Auschwitz III (Monowitz) camp, which was adjacent to the I.G. Farben plant. The photograph was taken following U.S. bombing missions. Poland, January 14, 1945.
National Archives and Records Administration / USHMM #91364
While touring the newly liberated Ohrdruf camp, General Dwight Eisenhower and other high ranking U.S. Army officers view the bodies of prisoners who were killed during the evacuation of Ohrdruf. Ohrdruf, Germany, April 12, 1945.
National Archives and Records Administration / USHMM #04649
The United States Army Signal Corps »
World War II Liberation Photography: Learning About Photographs You May Have in your Home »
Refugees crowd the deck of a U.S. army transport carrying nearly 1,000 Jews from Europe to the United States. The refugees will be sheltered at Fort Ontario near Oswego, New York. Atlantic Ocean, August 1944.
Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Butler Library, Columbia University / USHMM #60047
United States Policy Toward Jewish Refugees, 1941–1952 »
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and Refugee Aid »
Varian Fry in Marseilles. France, 1940-1941.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum #01230
Raoul Wallenberg and the Rescue of Jews in Budapest »
The International Military Tribunal was a court convened jointly by the victorious Allied governments. Here the Soviet, British, American, and French flags hang behind the judges’ bench.
National Archives and Records Administration / USHMM #61332
International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg »
US Army Trials in Postwar Germany »
The Doctors Trial: The Medical Case of the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings »
