Thomas E. Gough: We must not turn our backs on refugees a second time
Today, as our nation is turning its back on Muslim refugees fleeing ISIL, one can only reflect on the horrors of WWII and the role our nation played in the slaughter of 6 million Jews.
After Kristallnacht, the “night of broken glass,” on Nov. 9, 1938, Jews throughout Germany sought safe haven from the wrath of the Nazi regime. But the Roosevelt administration turned its back. Roosevelt, himself, would have increased the quota from Germany, but Congress and the State Department would not bend and, in fact, made it more difficult to gain entrance. In his book “1944,” author Jay Winik explains that seeing the U.S. and other major powers were unwilling to take European Jews, Hitler determined the only solution to rid Europe of all Jews was his “final solution,” thus the death camps.
We must not let this happen again. As a member of the Modesto Jewish Community, I protest our country’s attempt to aid ISIL in the destruction of mainstream Islam and Christians in the Middle East. We cannot, and must not, tolerate genocide against any people. We are a country of immigrants, of people of all races and creeds, who came here to find refuge from terrorism.
Thomas E. Gough, Modesto
This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Thomas E. Gough: We must not turn our backs on refugees a second time."