Territorial Plans for Solving the Plight of Jewish Refugees, 1938-1943: The Alaska and Dominican Plans in Light of the American Jewish Press

Abstract

The plight of Jewish refugees in Europe due to persecution under the Nazi regime, as well as the strict immigration policies of Western countries, led to dozens of proposals to settle Jewish refugees in underdeveloped territories. This article discusses the response of the Jewish press in the United States to two refugee settlement programs in America: one in Alaska, a colony of the democratic United States, the second in the Dominican Republic led by the dictator Trujillo. A survey of the most prominent Jewish newspapers in English and Yiddish indicates that the accepted view of the alienation of Jewish organizations, especially the Zionist movement, to the programs is not accurate.

As long as the programs seemed realistic, the Jewish press was careful not to reject them. Total opposition arose only after Congress shelved the bill for developing settlement in Alaska and the San-Domingo Settlement Project vanished with the spread of war. Furthermore, resistance was mainly due to a realistic analysis of geographic, economic, and social reality in the settlements and its implications for the scope and pace of rescue. Apparently, American Jewish patriotism was a more important component of the Jewish institutions’ reservations regarding the Alaska program than the Zionist ideological component. Disappointment with the lack of national symbols in the discussed plans increased reservations even among territorialists.