Press Photograph of Cordell Hull Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Authors

Object ID

2019.2.198

Object Name

Photograph

Date

6-14-1939

Files

Content Warning

The Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection consists of images, documents, and artifacts related to the Holocaust. The collection contains materials that depict a number of topics that may be difficult for viewers to engage with, including: antisemitic descriptions, caricatures, and representation of Jewish people; Nazi imagery and ideology; descriptions and images of German ghettos; graphic images of the violence of the Holocaust; and the creation of the State of Israel. For more information, see our policy page.

Description

Black and white photograph of man in hat (Cordell Hull) talking in front of five other men, all looking down to write. Back of photo includes “International News Photos, Washington D.C. June 14th ‘39

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Cordell Hull before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, June 14, 1939, nine days after meeting with Morgenthau regarding the SS St. Louis refugees.

Cordell Hull was Secretary of State under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in facilitating the creation of the United Nations. He was also instrumental in refusing any action that might have helped Jews persecuted by the Nazis.

When Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. recommended that passengers aboard the refugee ship SS St. Louis be allowed to debark with temporary tourist visas, Hull rejected the idea, citing the technicality that the passengers had no return address thus consigning them to the fate of having to return to Europe where many would be murdered by the Nazis. When French and German government officials complained about the rescue activities of Varian Fry, Hull demanded that Fry return stateside immediately. When Fry refused, Hull had his passport revoked. Indeed, Eleanor Roosevelt had to circumvent Hull to help Jews board the Portuguese ship SS Quanza and receive visas. Roosevelt’s State Department under Hull and his assistant Breckenridge Long ensured that saving Jews being slowly crushed under the Nazi boot would not be a priority. Many more Jews were allowed to perish who could have been rescued.

Dimensions

8 x 10"

Keywords

Cordell Hull, S.S. St. Louis, Immigration Quotas

Subcollection

Early

Recommended Citation

"Press Photograph of Cordell Hull Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee" (1939). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2019.2.198.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1833