Which is the more effective way to fight antisemitism – focusing on attacks against Jews in particular, or broadening the response to encompass a wide range of aggrieved minority groups?
This question was dramatized in the recent controversy over whether the US Congress should specifically condemn the anti-Jewish "dual loyalty" accusations expressed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), or denounce bigotry in all its various forms.
But this debate is not new; 75 years ago this spring, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was confronted by a similar dilemma.
In early 1944, officials of the War Refugee Board began urging President Roosevelt to publicly warn civilians in Axis-occupied countries not to take part in atrocities against the Jews. The board was a small, underfunded US government agency that was belatedly established after strong pressure on FDR by Congress and Jewish rescue advocates. The board's leaders believed that a presidential declaration threatening consequences for anti-Jewish acts could deter potential Nazi collaborators.
