FDR and the Jews
{{Short description|2013 book by Richard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman}}
{{italic title}}
FDR and the Jews is a 2013 book by Richard Breitman and Allan Lichtman examining the relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, and the Jews.{{Cite journal|last=Daniels|first=Roger|date=2014|title=FDR and the Jews by Richard Breitman, Allan J. Lichtman (review)|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/534462|journal=American Jewish History|volume=98|issue=1|pages=29–31|doi=10.1353/ajh.2014.0000|s2cid=159936833|issn=1086-3141|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Gurock|first=Jeffrey S.|date=April 2016|title=Richard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman. FDR and the Jews. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013. 433 pp.|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ajs-review/article/abs/richardbreitman-and-allan-jlichtman-fdr-and-the-jews-cambridge-ma-the-belknap-press-of-harvard-university-press-2013-433-pp/937345398C04594D4F7579D4D83ED9B9|journal=AJS Review|language=en|volume=40|issue=1|pages=204–206|doi=10.1017/S0364009416000325|s2cid=163211980|issn=0364-0094|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Puckett|first=Dan J.|date=2014-10-02|title=FDR and the Jews|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03612759.2014.903759|journal=History: Reviews of New Books|volume=42|issue=4|pages=123–124|doi=10.1080/03612759.2014.903759|s2cid=142757363|issn=0361-2759|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Herzstein|first=Robert E.|date=2014-04-01|title=FDR and the Jews, Richard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013), vi + 433 pp., illus., hardcover $29.95, electronic version available|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/hgs/dcu004|journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies|volume=28|issue=1|pages=126–129|doi=10.1093/hgs/dcu004|issn=8756-6583|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Fink|first=Carole|date=February 2014|title=FDR and the Jews. By Richard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman (Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 2013) 464 pp. $29.95|url=https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/JINH_r_00637|journal=The Journal of Interdisciplinary History|volume=44|issue=4|pages=562–564|doi=10.1162/jinh_r_00637|s2cid=141662252|issn=0022-1953|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Geoffrey S.|date=2014-01-02|title=Breitman, R. and Lichtman, A. J. (2013). FDR and the Jews|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09592296.2014.873619|journal=Diplomacy & Statecraft|volume=25|issue=1|pages=175–176|doi=10.1080/09592296.2014.873619|s2cid=155477042|issn=0959-2296|url-access=subscription}}
Critical reception
The book received mixed reviews from critics. David Oshinsky stated: "it [FDR and the Jews] is the most thoughtful entry into this scholarly minefield".{{Cite news |last=Oshinsky |first=David |author-link=David Oshinsky |date=5 April 2013 |title=. . . Congress Disposes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/books/review/fdr-and-the-jews-by-richard-breitman-and-allan-j-lichtman.html |access-date=2024-10-01 |work=The New York Times}} Kenneth Waltzer stated: "FDR and the Jews assesses the record scrupulously and well but does not probe the key actor's deepest thoughts or address the moral aspects of U.S. inaction".{{Cite journal |last=Waltzer |first=Kenneth |author-link=Kenneth Waltzer |date=2014 |title=Review of FDR and the Jews |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23784880 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=119 |issue=3 |pages=922–924 |doi=10.1093/ahr/119.3.922a |issn=0002-8762 |jstor=23784880 }} Bernard Lemelin of the Canadian Journal of History stated: "[t]hey acknowledge that the issue is complex, but they seem resigned to let others wade into that debate".{{Cite journal|last=Lemelin|first=Bernard|date=2016-06-01|title=FDR and the Jews, par Richard Breitman et Allan J. Lichtman|url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cjh.49.2.312|journal=Canadian Journal of History|volume=49|issue=2|pages=312–314|language=en|doi=10.3138/cjh.49.2.312|url-access=subscription}} Adrien Dallair of Jewish Political Studies Review stated "FDR and the Jews purports to offer a balanced view of the Roosevelt record with regard to The Holocaust. Instead, the authors have written an apologia".{{Cite journal|last=Dallair|first=Adrien|date=2013|title=Review of FDR and the Jews|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23611134|journal=Jewish Political Studies Review|volume=25|issue=1/2|pages=108–112|jstor=23611134|issn=0792-335X}} Trevor Burrows of Central European History stated: " FDR and the Jews stands as a valuable contribution to scholarship on both Roosevelt and The Holocaust, and the authors’ clear, concise, and well-supported argument will need to be taken into account by those who address related subjects in the future".{{Cite journal|last=Burrows|first=Trevor|date=2014|title=Review of FDR and the Jews|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5703/shofar.32.2.127|journal=Shofar|volume=32|issue=2|pages=127–129|jstor=10.5703/shofar.32.2.127|issn=0882-8539}} Francis R. Nicolsia stated: "They portray a consummate yet compassionate politician who in the end was neither a bystander nor a savior. Indeed, Breitman and Lichtman offer the reader a sober and balanced assessment of FDR's response to the Jewish catastrophe between 1933 and 1945".{{Cite journal|last=Auerbach|first=Jerold|date=2014-06-01|title=FDR and the Jews|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-014-9778-x|journal=Society|language=en|volume=51|issue=3|pages=298–301|doi=10.1007/s12115-014-9778-x|s2cid=153878508|issn=1936-4725|url-access=subscription}}
= Awards and accolades =
The book won the National Jewish Book Award in 2013.{{Cite web |date=2013 |title=FDR and the Jews {{!}} Jewish Book Council |url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/fdr-and-the-jews |access-date=2021-06-21 |website=www.jewishbookcouncil.org |language=en}} The book's basic information has been endorsed by Deborah Lipstadt.