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The Untold History of a World War II Bride

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The old adage that "history is written by the winners" ought to be expanded to "history is written by the male winners." The stories of women have long been denied legitimacy in the public sphere, and often live on only in the form of oral histories, lost with the last…

The old adage that "history is written by the winners" ought to be expanded to "history is written by the male winners." The stories of women have long been denied legitimacy in the public sphere, and often live on only in the form of oral histories, lost with the last breath of the last listener. The histories of war brides are among those most easily overlooked and forgotten as the triumphs and failures of their men in battle take precedence over their own stories of bravery and grief. As the generation of women who survived the horror of World War II is dying off, it is imperative that their passions, sorrows, and life lessons do not die with them. These women were left at home as their husbands went off to an uncertain future at war, many assuming numerous new duties in an effort to keep everything on the home front functioning. War brides have been documented as a wartime phenomena in the chapters of history, but they are confined to a label that limits the roles they play in history. These women married the men of America's "Greatest Generation," but were not deemed fit to belong to it themselves. Through the oral history of Ingrid Hoitzerouth Adamson, accompanied by the real life accounts of women in similar situations, a new light can be shed on what it means to be a war bride.

ContributorsAdamson, Jamie Lynn (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2015-05

French Jewish Emigration, the United States, and the Second World War

Description

At odds with the Axis powers in the Second World War, the American government
began the task of dealing with an influx of Europeans seeking refugee status stateside, even before the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. American interest in the global situation, nevertheless, did not officially begin after…

At odds with the Axis powers in the Second World War, the American government
began the task of dealing with an influx of Europeans seeking refugee status stateside, even before the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. American interest in the global situation, nevertheless, did not officially begin after the initial attack on the 7th of December. Before that date, the United States government had to address refugees seeking asylum from European countries. Often studied, German emigration to the United States at times took center stage in terms of the refugee situation after the Nazi regime enacted anti- Semitic legislation in Germany and its occupied nations, prior to the American declaration of war. France, however, had a crisis of its own after the Germans invaded in the summer of 1940, and the fall of France led to a large portion of France occupied by Germany and the formation of a new government in the non-occupied zone, the Vichy regime.
France had an extensive history of Jewish culture and citizenship culture prior to 1940, and xenophobia, especially common after the 1941 National Revolution in France, led to a “France for the French” mentality championed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, Chief of State of Vichy France. The need for the French Jewish population to seek emigration became a reality in the face of the collaborationist Vichy government and anti-Semitic statutes enacted in 1940 and 1941. French anti-Semitic policies and practices led many Jews to seek asylum in the United States, though American policy was divided between a small segment of government officials, politicians, individuals, and Jewish relief groups who wanted to aid European Jews, and a more powerful nativist faction, led by Breckenridge Long which did not support immigration. President Roosevelt, and the American government, fully aware of the situation of French Jews, did little concrete to aid their asylum in the United States.

ContributorsPalumbo, Alex Paul (Author) / Fuchs, Rachel G. (Thesis director) / Simpson, Brooks (Committee member) / Cardoza, Thomas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)

Created2014-05