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Why did many countries refuse to accept large numbers of Jewish refugees in the late 1930s?

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Antisemitism demonstration in Paris — antisemitism Demonstrators protesting antisemitism during a silent march in Paris. The march commemorated Mireille Knoll, a Jewish woman who had survived the Holocaust and was murdered in her home on March 23, 2018, in what authorities called a hate crime.

In the late 1930s, many countries were unwilling to accept large numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany due to a combination of economic instability, restrictive immigration policies, and pervasive antisemitism.12

The global Great Depression played a significant role, as nations feared that an influx of immigrants would exacerbate domestic unemployment and compete for scarce jobs. In the United States, for example, Congress maintained strict immigration quotas throughout the decade, refusing to liberalize laws even as the humanitarian crisis intensified. Similarly, when the MS St. Louis sought refuge in Cuba, the United States, and Canada in 1939, it was denied entry by all three, partly due to these rigid legal frameworks and economic anxieties.23

Furthermore, prejudice often fueled these rejections. In some regions, antisemitic sentiment led to the spread of xenophobic rumors—such as claims that refugees were criminals or communists—which were sometimes encouraged by Nazi propaganda to discourage host countries from providing asylum. Ultimately, international efforts like the 1938 Évian Conference failed to produce meaningful results, as most nations remained unwilling to commit to significant resettlement.21