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Holocaust and Genocide Studies 2007 21(2):243-267; doi:10.1093/hgs/dcm038
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© Oxford University Press 2007; all rights reserved

Bureaucratic Response to Human Tragedy: American Consuls and the Jewish Plight in Vienna, 1938–1941

Melissa Jane Taylor

Office of the Historian, United States Department of State 1


  Abstract

In the period following the German annexation of Austria, the American consulate in Vienna found itself in the difficult position of responding to a refugee crisis while facing pressure from the Department of State to enforce restrictive immigration policies. Under the leadership of Consul General John Wiley, American consuls worked to maintain the letter of the law while providing as many qualified applicants as possible with immigration visas. Wiley's "middle ground" allowed consuls to fulfill their bureaucratic tasks and advance in their careers as Foreign Service officers while displaying compassion in their interactions with visa applicants. Despite frequent tensions between the Department of State and the Vienna consulate, and an institutional "mindset" that discouraged sensitivity to local conditions, American consuls consistently filled their visa quotas.


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