And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler' s armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies. If they knew, we thought surely those leaders would have moved heaven and earth to intervene they would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction. They would have bombed the railways leading to Birkenau, just the railways, just once And now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the Pentagon knew, the State Department knew. and the illustrio us occupa nt of the white House then, who was a great leader --and i say it with some anguish and pa in, because today is exactly 54 years marking his death-- Franklin Delano roosevelt died on April the 12th, 1945. So he is very much present to me and to us. No doubt he was a great leader. He mobilized the American people and the world, going into battle bringing hundreds and thousands of valiant and brave soldiers in America to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler. And so many of the young people fell in battle. And, nevertheless, his image in Jew ish history --I must say it --his image in Jewish history is flawed The depressing tale of the st, Louis is a case in point. Sixty years ago, its human cargo-- nearly 1, 000 Jews --was turned back to Nazi Germany. And that happened after the Kristallnacht, after the first state sponsored pogrom, with hundreds of Jewish shops destroyed, synagogues burned, thousands of people put in concentration camps. And that ship which was already in the shores of the United States, was sent back. I dont understand. Roosevelt was a good man, with a heart He understood those who needed Why didn't he allow these ref ugees to disembark? A thousand people --in America, the great country, the greatest democracy the most generous of all new nations in modern history. What happened? I don' t understand Why the indif ference, on the highest level, to the suffering of the victims?And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the f ree world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler's armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies. If they knew, we thought, surely those leaders would have moved heaven and earth to intervene. They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction. They would have bombed the railways leading to Birkenau, just the railways, just once. And now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the Pentagon knew, the State Department knew. And the illustrious occupant of the White House then, who was a great leader -- and I say it with some anguish and pain, because, today is exactly 54 years marking his death -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April the 12th, 1945. So he is very much present to me and to us. No doubt, he was a great leader. He mobilized the American people and the world, going into battle, bringing hundreds and thousands of valiant and brave soldiers in America to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler. And so many of the young people fell in battle. And, nevertheless, his image in Jewish history -- I must say it -- his image in Jewish history is flawed. The depressing tale of the St. Louis is a case in point. Sixty years ago, its human cargo -- nearly 1,000 Jews -- was turned back to Nazi Germany. And that happened af ter the Kristallnacht, af ter the first state sponsored pogrom, with hundreds of Jewish shops destroyed, synagogues burned, thousands of people put in concentration camps. And that ship, which was already in the shores of the United States, was sent back. I don't understand. Roosevelt was a good man, with a heart. He understood those who needed help. Why didn't he allow these refugees to disembark? A thousand people -- in America, the great country, the greatest democracy, the most generous of all new nations in modern history. What happened? I don't understand. Why the indif ference, on the highest level, to the suffering of the victims?