As I examined the history of human rights in America, one name kept coming up again and again, Henry Morgenthau. It turns out that I was actually learning about three men, Henry Morgenthau Sr., Henry Morgenthau Jr. and Henry Morgenthau III, father, son and grandson respectively. All of them spoke with courage and together they advanced the cause of human rights for nearly a century.
Morgenthau Senior was a born in Germany and immigrated to the United States with his family when he was a child. He became a lawyer and established himself as a real estate investor in New York. Morgenthau contributed generously to Democrat Woodrow Wilson’s presidential campaign, and Wilson in turn appointed him as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, a position he held from 1913-1916.
World War I began in 1914 and the Ottomans were allied with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. British and French citizens had to leave, but the United States was technically neutral until they joined the war in 1917. Morgenthau thus witnessed unimaginable crimes against humanity as the Ottomans, under the cover of war, began the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians.
Morgenthau was anything but a silent witness. Though his country chose not to intervene, he helped establish the Committee on Armenian Atrocities (later called the Near East Relief). He also made sure the New York Times continued to report on the issue. Even today, Morgenthau’s testimonials provide proof of this genocide, though modern-day Turkey continues to deny the severity of Ottoman crimes against humanity.
Morgenthau’s son was also a prominent Democrat. As Secretary of the Treasury under Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was one of the primary architects of the New Deal, a key policy which helped many American citizens navigate through the Great Depression.
What is less well known is that in a time when anti-Semitism was socially acceptable, Morgenthau, who was Jewish, spoke out courageously as a member of Roosevelt’s cabinet. American industry, we need to remember, had no objection to funding Hitler’s reconstruction and remilitarization of Germany. Before the war, Morgenthau lobbied for safe refuge for European Jews, but was largely ignored. Even when Allied command became aware of the Final Solution, likely as early as 1942, they made the decision to do nothing about the slaughter of millions of Jewish people.
Morgenthau like his father, refused to remain quiet. Through his efforts, the War Refugee Board was finally established in early 1944. As a result, it is estimated that up to 200, 000 Jewish refugees were saved.
Henry Morgenthau III continued the family tradition of being a voice for the voiceless. He was a television producer, working for the prominent public television channel WGBH in Boston. In speaking of his father, Kramer Morgenthau said, he was inspired by “the whole concept of using television to educate and also tell stories of marginalized people in society.” As early as 1963, people like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin were interviewed on his programs. He also brought one of the first American television crews to South Africa to report on life under Apartheid.
In later interviews, Henry III discussed the impact conversations with his grandfather had on him as he too spoke out for recognition of the Armenian Genocide. It is significant to note that he was quite open about his views throughout the Cold War, a time when no Western country would question Turkey’s claim of innocence due to their geographic location of strategic importance.
Not all people entrusted with a position of influence will use it to be a voice for the voiceless. Fortunately for us all there are those who do.
The courage of three generations of Henry Morgenthau give testimony to the words of Armenian American writer Vera Nazarian, “The world is shaped by two things – stories told and the memories they leave behind.”
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