Final answer:
President Roosevelt's response to the Holocaust and Jewish refugees during World War II was lackluster, as he did little to aid them and maintained restrictive immigration policies.
Step-by-step explanation:
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's response to the Holocaust and his actions during World War II were complex. While he publicly spoke out against Nazi persecution and withdrew the American ambassador to Germany after Kristallnacht, he did little to aid Jewish refugees seeking asylum in the United States.
Roosevelt's administration maintained restrictive immigration quotas and refused to support bills that would have allowed more refugees, including children, to enter the country. When the German ship St. Louis, carrying over a hundred Jewish refugees, sought permission to land in the United States, Roosevelt remained silent and the ship eventually had to return to Europe.
Ultimately, Roosevelt's reluctance to intervene more forcefully in the face of Nazi aggression and his administration's isolationist policies at the time shocked and disappointed many observers, including Elie Wiesel.