slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Did Lyndon Johnson get Jews out of Europe before/during WW II?

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/operation-texas

By Brent Cooper, Trial and appellate counsel for Cooper & Scully (1993–present) Feb 2

He did. But is something we never read about. It has been overshadowed by the Vietnam War. His efforts were due in large part to religious training from his grandfather and support from the Austin Jewish community. He ended up saving 400–500 Jews from Europe.

LBJ first became involved through Jim Novy, a wealthy leader of Austin's Jewish community and a Johnson friend. Novy planned a trip to Palestine to celebrate his son David's Bar Mitzvah and his own twenty-fifth anniversary in America. The two also planned to visit Poland and Germany and spend time with relatives that Jim had not seen since he left Europe.

When Jim Novy returned home, he received a letter from Berlin's Ernst Israel Rychtwalski addressed to the "Jewish Relief As sociation. Austin, U.S.A." No such organization existed, but a post office worker sent it to Novy who listened to the man's appeal. He was writing on behalf of Adel and Fanny Gontschar, a Jewish mother and daughter who lived in Berlin. Rychtwalski asked Novy to help them get out of Germany before the N**is crushed them. Novy's concern for Jews such as the Gontshars meshed with LBJs continuing concern. Working together, Novy and LBJ arranged for the Gontshars to make a sudden dash out of Germany, destination, Texas.

The situation in Europe continued to deteriorate. By 1939, LBJ had become more and more distressed about the precarious position of European Jews. Although it was not common knowledge that the N**is intended to exterminate millions of Jews, Johnson believed that it was only a matter of time before the Holocaust would begin. He knew of the international rejection of Jewish refugee ships. including rejection by the FDR and the United States. LBJ also knew of England's policy of thwarting Jewish migration to Palestine. Unwilling to stand by while N**is murdered the "People of the Book:' Johnson met with Jewish leaders and said simply, "we must do something to get Jews out of Europe

So Operation Texas was expanded. Using methods. sometimes legal and sometimes not so legal, and using cash supplied by wealthy benefactors such as Jim Novy, Johnson smuggled hundreds of Jews into Texas, using Galveston as the entry port. Money bought false passports and visas in Cuba, Mexico, and other Latin American countries.

As LBJ smuggled Jews into Texas. he gave them new names and hid them in the Texas National Youth Administration (NYA) a New Deal agency he had once headed in Texas. Johnson's task was made easier because his longtime friend, Jesse Kellum, directed the NYA in Texas. Although most of the Texas NYA records were later lost or destroyed, Morris Shapiro. Jim Novy's son-in-law, and other sources. verified that many Jews were routed through the state's NYA. Although it was illegal to harbor and train non-citizens in the NYA programs. the refugees were housed at various sites scattered around the state. Novy reimbursed the NYA for all expenses, including room-and- board for the trainees. He also covered the cost of classes for those who did not speak English and for vocational training so refugees could "blend" into American society.

Johnson channeled many men into NYA welding schools since welders were in high demand during the war preparedness campaign of 1940-1941 and then in the war itself. He also took advantage of his close relationship with President Franklin Roosevelt. Although Johnson became the first congressmen to enlist in the service after Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt called him home and put him charge of the Navy's shipbuilding personnel. In that capacity. Johnson made sure that "his" refugees were hired. Other Jews that he aided worked in a strange assortment of jobs, including liquor stores. carnivals, and janitors in schools. Jim Novy's son David estimated that Johnson and his father saved as many as four or five hundred Jews, possibly more.

The rescue efforts were offset by failures. With his wife Lilii. the physician Otto Lippmann escaped after the N**is revoked his license to practice medicine and he became a target of the Gestapo. Lippmann's mother, who lived in a Jewish ladie's home remained in Germany and he appealed to LBJ to help him get her out of Germany. Johnson worked for eighteen months to get her out, but was ultimately unsuccessful. "We tried everything:' Lippmann later recounted. Arrested before she could escape, Mrs. Lippmann was sent to a small death camp in Poland and executed. LBI also failed to save Herman Winter. Approached by Rabbi Abram Vossen Goodman on Winter's behalf, Johnson tried to extricate him. but the N**is arrested Winter before he could escape. Like Lippmann's mother, Winter also died in a concentration camp. Despite such set-backsl Operation Texas was for the most part successful.

vernon

If he did this,it was probably the only decent he ever did. Just remember he lied to get us in V Nam. Which ultimately K**led 50,000 of our guys.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I found this out just today, and was completely surprised by it. LBJ certainly had a wide range of pros and cons during his life and career. As stated, never having had previous knowledge, this caught me off guard.