The Patriot Post® · Ken Burns Revises Holocaust History

Award-winning, can-do-no-wrong documentarian Ken Burns recently released his latest PBS film, “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” Judging by the title, one would assume that this six-hour work would be an exploration of the Nazi genocide of Jews before and during World War II, and the U.S. reaction and response to it.

And one would be wrong.

Instead, the new Burns doc, which he made with longtime producing partner Lynn Novick, is a pointed attempt to rewrite American history, use the Holocaust as a cleverly timed PBS fundraiser, and draw a specious parallel to the current immigration crisis and the Left’s obsession with supposed American white nationalism.

An unvarnished, unbiased view of American history tells us that President Franklin Roosevelt was most certainly aware of the mass murder of Jews taking place in Europe. So were members of his administration and other government officials. Indeed, the lucky few Jews who escaped Europe and found their way to American shores told stories of the horrors they left behind. One million Jews died at the hands of Adolf Hitler’s killers before the U.S. even entered the war.

The historical record also reveals that Roosevelt was unconcerned with the plight of the Jews and was himself a full-fledged anti-Semite. He mused openly with staffers about immigration quotas to tightly control the number of Jews entering the U.S. and job quotas that would keep their participation in key occupations below a certain percentage.

In 1945, Roosevelt met with Saudi King Ibn Saud, himself an unrestrained anti-Semite, to discuss Palestine and the possible creation of a Jewish state. The king was, of course, vehemently against the idea, and Roosevelt assured Saud that he would not do anything to assist the Jews in settling in their homeland.

Not much is made of these facts in the Burns documentary, nor is Roosevelt’s uncomfortably chummy relationship with Josef Stalin, himself responsible for killing and persecuting more Jews than Hitler. Instead, Burns engages in some clever mental gymnastics in an effort to absolve the liberals’ beloved FDR of any guilt. Instead, other historical figures are blamed, as is the faceless American xenophobia/racism that is the favorite bogeyman of the Left.

Burns acts in the spirit of liberal academia and media by transforming the anti-Semitic Roosevelt into an unfortunate victim of circumstance. This biased, wholly fictional version of FDR would have us believe that he alone conquered the Great Depression and won the war through sheer force of will, but suddenly was powerless to do anything to help the Jews. They blame Congress, which is an accusation that falls flat since it was controlled by FDR’s Democrats. They blame the bureaucracy, which was also largely Roosevelt’s creation. They’ll blame anyone and anything to protect the standard-bearer of the modern American leftist movement because it also absolves them of their own anti-Semitism.

The Burns doc was originally conceived in 2015, but as it developed, its creators saw an opportunity to use it as a vehicle to indict the Right over Charlottesville, January 6, and the current unprecedented surge of illegal immigration, concern for which is labeled as right-wing xenophobia.

Transforming the story of the Holocaust into a screed linking border enforcement with white supremacy is both bad history and a diminishment of the actual event. As such, the Holocaust becomes a tool for pushing the modern leftist agenda.

The timing of the documentary is proof of this. Originally slated for early 2023, the release was pushed up to the Jewish High Holy Days for maximum PBS pledge drive exposure. It also happens to be just six weeks before the midterm elections. Count on it being used by the Left to argue for open borders and to portray anyone who speaks out against President Joe Biden’s disastrous border policy as a white supremacist.

An interview with Burns and Novick in the Hollywood Reporter also reveals some insight into the true motivations behind their work. Burns says at one point, “You don’t have to point arrows at this and say, ‘See, isn’t this just like that or this?’ but trust people to come to their own conclusions.”

It’s true that a documentarian doesn’t have to shove his viewers toward a specific conclusion. But “The U.S. and the Holocaust” does just that, and the conclusion is, predictably, pro-Left and anti-American.