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Boston Globe, MA
March 29 2005
Remembering a dark chapter in Turkish history
By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff | March 29, 2005
CAMBRIDGE -- Henry Morgenthau III sits in his living room, surrounded
by mementos of his family, and speaks of the great goal of his
grandfather's life: ''He wanted to think of himself as fully
American."
Morgenthau's immigrant grandfather, who served as US ambassador to
Turkey between 1913 and 1916, strived to establish the German-Jewish
Morgenthaus in the American aristocracy almost as assiduously as
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. strived to establish his Irish-Catholic family
in the American pantheon. The Morgenthaus acquired top-notch
educations, a grand home in the Hudson Valley near the Roosevelts,
and a seemingly permanent seat at the tables of power.
The Morgenthaus ascended the way most immigrants did, by
assimilation. Henry III still remembers his grandfather reciting
rhymes to try to rid himself of the last vestige of a German accent
-- his difficulty pronouncing the letters ''th." The first Henry
Morgenthau distanced himself from Zionism, fearful that it would
prompt suspicions of dual loyalties among American Jews.
But while assuming the posture of the Protestant Yankee elites, the
Morgenthaus never forgot their shared ancestry with the refugees,
displaced peoples, and immigrants of the world. That is why they
occupy a unique niche among America's self-made aristocracy: Both
Henry Morgenthau Sr. and his son Henry Morgenthau Jr. are heroes to
millions overseas for trying to intervene in the first two genocides
of the 20th century, the Turkish slaughter of Armenians in 1915 and
the Nazi extermination of European Jews.
In the United States, the recent growth of Holocaust studies has cast
a new spotlight on the accomplishments of both men, especially Henry
Morgenthau Sr. As the 90th anniversary of the date marking the
Armenian genocide arrives next month, Armenian-Americans will be
quoting from the diplomatic cables sent back by Ambassador Morgenthau
as proof of slaughters of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks
that the Turkish government has yet to acknowledge.
In a book written in 1918, Morgenthau sought to separate the killings
of Armenians from past forms of civil strife, writing of ''the
massacre of a nation" long before the term genocide was invented.
Collecting eyewitness accounts from US consuls at various locations
in the Ottoman Empire, which then included Palestine and Armenia,
Morgenthau warned of an unceasing campaign of murder by Turks.
''The cables that were sent back and forth were very alarming -- a
graphic, florid description of what was going on -- and the State
Department's response was just to let him go it alone," explained
Henry Morgenthau III.
Henry Morgenthau Sr. never wanted to be ambassador to Turkey, which
was then the segregated Jewish seat of the diplomatic corps. He had
higher ambitions.
Morgenthau had attached his hopes to Woodrow Wilson when the New
Jersey governor was a long-shot presidential candidate in 1912.
Morgenthau, who had made his fortune on Wall Street, chaired Wilson's
campaign finance committee. As a reward, Morgenthau expected nothing
less than a Cabinet post -- but Wilson did not come through. Instead,
according to Henry III, Wilson urged Morgenthau to take the post in
Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, as a way of helping ''your
people."
Morgenthau did get to help Jews -- funneling American contributions
to help rescue Jews in Palestine from starvation -- but his greatest
contribution was calling attention to the plight of the Armenians.
After serving as ambassador for three years, he went on to found the
largest private relief organization for surviving Armenians.
By 1932, when he began raising money for the first presidential run
of New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ambassador Morgenthau's
ambitions had been channeled into his son, Henry Jr.
Roosevelt named the younger Morgenthau to be secretary of the
treasury, a post he held for 11 years, during which time he was
instrumental in financing the military buildup during World War II.
But Henry Morgenthau Jr. was also the leading voice calling attention
to the systematic killing of Jews, when the State Department refused
to highlight the issue. Morgenthau had his Treasury staff research
their own report on the Holocaust, declaring ''the acquiescence of
this government in the murder of the Jews." Without State Department
approval, he used his personal friendship with Roosevelt to prod the
president to take action.
Roosevelt eventually pressured Hungary to halt any transfers of Jews
to the Nazis, saving 200,000 people, but he did not heed Morgenthau's
pleas to bomb Auschwitz. Henry Morgenthau Jr. went on to help
establish Israel, serving as chairman of the United Jewish Appeal,
among other posts.
Later generations of immigrants, holding close to their ethnic and
religious identities, came to view assimilation with suspicion, as
though those who aspired to Ivy League pedigrees, Dutchess County
addresses, and fancy New York men's clubs were merely trying to
disappear into another culture.
The Morgenthaus disprove that theory. In fact, they were far more
marked by their religion because they traveled in Protestant circles,
and their values were strengthened for being challenged every day.
Henry Morgenthau III, who was close to both his father and
grandfather, became a public-television pioneer, producing a series
called ''Prospects of Mankind" featuring his mother's good friend,
Eleanor Roosevelt. Now in his late 80s, Morgenthau has become the
family historian.
His younger brother Robert Morgenthau is the legendary Manhattan
district attorney, most noteworthy in recent years for refusing to
seek the death penalty, even where allowed under state law, because
he believes it is unfairly applied. Now, on the 90th anniversary of
the Armenian genocide, Henry Morgenthau III is still pressing his
grandfather's cause, urging the Turks to acknowledge the massacres.
''Ninety years after the 1915 genocide, there are no living
individuals who can be held responsible," Morgenthau said. ''But from
the standpoint of both nations, Armenia and Turkey, it would be not
only the right thing but a satisfying thing for those people to
achieve healing."
Peter S. Canellos is the Globe's Washington bureau chief. National
Perspective is his weekly analysis of events in the capital and
beyond.
March 29 2005
Remembering a dark chapter in Turkish history
By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff | March 29, 2005
CAMBRIDGE -- Henry Morgenthau III sits in his living room, surrounded
by mementos of his family, and speaks of the great goal of his
grandfather's life: ''He wanted to think of himself as fully
American."
Morgenthau's immigrant grandfather, who served as US ambassador to
Turkey between 1913 and 1916, strived to establish the German-Jewish
Morgenthaus in the American aristocracy almost as assiduously as
Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. strived to establish his Irish-Catholic family
in the American pantheon. The Morgenthaus acquired top-notch
educations, a grand home in the Hudson Valley near the Roosevelts,
and a seemingly permanent seat at the tables of power.
The Morgenthaus ascended the way most immigrants did, by
assimilation. Henry III still remembers his grandfather reciting
rhymes to try to rid himself of the last vestige of a German accent
-- his difficulty pronouncing the letters ''th." The first Henry
Morgenthau distanced himself from Zionism, fearful that it would
prompt suspicions of dual loyalties among American Jews.
But while assuming the posture of the Protestant Yankee elites, the
Morgenthaus never forgot their shared ancestry with the refugees,
displaced peoples, and immigrants of the world. That is why they
occupy a unique niche among America's self-made aristocracy: Both
Henry Morgenthau Sr. and his son Henry Morgenthau Jr. are heroes to
millions overseas for trying to intervene in the first two genocides
of the 20th century, the Turkish slaughter of Armenians in 1915 and
the Nazi extermination of European Jews.
In the United States, the recent growth of Holocaust studies has cast
a new spotlight on the accomplishments of both men, especially Henry
Morgenthau Sr. As the 90th anniversary of the date marking the
Armenian genocide arrives next month, Armenian-Americans will be
quoting from the diplomatic cables sent back by Ambassador Morgenthau
as proof of slaughters of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks
that the Turkish government has yet to acknowledge.
In a book written in 1918, Morgenthau sought to separate the killings
of Armenians from past forms of civil strife, writing of ''the
massacre of a nation" long before the term genocide was invented.
Collecting eyewitness accounts from US consuls at various locations
in the Ottoman Empire, which then included Palestine and Armenia,
Morgenthau warned of an unceasing campaign of murder by Turks.
''The cables that were sent back and forth were very alarming -- a
graphic, florid description of what was going on -- and the State
Department's response was just to let him go it alone," explained
Henry Morgenthau III.
Henry Morgenthau Sr. never wanted to be ambassador to Turkey, which
was then the segregated Jewish seat of the diplomatic corps. He had
higher ambitions.
Morgenthau had attached his hopes to Woodrow Wilson when the New
Jersey governor was a long-shot presidential candidate in 1912.
Morgenthau, who had made his fortune on Wall Street, chaired Wilson's
campaign finance committee. As a reward, Morgenthau expected nothing
less than a Cabinet post -- but Wilson did not come through. Instead,
according to Henry III, Wilson urged Morgenthau to take the post in
Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, as a way of helping ''your
people."
Morgenthau did get to help Jews -- funneling American contributions
to help rescue Jews in Palestine from starvation -- but his greatest
contribution was calling attention to the plight of the Armenians.
After serving as ambassador for three years, he went on to found the
largest private relief organization for surviving Armenians.
By 1932, when he began raising money for the first presidential run
of New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ambassador Morgenthau's
ambitions had been channeled into his son, Henry Jr.
Roosevelt named the younger Morgenthau to be secretary of the
treasury, a post he held for 11 years, during which time he was
instrumental in financing the military buildup during World War II.
But Henry Morgenthau Jr. was also the leading voice calling attention
to the systematic killing of Jews, when the State Department refused
to highlight the issue. Morgenthau had his Treasury staff research
their own report on the Holocaust, declaring ''the acquiescence of
this government in the murder of the Jews." Without State Department
approval, he used his personal friendship with Roosevelt to prod the
president to take action.
Roosevelt eventually pressured Hungary to halt any transfers of Jews
to the Nazis, saving 200,000 people, but he did not heed Morgenthau's
pleas to bomb Auschwitz. Henry Morgenthau Jr. went on to help
establish Israel, serving as chairman of the United Jewish Appeal,
among other posts.
Later generations of immigrants, holding close to their ethnic and
religious identities, came to view assimilation with suspicion, as
though those who aspired to Ivy League pedigrees, Dutchess County
addresses, and fancy New York men's clubs were merely trying to
disappear into another culture.
The Morgenthaus disprove that theory. In fact, they were far more
marked by their religion because they traveled in Protestant circles,
and their values were strengthened for being challenged every day.
Henry Morgenthau III, who was close to both his father and
grandfather, became a public-television pioneer, producing a series
called ''Prospects of Mankind" featuring his mother's good friend,
Eleanor Roosevelt. Now in his late 80s, Morgenthau has become the
family historian.
His younger brother Robert Morgenthau is the legendary Manhattan
district attorney, most noteworthy in recent years for refusing to
seek the death penalty, even where allowed under state law, because
he believes it is unfairly applied. Now, on the 90th anniversary of
the Armenian genocide, Henry Morgenthau III is still pressing his
grandfather's cause, urging the Turks to acknowledge the massacres.
''Ninety years after the 1915 genocide, there are no living
individuals who can be held responsible," Morgenthau said. ''But from
the standpoint of both nations, Armenia and Turkey, it would be not
only the right thing but a satisfying thing for those people to
achieve healing."
Peter S. Canellos is the Globe's Washington bureau chief. National
Perspective is his weekly analysis of events in the capital and
beyond.