I couldn’t find a really good document for today, February 22, 1944. There were lots of State Department reports, with such titles as “Spain,” “Portugal,” “Denmark,” “Palestine as a possible temporary place,” (which the shortest of all of the country reports), and “Anti-Semitic Action in Czechoslovakia” (a mere two sentences, which leads you to believe they were missing something there).
So I picked this one, which is a memo from the WRB’s Joseph Friedman to Governor Herbert Lehman, the director of UNRRA (which is only officially four months old). It’s remarkable the number of things in this memo that never actually happen. Refugees don’t evacuate Spain to North Africa for five more months, Hayes is incredibly obstinate and rejects nearly all WRB suggestions, including the appointment of Blickenstaff as their representative.
This is a good example of why historians (or anyone) can’t read one document and assume they’re getting the story. I could cite this in a paper as evidence of these things happening, but virtually nothing in this document happens the way Friedman wants. But in the context of all the other documents, this one reveals itself to be just wishful thinking.
