The National Catholic Welfare Conference's Efforts to Assist Non-Aryan Christians Threatened by the Nuremberg Laws, 1935–1940

Founded in 1920, the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC) Bureau of Immigration assisted Catholic immigrants arriving in the United States. After the passage of Nazi Germany's 1935 racial directives—the Nuremberg Laws—which targeted non-Aryans including Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs, the German hierarchy requested assistance from the American bishops. As non-Aryans, including some Catholics, fled Germany, the American bishops responded by creating an ad hoc Committee for Catholic Refugees from Germany to provide direct assistance and to collect and disburse funds. When the German refugee crisis widened, the structure remained the same as the bureau played a prominent role in contacting those in various parts of Europe affected by the refugee crisis. The example of the bureau shows that U.S. Catholics provided an important if overlooked network of assistance that can help inform the present discussion on the role of the Church in responding to the Nazi regime.