Having researched the unsuccessful struggle of the world community to find homes for the hundreds of thousands of Jews trying to flee Hitler’s Europe, I am as horrified as anyone by today’s scenes of refugees crammed onto unsafe boats and huddled in crowded camps.

Much in the current tragedy evokes that previous refugee crisis: the hardened, bureaucratic attitude of immigration officials, the willingness of individuals, and even some countries, to profit from other people’s misery by promising them passage in unseaworthy vessels or unventilated trucks or to unwelcoming ports.

Likewise, we see then and now government leaders’ appeal to populist fears of refugees of different religions, cultures and backgrounds, and the failure of any one country or international body to take a lead in finding a solution.

The New York Times