re: "...In fact, there remains much about Reagan in Hollywood that has gone unreported. Recovering that information is not only valuable for history’s sake, but also in understanding what motivated this actor who became president. There was much more to Reagan in Hollywood than “Bedtime for Bonzo.”...[snip]...Reagan spoke on behalf of the “DPs,” the Displaced Persons. A daily headline in 1947, the DPs were initially survivors of World War II fascism, mainly from Germany, Italy, and Austria, and were primarily persecuted Jews. Once the war ended, the designated list of DPs widened to 1.5 million individuals escaping Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe./The DPs were held in camps, at large cost to the United States. Soviet officials outrageously claimed that the United States was holding the DPs as a source of slave labor — a charge dismissed by Eleanor Roosevelt, who was intimately involved in the issue, as “utterly untrue.” Moscow insisted the DPs be forcibly transported to areas under Soviet control. Secretary of State George Marshall adamantly rejected the demand./A bill was introduced by Congressman William Stratton (R-IL) to permit entry of 400,000 DPs into the United States-a lifeboat. Yet, the legislation faced stiff opposition, which Reagan resisted. “There are some people who would rather bury the Stratton bill … and thus bury the DPs in a mass grave,” protested Reagan. “They would be burying Protestants, Catholics, and Jews alike.”/On May 7, 1947, Reagan released a SAG statement urging passage of the Stratton bill. It was his first campaign against the Kremlin..."...
hat tip: Brothers Judd
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