John W. Pehle, a lawyer in the U.S. Department of Treasury, discovered that State Department policy hindered Jews from escaping the Nazi regime. Pehle wrote an internal memo for President Franklin Roosevelt that denounced the policy. One of the effects of his memo was the establishment of the War Refugee Board, which assisted Jews and other civilians fleeing the conflict in Europe. John J. McCloy was the assistant secretary of war; as such, he set policy and was instrumental in shaping American strategy against the Nazis. Pehle exchanged letters with McCloy regarding the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau. In these letters, Pehle urges McCloy to direct the military to act against the camps