Discussions of what happened during the war is missing the boat _literally_ – the boats that were available to at least some who wanted to leave troublesome Europe to almost any other place in the world, including goldene medinah and zionist Palestine. Beltzer Rebbe admitted after the war that he mislead people who relied on him, maybe some others also. In truth, it was not easy to predict the horrors, some like R Elhanan had a premonition. Poland as a whole, both non-Jews and Jews, felt very optimistic based on their victory in 1920 war against USSR, their strong cavalry, their flourishing democracy after a couple of century of being colonized by neighboring empires, and their alliances with major powers. Still, sober analysis could lead people to conclusion that living between Communists and Nazis is not an ideal place. The realities of 20th century were sinking in too slowly. Maybe if Yidden paid more attention to horrors of USSR (dismissed by some as excesses) and Nazi Germany (dismissed as happening to assimilated Jews only), they would react better.
Still, I wonder how many people in CR are descendants from those who left Europe and those who stayed. Show of hands?