What did the World Know?

1. What did the World Know?

2. Early Reports • Nov. 1941- newspapers in New York and London report that 52,000 Jews had been murdered by Nazis • Were always minor stories • Some argued they were sensationalized

3. How did the U.S. know? • Aug. 8, 1942- U.S. State Dept. and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise receive a secret cable from Dr. Gerhart Riegner, the World Jewish Congress representative in Bern, Switzerland • He received info from Eduard Schulte, a german industrialist who was the general manager of the Georg con Giesche Mining company • Would be more than a year before news released in U.S.

4. When was the decision to annihilate the Jews made? • Jan. 1942- the plan to annihilate the Jews was announced at the Wansee Conference • Spring 1942- death camps were opened

5. What happened to the telegram? • U.S. State department did not pass telegram on to Wise • Wise later learned about the telegram from British sources • Wise told not to make information public until it could be confirmed

6. Telegram 354 • Issued in Feb. 1943 • State Department tried to shut down the channel through which it would receive information about the Jews

7. Other Sources of Nazi Atrocities • Jan Karski- a secret courier for the Polish government-in-exile • Met with Jewish leaders in Warsaw • In London met with members of British war cabinet • In Washington met with Roosevelt and many department heads • Briefed prominent journalists

8. Other Sources of Nazi Atrocities • Delivered 200 lectures in the U.S. • Were covered by newspapers • Published a book, Story of a Secret State

9. When did the U.S. Act? • Months after Roosevelt met with Karski and a year and a half after the Riegner telegram, and only when President Roosevelt grasped the potential political consequences of inaction, did American policy change.

10. What caused Roosevelt to Act? • Jan. 13, 1944- Secretary of the Treasury, Morgenthau, received a memo from his general counsel, Randolph Paul, called “Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews”

11. What Caused Roosevelt to Act? • Memo was a result of a discovery by young Treasury Department lawyer, Josiah Debois • Charged the State Department with withholding information about the murder of the Jews

12. What Caused Roosevelt To Act? • Morgenthau, read the report and condensed it into another memo • “Personal Report to the President” • Morgenthau meets with Roosevelt and suggests a proposal for involving the U.S. in the rescue of Jews.

13. What Action Does Roosevelt Take? • Started the War Refugee Board • Tried to find a haven for Jews • Drew-up plans for postwar war-crime trials • Argued for the bombing of Auschwitz • Through Raoul Wallenberg, helped save perhaps 200,000 Jews

14. The American Response • “What we did was little enough. It was late. Late and little, I would say.” • John Pehle, War Refugee Board

15. Why didn’t the U.S Act sooner? • Anti-Semitism • Jews in U.S. were afraid of provoking their enemies if they protested too much • Believed the best way to end the Holocaust was to defeat Nazi Germany as quickly as possible • Inaccurate reports from World War I