What did the World Know?

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

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.

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

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

Telegram 354

• Issued in Feb. 1943

• State Department tried to shut down the channel through which it would receive information about the Jews

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

Other Sources of Nazi Atrocities

– Delivered 200 lectures in the U.S.• Were covered by newspapers

– Published a book, Story of a Secret State

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.

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”

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

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.

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

The American Response

• “What we did was little enough. It was late. Late and little, I would say.”

» John Pehle, War Refugee Board

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