Contemporary reactions to the holocaust- Holocaust key knowledge

what are the two main phases of time where people knew about the holocaust

1) pre war context 1933-39

2) systematic murder 1941-1945

what were the main events that the allies were aware of during the first phase

1933 anti-jewish boycott, 1935 nuremberg laws, vaguely knew of the existence of concentration camps but weren’t aware of the extent

statistic to support ally disapproval of jewish treatment in germany

1938 Gallup Poll- 94% of americans disapproved, however only 21% supported increasing immigration quotas to accommodate the refugees

what was the primary failure to respond to the refugee crisis, list failures

• the 1938 Evian conference; countries in attendance did not agree to relax immigration restrictions

• nazis capitalised on this claiming that ‘nobody wants them’

what were some of the first things learned about the holocaust starting in 1941

• british SIGINT intercepting German info about the actions of the einsatzgruppen

• 1942 Reigner telegram, warned of nazi planned extermination

• 1942 Raczynski’s Note; detailed reported presented by allies to international community. Detailed the extermination jews in occupied Poland, also contained Jan Karski’s notes from his underground work in the ghettos

what was the key report exposing the death camps

Urba-Wetzler report 1944- from the Auschwitz escapees, confirmed the mass murder. Although, it is though that they already had considerable knowledge of this through intelligence sources

what was the major failure in ally response in attempt to address persecution

Bermuda conference 1943; due to intense public pressure. No meaningful rescue missions could be possible due to agreements on not to push each other to make major concessions, eg. shifting immigration status.

what were the two successes to come out of the Bermuda conference in 1943

• agreed to move refugees from spain to another refugee camp in north africa in order to make space for more refugees

• revival of the intergovernmental committee for refugees

what was the reasoning behind the allied policy of rescue towards the jews

mentality of “rescue through victory”, they saw this as the fastest and most effective

what was international jewish response to allies approach

the 1943 rabbi march, petitioning for a rescue mission

what was the main change in continuity for ally rescue policy

establishment of the war refugee board 1944-45, specifically dedicated to rescue mission of jews. Saved around 200,000 and authorised around $11 million in humanitarian aid.

why were the actions of the war refugee board so important, other than its rescue successes

showed that rescue missions run by allies were feasible, with next to nothing in economic and war diversion, they were able to achieve this

what was the Vatican’s reaction to the holocaust

• pope XII remained silent, which was often seen as a form of complicity

• by 1942, vatican undoubtedly aware of the systematic murder

• vague reference to the genocide in the 1942 christmas broadcast

• vatican refused to join the allied declaration of condemning jewish persecution in the 1942 address

reasons behind vatican reactions

• did not want to further endanger christians and jews

• the vatican could not intervene in politics

what is seen as one of the largest failures in contemporary reactions, details

• role of the ICRC

• didn’t extend their services to the jews

• failed to take risk

what was the role of press in contemporary reactions

• extremely under reported, public perceptions of the holocaust heavily reliant on media presentation of events

• britain and america had similar press coverage

stats for holocaust reporting

• holocaust stories appeared in NYT front cover 26 times, with only 6 identifying jews as primary victims

• during war 66% of americans still described germans as “peace loving and kindly”

reasons for press undercoverage

• did not want to provoke international antisemitism

• wanted to prioritise focus on the war effort

what was the main coverage on the holocaust

• BBC had high press coverage on dec 1942 declaration