At what point during World War II did allies receive information on the attempted extermination of the Jews by the Third Reich? It is difficult to believe with active OSS, spy planes, European resistance groups and spies no one in the free world knew what was going on.
It is possible the information was suppressed at the highest levels to prevent pressure for a premature invasion. The D Day Landings assaulted with 24,000 troops. The invasion fleet comprised 6,939 vessels. After the beach heads were secured over 1 million allied troops were deployed into Western Europe. All these men, their supplies, trucks, artillery and tanks were staged in the UK prior. Had this attempt been made before preparations were complete it may have failed.
The Nazi leadership went to great lengths to hide the death camps, even to their own populace. Germans were told the Jews were being incarcerated in ghettos for their own safety after Krystallnacht; riots staged against Jews by SS troops in civilian clothing. They were then shipped by rail to camps primarily in Poland and other conquered nations to be disposed of out of sight.
As early as March 1942, reports of a Nazi plan to murder all the Jews – including details on methods, numbers, and locations – reached Allied and neutral leaders. The first is believed to be a dispatch from the Chilean consul in Prague that was written in November 1941 and obtained by British and American intelligence in March 1942. Information also came from the underground Jewish Socialist Bund party in the Warsaw ghetto in May; Gerhard Riegner’s cable from Switzerland in August; the eyewitness account of Polish underground courier Jan Karski in November; and the eyewitness accounts of 69 Polish Jews who reached Palestine in a civilian prisoner exchange between Germany and Britain in November. Jewish Virtual Library
Witold Pilecki was a Polish World War II cavalry officer, intelligence agent, and resistance leader. In September of 1940 he volunteered to be captured by German soldiers to infiltrate Auschwitz. While interred he set up resistance groups and sent messages to the Polish Home Army (Polish underground) via escapees.
As part of his duties, Pilecki secretly drew up reports and sent them to Home Army headquarters with the help of inmates that had been released or escapees. The first dispatch, delivered in October 1940, described the camp and the ongoing extermination of inmates via starvation and brutal punishments; it was used as the basis of a Home Army report on “The terror and lawlessness of the occupiers”. Further dispatches of Pilecki’s were likewise smuggled out by individuals who managed to escape from Auschwitz. The reports’ purpose may have been to get the Home Army command’s permission for ZOW to stage an uprising to liberate the camp; however, no such response came from the Home Army. Wikipedia
In 1943 Pilecki escaped with two inmates. They successfully linked up with resistance fighters and submitted Witold’s Report to the Polish Home Army. His report detailed the extermination of 8,000 Jews a day. The Witold Report was officially dismissed by allies, as were Soviet reports on the Holocaust, as propaganda.
Pilecki continued his resistance service after the war against the Soviet Bloc. He was arrested by Polish Communist officials when his cover had been blown. After a show trial he was executed on 25 May, 1948.
The more important question is; when did the Nazi leadership realize word of the Holocaust was reaching the outside world? The answer is difficult to discern. Where there spies that reported on the dispatches from Pilecki? The giant fascists, in late 1940 or early 1941, could easily have picked up on the buzz if one were to think about it.
Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941. The idea behind this assault was to secure the A-A Line thus defending Germany from future Soviet aggression. Until this time Germany was not at war with the Soviet Union, having made an agreement to divide Poland. The A-A line would also give the Nazis access to 88% of Soviet oil.
During the assault Hitler (and his god) sent Paulus’ 6th Army to capture Stalingrad. His subsequent defeat was the first turning point on the Eastern Front and led to the eventual capture of Berlin.
Quite possibly fear the world was discovering details about the Holocaust encouraged the Third Reich to proceed with Operation Barbarossa to secure more territory around the crimes.
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