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In April 1944, with the outcome of
World War II hanging in the balance,
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two Jewish prisoners lay hidden near
the outer fence
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of Auschwitz concentration camp.
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It was almost impossible to escape
from Auschwitz.
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00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:36,119
So many people were caught almost
immediately, and tortured
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and killed.
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The dogs didn't sniff them out,
because they put tobacco soaked
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in petrol around the hiding place.
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They managed to stay there
undetected for three days.
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On the 10th of April 1944, they
abandoned their hiding place
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and cut through the fence.
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They had to be audacious.
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They had to be brave.
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They escaped in order to warn the
world
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that Auschwitz was a killing
mechanism.
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Their eyewitness account of the mass
extermination of European Jews
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would lead to one of the greatest
moral questions of the 20th century.
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This killing complex can turn
several thousands of human beings
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into ash in just 24 hours.
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The failure to bomb Auschwitz...
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No-one gave a damn.
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They didn't care. They didn't want
to do it.
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Auschwitz should have had the most
outrageous response
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while it was happening.
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And that's a moral failure of the
West.
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Why was the greatest crime of modern
history allowed to proceed unimpeded
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for almost two years?
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A million Jews perished there by
gas.
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It wasn't because of lack of
evidence.
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Keep going, keep going...
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Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler fled
through Nazi-occupied Poland
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to the Slovakian town of Zilina,
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where they made contact with the
Jewish Underground.
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Slovakia is aligned with Nazi
Germany
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and it is the first country
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to voluntarily deport its Jews.
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Vrba and Wetzler made it to a safe
house.
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They were desperate to complete
their mission to let the world know
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00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,680
what was happening to Jews in
Poland.
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00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:28,279
The extermination of the Jews was
carried on in great secrecy.
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00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:29,719
It wasn't advertised.
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Therefore, until then, we had no
cogent
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or clear description of what went on
at Auschwitz.
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Oskar Krasnansky of the Jewish
Underground was sent to interview
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Vrba and Wetzler.
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My name is Krasnansky, from
Bratislava.
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How do I know you're not fantasists
wasting my time?
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Four, four, zero, seven, zero.
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I asked him, "Why have you put this
tattoo on your arm?"
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00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,119
And then he looked at me and he
said,
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"Where did you think I have been?
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"In a sanatorium?"
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And that's when he told me that he
has been to Auschwitz.
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Why are you tattooed on your arm and
you on your chest?
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The chest tattoos are imprinted with
huge brutality.
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Many people fainted.
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Is that why they started tattooing
people on their arms?
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No.
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No, they did that because the chest
tattoos faded too quickly.
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You must tell me everything.
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Every detail that you know about
Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:37,919
Yes.
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Auschwitz is a killing centre.
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Not here, not now.
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Separately.
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If you don't know who these men are,
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you want to interrogate them
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to make sure that they're not
telling you a bullshit story.
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Auschwitz is not a household name
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in early 1944.
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There's a lot of confusion over,
"What is this place?"
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00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,479
And so, at the beginning, people
just knew that Jews were being taken
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to Nazi-occupied Poland.
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The Polish Underground had managed
to smuggle some information
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00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:19,879
about the camp outside, but, on the
whole,
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00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,120
this information is fragmentary
and sometimes contradictory.
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Vrba and Wetzler's interrogation was
meticulously recorded,
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as in a court of law.
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How did you escape?
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Well, we kept to the forest,
travelling only by night.
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How long?
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It took us 11 days. No, no.
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00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,759
How long were you in Auschwitz?
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00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,600
I arrived there on the
30th of June 1942.
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00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,520
We've heard rumours that there is
gas.
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00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,879
That Jews are killed there by gas
machines,
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and by mass electrocution.
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When you look at the way he did it,
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the professionalism,
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it reflects that this was someone
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who knew the information he was
getting
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00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,720
was potentially a game-changer.
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The interview was done with the idea
of, "We might bring legal charges,
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00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,839
"and we are going to get nothing but
the facts."
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The, er...
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the perimeter wire is electrified.
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There are gas installations.
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Gas chambers.
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Go on.
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Four gas chambers with crematoria
for burning.
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00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,999
The first crematorium opened in
March 1943, when prominent guests
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from Berlin arrived to see the new
installation.
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That day, they were able to witness
8,000 Jews from Krakow
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00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,120
gassed and burned.
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00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:06,120
They were very pleased with that
result.
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00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:08,839
How do you know all this?
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00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,559
I worked as a registrar in the
Birkenau section of the camp.
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00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,719
My daily duties included registering
the survivors
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00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:17,279
of each transportation,
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meaning those who had survived the
train journey and had not,
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00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,159
on arrival at Auschwitz, been
selected for the gas.
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00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,519
Clerks can move around the different
sectors of the camp a little bit
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more freely than most other
prisoners.
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And, in this way, pick up
even-more-detailed information
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about what exactly is happening
there.
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I also got information about the
precise operation
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of the gas chambers and crematoria,
from one of the Sonderkommando.
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Sonderkommando?
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00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,080
You really know nothing, do you?
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00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:09,599
The prisoners in Auschwitz-Birkenau
who knew best what happened
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00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,039
at the gas chambers and the
crematoria, were the members
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00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:13,799
of the so-called Sonderkommando.
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These were prisoners who were forced
by the SS to assist in the killing
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00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,960
and cremation at the crematoria
itself.
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00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:32,079
Rudy and Freddy felt that they
needed to have facts
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that would convince people that this
really is happening.
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And it was their idea
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to write a report
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that could be distributed
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00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:43,880
and shown as evidence.
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Vrba and Wetzler wanted to include
as much granular evidence
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as they could in that report,
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and that included some drawings.
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00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,599
Auschwitz is a massive place and it
builds up over time
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00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:04,839
and in different ways.
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00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,720
So, the first camp is Auschwitz I,
which opens in 1940.
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00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:12,839
Later, they add Birkenau, a few
miles away,
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00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,640
which is where the gas chambers and
the crematorium are located.
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00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,159
This is an approximate sketch of the
dark heart
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00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,799
of Auschwitz's main camp and
Birkenau.
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00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,399
This is one of the gas chambers and
crematoria that the SS
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constructed in Birkenau.
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00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:39,399
It's striking how much Vrba and
Wetzler got right
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about the layout of the camp,
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the mechanics of mass extermination
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and even down to the names of
individual prisoners.
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00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,799
At the end of January, a large
convoy of French and Dutch Jews
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arrived at Auschwitz.
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But only a small proportion of those
reached the camp.
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00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:06,279
What happened to the rest of them?
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00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,999
They went straight from the trains
to the gas chambers.
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Did you see these the selections
yourself?
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00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:13,159
Yes.
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00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,719
I belonged to a work command that
took me to a place called
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00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:19,679
"the ramp" which is where the trains
came in, sometimes one a day,
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sometimes five, sometimes through
the night.
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My job was to deal with the personal
property of those Jews
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who'd been selected for the gas, and
to collect any dead bodies
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00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:30,480
from the cattle carts.
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00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,599
He sees how Jews are
forced off the trains.
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He sees how they have to line up.
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00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,919
He sees how the SS selects them and
sends those
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00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,199
deemed to be weak and ill and not
fit for work
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00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:51,880
towards the gas chambers.
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00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:56,759
And this really gives Vrba a direct
insight,
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he becomes an eyewitness of the
Holocaust.
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00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,679
Women, children, old people, people
they considered unfit,
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00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:05,359
sent straight to the gas chambers.
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00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,599
The fittest were separated out and
kept for labour.
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00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,559
How many? It varied.
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00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:13,600
A small percentage, 5 or 10%.
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All this was done with force?
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Sometimes, but usually without.
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These people had no idea where they
were going.
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I want to emphasise this.
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A train would pull in,
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and those getting off would have no
conception of what had just happened
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00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,320
to those who'd arrived a few hours
before.
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They were describing the details of
genocide.
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How was it done?
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You are asking people to believe
something that was literally
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beyond belief.
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00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,679
You can't put it into words.
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Numbness.
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00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:01,399
Fright, anger, fury.
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00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:03,040
Rage!
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00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,800
And then a feeling of...
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"Oh, my God."
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00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,240
And probably a sense of incredulity,
"Are these guys out of their mind?"
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00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,799
How did the SS deal with these
arrivals?
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00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:21,599
I told you already.
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00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,439
They were sent to the gas.
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00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,200
To the gas at Birkenau.
194
00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,520
Some of the groups would be
frightened and disorientated.
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00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:35,679
Others would be almost relieved,
196
00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,399
depending on how they'd been greeted
by the SS.
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00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,639
Sometimes they could be harsh,
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00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,119
using the sticks, dogs, lots of
shouting.
199
00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,879
Other times it would be, "How nice
that you have arrived.
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00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,039
"We are sorry it was not too
comfortable.
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00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,599
"Things will change now."
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00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,999
Vrba's testimony had a horrifying
climax.
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00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,119
The Nazis new plan for
Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,279
They are preparing for the
extermination
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00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:01,920
of the Hungarian Jews.
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00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:05,999
How do you know that?
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00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:07,999
That is why they have built the new
crematoria
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00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:09,479
and extended the ramp.
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00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:14,879
I said, how do you know the intent
to kill the Hungarian Jews?
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00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,719
- The SS. They talk.
- To you?
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00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:19,639
I am dirt.
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00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:21,239
To each other.
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00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:23,160
I heard it more than once.
214
00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,560
They would always take the best food
from the trains for themselves.
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00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,280
They had a cosmopolitan diet.
216
00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,799
I overheard one officer saying that
he was tired of Dutch cheese,
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00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,680
and looked forward to the arrival of
Hungarian salami.
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00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:48,440
Are you certain you heard this?
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00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:51,480
I have to ask.
220
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:53,959
Are you certain?
221
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:55,760
I heard it more than once.
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00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,080
It is why I knew I had to escape.
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00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:02,680
To warn people of what is to come.
224
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:11,599
Auschwitz becomes the centre of the
Holocaust and the catalyst for that
225
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:18,240
is the German invasion of Hungary in
March 1944.
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00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:28,039
Hungary had the largest mostly
intact Jewish community in Europe,
227
00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,360
and the persecution starts almost
immediately.
228
00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:36,480
On April 27th 1944, Vrba's warning
comes true.
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00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,560
The first 4,000 Jews were sent by
train from Hungary to Auschwitz.
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00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,879
It was a dress rehearsal for the
planned annihilation
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00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,160
of all 800,000.
232
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:54,479
I would argue that the Nazis are
losing the war and therefore
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00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:56,040
they're trying to win the genocide.
234
00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,599
The crime that was being committed
was so horrific, so unique,
235
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,160
so outrageous, so evil, so awful.
236
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,839
The Nazis kept their extermination
programme a closely guarded secret,
237
00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,440
to avoid resistance and disruption
on the trains.
238
00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,239
But it was no longer secret.
239
00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,239
Vrba and Wetzler's harrowing
testimony
240
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,680
was turned into a detailed report.
241
00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:25,600
The Auschwitz Protocol.
242
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,439
The Auschwitz Protocol is very
scientific.
243
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,919
There isn't a lot of emotion and I
think that was a deliberate
244
00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,479
choice on the part of the escapees.
245
00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,559
They weren't going to express their
horror.
246
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,200
The horror is there.
247
00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,239
Thanks to the Protocol, Jewish
activists in Slovakia
248
00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,080
learnt of the Nazis' plans for the
Hungarian Jews.
249
00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,680
So the duty to act was theirs.
250
00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:04,039
Everybody who worked as a courier
had to be prepared to lose
251
00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:05,879
their own life.
252
00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,879
They would have been tortured to
reveal where they'd gotten it.
253
00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,799
The last thing in the world Germany
wanted to happen
254
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:14,880
was that this information got out.
255
00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:36,079
In the first week of May 1944,
256
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,519
the Protocol reached
Michael Weissmandl,
257
00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,319
who worked secretly for the Jewish
Underground
258
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,040
in the Slovakian capital.
259
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,559
Rabbi Weissmandl was a very
passionate man.
260
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,480
He's in Slovakia to rescue people.
261
00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,440
His sole goal is to take care of his
community...
262
00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,400
and he does it with whatever means
he possibly can.
263
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,839
Weissmandl was not only among the
first to read these documents,
264
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,560
but he was the first to fully
believe these documents.
265
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,999
The Protocol had a devastating
effect on Weissmandl.
266
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,800
He had witnessed deportations.
267
00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:49,160
He now realised the full horror that
awaited those who had gone.
268
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,799
Getting the information was one part
of the task.
269
00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,480
Disseminating the information was
the other.
270
00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:02,640
It had to be done with great
secrecy.
271
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,359
Weissmandl is sending this report
everywhere he can think of.
272
00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:10,999
He's trying to get it to the
Jewish Agency in Jerusalem.
273
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,600
He's trying to get it to London,
hopefully to the United States.
274
00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,759
He's sending them all in the hopes
that one cry in the darkness
275
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:20,240
will be heard.
276
00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,239
Our bedroom door is knocked down
277
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,680
and two gendarmes are in our
bedroom...
278
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:39,999
yelling and screaming,
279
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,959
"You have two minutes to pack
a bundle.
280
00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:43,759
"We are taking you away."
281
00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:45,199
"Give up your jewellery.
282
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,199
"Give up anything you have in
possession."
283
00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,919
My father looked at us as though
he wanted to save this picture
284
00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:55,039
in his memory, of the family.
285
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,519
They said, "Get out of the house."
286
00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:00,480
And certainly this sentence...
287
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,399
"Just stay calm.
288
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,520
"Remember, calmness is strength."
289
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,800
And they hit him, pushed him through
the door and he was out.
290
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,079
The rabbi was an elderly gentleman
with a white beard.
291
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,679
He was made to walk in the front of
the columns.
292
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,120
He was symbolic. "The Jews are
leaving town."
293
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,479
In spring 1944,
294
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:28,799
the world had little knowledge
of what was happening
295
00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:30,879
to the Jews of Hungary.
296
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,839
Most were looking elsewhere, because
the war had reached
297
00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:35,280
a critical juncture.
298
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,359
What was going on at that very time
in the United States and Britain
299
00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:44,159
was the preparations for D-Day,
300
00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,639
which the total outcome of the war
depended on.
301
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,600
Now, this took precedence over
everything.
302
00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,679
The Pacific War was going on for the
Americans,
303
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:56,800
and that was an immense Herculean
effort.
304
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,079
They knew that as they moved closer
to Japan, the fight was going to get
305
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,439
harder and harder, because the
Japanese
306
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,480
were terrifically fierce fighters.
307
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,359
On the other side of Europe,
308
00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:12,920
the Soviet Army at the time was
working full steam.
309
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,719
Stalin basically destroyed the
entire German Army
310
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,319
in some of the greatest battles of
modern history.
311
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,879
While the Allies were focused
on the battlefront,
312
00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:28,680
the Protocol gained momentum.
313
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,359
Weissmandl's transmission reached
Roswell McClelland
314
00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,320
at the War Refugee Board in neutral
Switzerland.
315
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:48,719
Is this it?
316
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:52,039
The War Refugee Board was established
by Roosevelt in early 1944,
317
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,439
and it was the only body anywhere in
the world which specifically
318
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,640
had the task of rescuing Jews.
319
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:05,879
They were selected...
320
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:07,639
for gassing.
321
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:09,959
It gives the impression of the
antechamber
322
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:11,519
of a bathing establishment.
323
00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:13,359
It holds 2,000 people.
324
00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:15,599
From there, a door and a few steps
325
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,480
lead down into the very long and
narrow gas chamber.
326
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,319
Roswell McClelland had a very
personal reaction
327
00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:28,999
because he had gone to southern
France working with Jews
328
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,439
in internment camps in 1942,
329
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,079
and he knows intimately who these
people are.
330
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,039
He had watched them go to Auschwitz,
331
00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,360
and now he's reading about what
happened to them.
332
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,919
When Rabbi Weissmandl sent the
Protocol,
333
00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,479
he added a dramatic postscript.
334
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:54,680
It was an appeal for help but also a
rebuke for those who might refuse.
335
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,399
And you, our brothers in
all the free lands,
336
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,839
what are you doing about the
extermination
337
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,240
which swallows 10,000 every day?
338
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,040
For God's sake, do something now and
quickly.
339
00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,279
He turned the question of what to do
about the death camp
340
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,280
into one of the great moral issues
of the 20th century.
341
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,999
He demanded that the Allied air
forces bomb Auschwitz.
342
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,359
He was the first to do so.
343
00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:30,039
His call to bomb Auschwitz was
essentially a call of desperation
344
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:31,640
and a call of despair.
345
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,039
When people first hear about the
request of bombing of Auschwitz,
346
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,359
it's quite remarkable because they
are demanding
347
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,759
that they bomb a camp where their
own people
348
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,119
are being held prisoner?
349
00:22:46,120 --> 00:22:47,800
It seemed very strange.
350
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,799
Let's set the whole goddamn thing
aflame,
351
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:53,919
let's destroy the entire thing.
352
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,119
Then we have accomplished something
and we've done
353
00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:58,320
something enormously significant.
354
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:03,599
The clock was ticking.
355
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,640
McClelland sent a summary of the
Protocol to Washington.
356
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,559
Switzerland is completely surrounded
by Nazi territory.
357
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,959
You can't have a courier go in and
out.
358
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,719
So Roswell McClelland sends a cable
and said, "As soon as I can,
359
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,480
"you'll get the whole thing."
360
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,559
Since early summer 1942,
361
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,639
at least one and a half million
Jews have been killed.
362
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,719
There is evidence that from January
1944, preparations were being made
363
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:37,760
to receive and exterminate Hungarian
Jews in these camps.
364
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,039
For three days and three nights,
365
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,720
we were locked into that box.
366
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,839
Every morning we were travelling,
367
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:10,999
they opened those shutters
368
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,279
and they said,
"Throw out dead bodies."
369
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,199
With a tiny window for air
370
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:20,680
and one pail for bodily needs,
which...
371
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:23,720
turned out to be...
372
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:26,800
very, very...
373
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,839
embarrassing and unpleasant.
374
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,879
Something has always been going
around in my mind,
375
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:38,480
and I can't get rid of it and I feel
so ashamed.
376
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,440
Tell me, how can a 14-year-old
child...
377
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:52,760
hope people should die...
378
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,480
so he'll have room where to sit
down?
379
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,559
It was early in the morning that we
arrived.
380
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,919
The door opened and screams.
381
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,799
"Rasch! Rasch! Schnell! Schnell..."
382
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:20,039
And through the slits of the cart
that we were in,
383
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,200
I saw we were at Auschwitz. I didn't
have a clue what it was.
384
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:32,039
Nazi soldiers standing there with
rifles pointing at us,
385
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:38,599
others holding back snarling, big
dogs that were barking at us.
386
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,799
The first thing was - you breathe in
and there's a very strange smell.
387
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,440
It was, sort of, sweetish and
burning.
388
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,199
I thought, "It's a bakery,
389
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:51,840
"and they're baking bread."
390
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,839
And then I noticed that, to the
left, were people...
391
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:13,719
older and with glasses, and
children and women.
392
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,559
My mother...
393
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,200
my two little brothers...
394
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,239
and my baby in my mother's arm,
395
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,759
my grandfather, grandmother and my
aunt.
396
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,720
My mother went to the left.
397
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,079
With a flick of his hand to the
left,
398
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:30,919
they were walked off.
399
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:34,119
We didn't even have time to say
goodbye.
400
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:37,399
And that's when I saw my father the
last time.
401
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:38,880
He was 60 years old.
402
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:43,679
Roswell McClelland's cable
403
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,039
containing the summary of the
Auschwitz Protocol
404
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:50,239
and the plea to bomb the camp,
travelled from Switzerland
405
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,960
to the headquarters of the
War Refugee Board in Washington.
406
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,999
"It is urged by all sources of this
information in Slovakia
407
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,600
"and Hungary, that vital sections of
the rail lines be bombed.
408
00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:11,919
"They also urge that the camps of
Auschwitz and Birkenau,
409
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,119
"especially the gas chambers and
crematoriums,
410
00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,599
"recognisable by their high
chimneys,
411
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,280
"be bombed from the air."
412
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,199
The director of the War Refugee
Board was a lawyer
413
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:25,520
called John Pehle.
414
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,879
The decision about what to do with
this startling information
415
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:31,840
fell on his shoulders.
416
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:37,959
John Pehle was very measured, and he
was very diligent and dogged.
417
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:39,679
He is not cynical.
418
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,199
He really does believe that the
United States
419
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,319
can try to save people.
420
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,799
Would you please ask Dr Akzin to
step through to my office?
421
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,039
Oh, and hold all incoming calls
until he leaves.
422
00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:55,279
When people saw the level of detail
of this atrocity,
423
00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,799
they recognised that this was
something different.
424
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:01,960
This was something horrifying.
425
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:04,920
Ben.
426
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,040
I want you to take a look at this.
427
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:14,119
It's from Roswell McClelland.
428
00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:15,719
Owsahitz?
429
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,199
I think he means Auschwitz.
430
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,079
Benjamin Akzin is a lawyer.
431
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:24,239
He grew up in Latvia and was an
incredibly intelligent man.
432
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:25,679
He's Jewish.
433
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,279
He certainly still had family and
friends back in Europe.
434
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,880
He sees the War Refugee Board as a
place where he can do some good.
435
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:42,800
This is...
436
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:45,600
It's inconceivable?
437
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:49,319
Incredible?
438
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:50,840
Unbelievable?
439
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,680
125,000 a month?
440
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,200
You can go straight to the President
with this.
441
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:02,559
What's so funny?
442
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:04,319
It doesn't work that way, Ben.
443
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:06,199
There are procedures.
444
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:07,679
There are rules.
445
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,119
There are no rules for this, surely?
446
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:11,320
If it's true.
447
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,079
We have to be sure, that's all.
448
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,479
It's very easy for us these days to
close our eyes
449
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:20,079
and imagine Auschwitz.
450
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,439
We've seen photos, many of us may
have even visited Auschwitz.
451
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,799
And so it's really hard to
reconstruct how chaotic
452
00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,079
information about Auschwitz was.
453
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:29,920
There are eyewitnesses, two of them.
454
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:32,679
It is unusual, I grant.
455
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,639
It's unprecedented, John.
456
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:37,440
And Roswell McClelland seems to
think it's true.
457
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,319
That's quite something, isn't it?
458
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,080
It is.
459
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:46,919
Take a look at this.
460
00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:48,680
It came in with the cable.
461
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,879
It's a list of suggestions made by
Jewish groups
462
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:54,759
from Slovakia and Switzerland.
463
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:56,640
Fielded by Roswell.
464
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:04,559
There is a logic to it, isn't there?
465
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:05,960
I mean...
466
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:09,920
If you accept this, then...
467
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:13,920
it kind of follows that you must
do this.
468
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,000
You know, my first thought is
they're right.
469
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,239
We should bomb, send them some
airmail.
470
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:26,879
I don't think the response...
471
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,799
"Let's bomb this place, can we react
to this atrocity?"
472
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:33,999
...was at all unusual.
473
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,999
I think all of us would have liked
to have thought
474
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,279
that's exactly the response we would
have.
475
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,320
This thing, John, it speaks of
industrial slaughter.
476
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:51,799
For a lot of people, it was the
Protocol that changed their mind.
477
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,239
That, in order to stop this mass
killing, you had to take out
478
00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:57,239
the instrument of killing.
479
00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,399
And the only way to take out the
instrument of killing
480
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,399
was to bomb the camp.
481
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,640
You see, I don't recall ever reading
about...
482
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,039
or hearing about a proposal like
this one.
483
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,440
And I'm talking about in any war.
484
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,839
To bomb friendly civilians?
485
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,040
Civilians we're committed to
rescuing?
486
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:22,360
That's a moral leap into...
487
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,279
I don't know what it is.
488
00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:31,119
Pehle perceives that there's not
much that we can do.
489
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:33,799
The War Refugee Board is constantly
trying to get information
490
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,479
about what's going on in Europe, and
I think he sees this
491
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,800
as, as information but not
actionable intelligence.
492
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,039
I'll make the suggestions to
the War Department
493
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,479
but I know what they'll say.
494
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,160
It's a diversion.
495
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:59,079
On June 24th 1944, Pehle passed
the recommendations to bomb
496
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:01,679
up the chain of command to
John McCloy,
497
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,000
the Assistant Secretary of War.
498
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:09,639
But McCloy is not inclined to divert
resources from the war,
499
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,199
because the war was at such a
critical moment
500
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:13,800
at that point in time.
501
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,280
Allied forces had landed
successfully in France on D-Day.
502
00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:24,079
The supreme effort now was to drive
towards Germany,
503
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,879
reach Berlin, and force the
unconditional surrender
504
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:28,240
of the Nazis.
505
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,679
Round-the-clock bombing missions
against German cities,
506
00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,520
military and industrial targets,
were intensifying.
507
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,359
On the Eastern Front,
the Soviet Army was advancing
508
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,160
westwards towards Poland.
509
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:48,359
The focus is on winning the war.
510
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,799
We can't be diverted by Auschwitz.
511
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:56,879
No-one really grasps that this was
part of an effort to wipe out
512
00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:01,840
an entire people from one end of
Europe to the other, and beyond.
513
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:11,519
Once you understand that Jews are
being killed every day,
514
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,199
you can't go on with business as
usual,
515
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:18,039
you can't imagine not doing
something about it.
516
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:21,399
You can't say, "We shall win the war
and then we'll worry
517
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:22,880
"about the refugees."
518
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,519
This is the period in the whole
history of Auschwitz
519
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,519
where the killing reaches its
frenzied climax.
520
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:37,919
Never before have so many Jews been
killed so quickly
521
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:43,360
in Auschwitz-Birkenau as in the
period between May and July 1944.
522
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,719
437,402 Jews were shipped
523
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:54,279
primarily to Birkenau on 147 trains.
524
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:58,199
147 trains during 54 days meant
525
00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,999
an average of 2.7 trains a day,
526
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,480
an average of 2,975 Jews per train.
527
00:34:30,720 --> 00:34:32,839
I didn't know what a crematorium
was.
528
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,399
I didn't know what a gas chamber
was.
529
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,240
I didn't have a clue.
530
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:40,959
But we soon found out.
531
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,120
It didn't take us long to find out.
532
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:48,199
Somebody asked me, "Is your mother
with you?"
533
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:52,599
I said, "No, she, she went left.
534
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:56,439
"Probably with the older women now,
in another block."
535
00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:58,999
And we learned finally what
happened.
536
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,240
All those who went to the left...
537
00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:05,079
We didn't want to believe it.
538
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,479
And he said only this sentence,
539
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:10,799
"This way, she burned.
540
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:12,959
"She went through the chimney."
541
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,240
So we all look back at these
chimneys.
542
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:20,319
And I keep thinking, "How does a
person go through a chimney?"
543
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,720
What, they're going to burn my
mother? My brother?
544
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:26,199
I didn't believe it.
545
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,559
We were absolutely incredulous.
546
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:30,239
"It's not true, it's not true.
547
00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:31,719
"It can't be."
548
00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:35,040
We got to know next day that it is
true.
549
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,960
They were burning the families.
550
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,399
The Protocol may have stalled in
America,
551
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:49,560
but it reached the desk of Foreign
Secretary Anthony Eden in London.
552
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,839
The Jewish Agency representatives in
London,
553
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,519
Chaim Weizmann and Moshe Shertok,
554
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:01,920
fixed an urgent meeting to make
their plea directly.
555
00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:09,759
Chaim Weizmann was the president of
the World Zionist Organisation,
556
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:14,959
and Weizmann understood very well
the situation of the Jews.
557
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:19,119
Moshe Shertok was later the second
Prime Minister of Israel.
558
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:22,439
And we think some kind of reprisal
needs to be considered,
559
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:26,439
something that will act as a
deterrence to Germany.
560
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,959
If the Auschwitz camp continues to
function as a killing centre,
561
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:31,360
then... You bomb.
562
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:37,919
The aim being to dislocate the
machinery of annihilation
563
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:42,039
and hope to save the remaining
300,000 Hungarian Jews
564
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:43,440
from extermination.
565
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:46,959
It's bold, it has imagination.
566
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:48,760
It may even work.
567
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:54,960
And Mr Churchill?
Also in favour, in principle.
568
00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,719
What we should need to do now is
examine its feasibility
569
00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:01,599
with the Air Ministry.
570
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,200
Yes. Yes, of course.
571
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,919
In a memo to Eden, Winston Churchill
wrote about Auschwitz,
572
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:16,839
"There is no doubt that this is
probably the greatest and most
573
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:21,080
"horrible crime ever committed in
the whole history of the world."
574
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:26,399
Churchill's instincts are genuine.
575
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:30,319
He was one of the first to
recognise the full gravity
576
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,240
of what had been going on.
577
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,199
He said to Eden, "We should do
something."
578
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:41,479
Then he said, "Get anything out of
the Air Force you can
579
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,440
"and invoke me if necessary."
580
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:50,799
Eden would have interpreted it as,
"Act quickly, act decisively,
581
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:52,959
"and you have my blessing."
582
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,199
Two of the most powerful men in
Britain now supported
583
00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:58,799
the bombing of Auschwitz.
584
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,359
Eden summoned the head of the Air
Ministry, Sir Archibald Sinclair,
585
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,159
to discuss the feasibility of the
raid.
586
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,039
Well, it was quite a surprise
receiving this.
587
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:10,839
I mean, it hasn't been raised at
Cabinet, so far as I know.
588
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:12,720
Unnecessary, according to Winston.
589
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:15,759
Well, there's a feeling in the
Ministry
590
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:18,599
that we shouldn't be disrupting the
Normandy campaign right now
591
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,639
with an operation of this nature.
There is?
592
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:22,599
Yes, yes, there's quite a strong
feeling.
593
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:25,439
Also, isn't this a thing for our
Soviet allies, anyway?
594
00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:28,559
Being much closer to the intended
target than us, I mean.
595
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:30,919
Stalin was as likely to bomb
Auschwitz
596
00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:32,639
as he was to stand on his head
597
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:35,479
in Red Square in the middle of
winter for a week.
598
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:36,959
He wouldn't have done it.
599
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,639
This is all very interesting,
Archie, but I asked you to examine
600
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,159
the feasibility of a bombing raid on
Auschwitz-Birkenau.
601
00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:43,799
That's what I've done, Anthony.
602
00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:46,319
Well, no, you haven't done that, you
see.
603
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,119
You've merely listed the objections
the Air Force might have
604
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,479
to such a mission and come up with a
couple of fanciful
605
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:53,279
suggestions of your own.
606
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:55,719
What we need to discover, you and I,
607
00:38:55,720 --> 00:38:59,759
is whether the bombing raid on
Auschwitz is actually feasible.
608
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:02,480
I think you should co-ordinate your
thinking with the Americans.
609
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,439
Sinclair was very much playing the
role that he was in
610
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:12,399
as secretary of state for air,
which was to protect the resources
611
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:16,359
of the Air Force, focus them on the
war itself.
612
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,959
I think he did look at it and said,
613
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,039
"Better hand it off to the
Americans.
614
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:23,280
"They're in a better position to do
it than we are."
615
00:39:25,240 --> 00:39:29,039
Eden's request for a feasibility
study into bombing Auschwitz
616
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,199
reached General Carl Spaatz,
617
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,600
one of the most powerful men in the
allied Air Force.
618
00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:37,759
Spaatz says, "Yes.
619
00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:40,319
"It sounds like something I would be
willing to do."
620
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:45,239
I can't imagine that anyone like
Carl Spaatz would not have
621
00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:49,999
been outraged and would not have
wanted some kind of retribution
622
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,799
or attempt to get at this with the
instrument that was available
623
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,560
to him, which was the
long-range bomber.
624
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,559
The moral question of "Should we
bomb Auschwitz?"
625
00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:03,760
became a technical one.
626
00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:06,960
"COULD we bomb Auschwitz?"
627
00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:12,639
Every target that was attacked, was
attacked
628
00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:15,799
after specialised intelligence was
applied to it.
629
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:17,159
Where is it located?
630
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:18,399
What does it look like?
631
00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:19,920
What would be the best routes?
632
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:24,839
The Allies had been gathering
intelligence about the area
633
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:26,480
since spring 1944.
634
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:30,839
Spy planes flew over
Auschwitz-Birkenau,
635
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:34,480
but they were looking for factories,
not a death camp.
636
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:40,359
They had been photographing all
around IG Farben,
637
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,759
in order to support hitting the
industrial areas
638
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:46,799
that were producing synthetic fuel
for the Germans,
639
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:48,920
which was a critically important
target.
640
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:53,919
The photos were taken to
RAF Medmenham,
641
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:56,520
where they were analysed in 3D.
642
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:01,519
By chance, three of them showed
Auschwitz-Birkenau.
643
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,600
These were the images General Spaatz
desperately needed.
644
00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:07,839
The photographs covered a wide area.
645
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,879
More than just the IG Farben site
itself.
646
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:12,679
They were picking up Birkenau.
647
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:15,639
They had the crematoria in
photographs.
648
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:17,480
They just didn't know they had them.
649
00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:30,559
By August 1944, the tide of war was
turning.
650
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,799
The Allies finally had supremacy in
the air.
651
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,879
American bombers were attacking
targets
652
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:38,480
deep in Eastern Europe, including
Poland.
653
00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,880
They were flying to many targets
right in the vicinity of Auschwitz.
654
00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:51,399
So, these airplanes were in fact
within range of attacking
655
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:53,560
the crematoria at Birkenau.
656
00:41:58,000 --> 00:41:59,839
One must remember that the idea
657
00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:01,959
of bombing Auschwitz is to destroy
658
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,719
the gas chambers without killing the
people.
659
00:42:04,720 --> 00:42:07,119
Now, this is extremely difficult.
660
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:10,000
The gas chambers at Auschwitz were
the size of a tennis court.
661
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:14,759
There was nothing even remotely like
precision bombing
662
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,279
in the Second World War.
663
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:21,760
The American B-17s flew over 30,000
feet at 300mph.
664
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,400
And the bombs they had then were
extraordinarily primitive.
665
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:31,319
If one bomb was going to hit each of
the crematoria,
666
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:35,279
you would need to send
roughly 220 bombers,
667
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,439
each of them dropping ten bombs
each,
668
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,960
to have a high chance of one bomb
landing on that building.
669
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:48,199
It's very hard.
670
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:49,640
It's very hard to do this.
671
00:42:54,240 --> 00:42:56,640
The words they used were,
"Bombs away."
672
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,040
And where they land, nobody knows.
673
00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:07,440
And, consequently, there were
mistakes.
674
00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,359
All the options were bad options,
in a way,
675
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,440
because even a small miss could have
killed a lot of people.
676
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:23,359
Despite the risks,
677
00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,719
General Spaatz was ready to carry
out the raid.
678
00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:28,919
He needed the aerial photographs
679
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:30,879
but they'd been overlooked.
680
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:33,440
No-one realised they showed the
death camp.
681
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:39,920
Meanwhile, pressure to act came from
a new source.
682
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:44,200
Rumours about Auschwitz was stoking
public outrage.
683
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,679
Rabbi Stephen Wise, the head of the
World Jewish Congress,
684
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:52,199
organises a rally in Madison Square
Park in New York City,
685
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,359
on July 31st 1944,
686
00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:58,200
and about 40,000 Americans attend
this rally.
687
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:01,479
It's a call for the bombing of
Auschwitz,
688
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,839
and I think it's a striking
commentary on the level of public
689
00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:07,600
knowledge and the level of public
concern.
690
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:12,599
Trains to Auschwitz continued
relentlessly.
691
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,079
Thanks to the Protocol,
692
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,920
Jewish leaders now knew the fate of
the deportees.
693
00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:22,080
They demanded a meeting with John
Pehle at the War Refugee Board.
694
00:44:23,720 --> 00:44:25,119
Mr Kubowitzki.
695
00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:28,599
Leon Kubowitzki of the
World Jewish Congress
696
00:44:28,600 --> 00:44:31,359
and Bezalel Sherman of the Jewish
Labour Committee
697
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,320
had very different views on the
bombing of Auschwitz.
698
00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:39,479
They were divided and they were
fearful.
699
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:42,639
One fear that they had was they
didn't want to turn the war
700
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:46,279
into a Jewish war because the future
of the world was at stake.
701
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:49,439
We are faced, it seems, with a
monstrous determination
702
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:53,479
from Nazi Germany to pursue this
criminal murder of the Jews
703
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:55,079
of Europe to its bitter end.
704
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:58,559
Hence the call to bomb these
installations ourselves.
705
00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:01,439
The War Refugee Board fully
appreciates the motives
706
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,040
behind the idea.
707
00:45:04,240 --> 00:45:06,399
We know it wasn't suggested lightly.
708
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:10,879
But the fact is that the War
Department still believes that such
709
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:13,999
a bombing mission can be achieved
only with considerable diversion
710
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:15,680
of resources... Then, divert.
711
00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:21,959
I'm sorry, Mr Sherman? Divert.
712
00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:24,199
We've read the testimony of these
two men who escaped
713
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:25,599
from the Auschwitz camp.
714
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:27,239
The things they saw.
715
00:45:27,240 --> 00:45:29,439
We've been given corroborative
evidence, too.
716
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:31,399
As have we. So, we all know!
717
00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:34,359
A picture is forming of something
off the human scale!
718
00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:36,239
Isn't that so?
719
00:45:36,240 --> 00:45:39,159
The Germans have created a factory
in Poland whose sole purpose
720
00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:42,160
is the eradication by gas of an
entire race of people.
721
00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:45,400
I say, divert.
722
00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:48,720
All right.
723
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:53,359
Let's just say for a minute that the
United States
724
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,320
or Great Britain bombs this place.
725
00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,879
Can we know how many... How many
Jews will be killed by our bombs?
726
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:03,079
That's right, Mr Sherman.
727
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:05,319
Hell, if we miss the gas chambers,
728
00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,520
we destroy 30,000 prisoners instead.
729
00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:11,480
Wouldn't that give the Nazis a great
alibi?
730
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:14,799
I can hear it now.
731
00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:17,439
"The Western Allies hate the Jews
more than we do."
732
00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:20,199
The Germans took anything they could
grasp for propaganda
733
00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:22,159
purposes, so there would have been a
struggle
734
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:27,119
over the narrative of who was being
more brutal.
735
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:28,600
I believe in...
736
00:46:30,240 --> 00:46:33,239
I believe in saving those actually
living.
737
00:46:33,240 --> 00:46:35,759
I don't understand what follows
from that.
738
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:38,440
You cannot kill the innocent in
order to prevent a catastrophe.
739
00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:43,599
There was a genuine debate that went
on.
740
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:45,999
There were very good people who were
directly affected
741
00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:49,279
by the Holocaust, who had lost
members of their family,
742
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:51,719
who weren't sure that the bombing
was a good thing.
743
00:46:51,720 --> 00:46:53,439
Thank you.
744
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,119
Mr Sherman.
745
00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,719
All the excuses for not bombing
Auschwitz omit the most compelling
746
00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:00,759
reason for bombing Auschwitz.
747
00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:04,159
It would have been recognition that
what was happening
748
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:07,559
there was totally evil and
unacceptable to the world itself.
749
00:47:07,560 --> 00:47:10,039
We keep repeating the line that
bombing Auschwitz
750
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:11,759
would constitute a diversion.
751
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:14,319
But how do we know that?
752
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,919
Pehle might have said to himself,
"He may be right.
753
00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:20,119
"And now the ball's in my court."
754
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:22,959
And that's an awesome
responsibility.
755
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:25,919
I would bomb this infernal place,
you know I would!
756
00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:27,960
And the railroads, too.
757
00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:31,959
That's what my gut is telling me
also.
758
00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:34,639
But we know it's not about the gut,
is it?
759
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:37,359
It's about what the War Department
wants.
760
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:39,199
Then bypass them!
761
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:42,999
Go tell the President, acquaint
Roosevelt with the facts,
762
00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:44,520
and he'll act.
763
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,039
There is no evidence that Roosevelt
was ever approached
764
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,639
about the question of whether the
United States
765
00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:55,480
should bomb Auschwitz.
766
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:00,279
FDR was not well, to begin with.
767
00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:02,599
He was fighting polio.
768
00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:05,239
He was very subject to the flu.
769
00:48:05,240 --> 00:48:07,799
He had congestive heart failure.
770
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:10,199
He didn't stop working but he had
to, kind of,
771
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:12,520
come out of the public eye for
periods.
772
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:17,480
At the same time, Churchill's
support for the plan was going cold.
773
00:48:18,720 --> 00:48:21,599
Chaim Weizmann, of the Jewish
Agency, was informed
774
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:23,719
by the British Foreign Office
775
00:48:23,720 --> 00:48:26,400
that technical difficulties
prevented the bombing.
776
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:30,639
One official dismissed the idea as
"fantastic"
777
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:32,879
and concluded it should be dropped.
778
00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:36,759
Another complained that, "a
disproportionate amount of time
779
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:39,280
"is wasted dealing with these
wailing Jews."
780
00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:52,039
"We're not going to believe atrocity
stories.
781
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:55,279
"These stories are just being told
to get us to let refugees in,
782
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:57,479
"to get us to let children in."
783
00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:02,159
And that level of anti-Semitism that
creeps into so many decisions.
784
00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:04,000
"Oh, those Jews are carping again."
785
00:49:06,240 --> 00:49:09,839
Despite being written off as a
diversion from the war effort,
786
00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:14,760
on the 13th of September 1944, the
Allies did bomb Auschwitz-Birkenau.
787
00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:20,559
Some 2,000 or so bombs rained down.
788
00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:23,999
The bombs don't distinguish between
prisoners and SS.
789
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:26,239
Dozens of prisoners are killed,
790
00:49:26,240 --> 00:49:28,559
hundreds more are injured.
791
00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:31,839
However, it wasn't intentional.
792
00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:35,240
The target was the nearby
IG Farben factory.
793
00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:39,879
Auschwitz was never a priority.
794
00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:42,879
Synthetic rubber was a priority.
795
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,999
Synthetic gas and oil was a
priority.
796
00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:48,600
IG Farben was a priority.
797
00:49:51,400 --> 00:49:54,279
If the target that they intended to
bomb
798
00:49:54,280 --> 00:49:58,759
was four miles away, and they
inadvertently bombed Auschwitz,
799
00:49:58,760 --> 00:50:02,000
it shows how, you know, how
amateurish the bombing was.
800
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:20,719
All of a sudden, the air is full of
noise.
801
00:50:20,720 --> 00:50:23,999
I'm sure that some people were
hoping they're going to bomb us
802
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:25,639
or at least the gas chambers.
803
00:50:25,640 --> 00:50:28,279
But I... I can't say I did.
804
00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:29,839
We didn't care.
805
00:50:29,840 --> 00:50:34,039
We were hoping that they should bomb
that place.
806
00:50:34,040 --> 00:50:35,639
And I said, "My God."
807
00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:38,199
You know, "Finally, they've
arrived."
808
00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:41,239
And I said, "Keep bombing the hell
out of this place,
809
00:50:41,240 --> 00:50:43,120
"no matter what happens."
810
00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:49,519
In April 1944,
811
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:53,159
Vrba and Wetzler had escaped from
Auschwitz to warn the world
812
00:50:53,160 --> 00:50:56,440
about the extermination of the
European Jews.
813
00:50:57,440 --> 00:51:00,440
By September, still nothing had been
done.
814
00:51:03,520 --> 00:51:07,039
The American Army reaches the border
of Switzerland at the end
815
00:51:07,040 --> 00:51:10,759
of September, freeing, for the first
time, all of the people
816
00:51:10,760 --> 00:51:15,079
inside Switzerland who can now send
messages to the wider world.
817
00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:20,119
John Pehle at the War Refugee Board
finally received the full Protocol
818
00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:22,639
in early November.
819
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:25,000
What he read shocked him to the
core.
820
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:29,119
This version of the Protocol is much
longer.
821
00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:31,479
It reads more like a testimony.
822
00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:33,239
This is what Auschwitz is.
823
00:51:33,240 --> 00:51:36,239
It is a place where horrific things
are happening.
824
00:51:36,240 --> 00:51:40,679
The difference, when the full report
is released, is stunning.
825
00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:42,439
It's undeniable.
826
00:51:42,440 --> 00:51:45,800
You can put them side by side and
you see a striking difference.
827
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:51,560
Gassing took place as follows...
828
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:57,719
The unfortunate victims were brought
into the hall,
829
00:51:57,720 --> 00:52:00,000
where they were asked to undress.
830
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:04,679
Each person receives a towel and a
small piece of soap,
831
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:07,200
issued to them by two men clad in
white coats.
832
00:52:08,440 --> 00:52:11,039
They are then crowded into the gas
chambers in such numbers
833
00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:13,159
that there is only standing room.
834
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:14,879
When they were all inside,
835
00:52:14,880 --> 00:52:17,240
they closed this heavy door.
836
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:22,360
And there was a short pause.
837
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:31,599
After which, SS men in gas masks
climb the roof,
838
00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:33,679
open the traps,
839
00:52:33,680 --> 00:52:37,159
and shake down a preparation in
powder form
840
00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:40,679
from tin cans labelled, "Zyklon. For
use against vermin",
841
00:52:40,680 --> 00:52:42,800
manufactured by a Hamburg concern.
842
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:49,120
It's this cyanide mixture that turns
to gas at certain temperatures.
843
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:53,680
And after three minutes...
844
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:58,760
everyone in the chamber was dead.
845
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,799
When Pehle saw the entire report,
846
00:53:10,800 --> 00:53:13,399
his conscience could no longer allow
him
847
00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:16,080
to be tentative or to sit quietly.
848
00:53:26,120 --> 00:53:27,919
Mr McCloy.
849
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:30,320
Good morning, sir. John Pehle here.
850
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:34,960
I have something I think you must
see.
851
00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:38,479
It's a report from Auschwitz.
852
00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:42,999
His reaction was, "It's worse than I
thought.
853
00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:45,760
"I thought it was extraordinarily
evil.
854
00:53:47,320 --> 00:53:50,439
"This is, by a magnitude,
855
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:51,720
"even more than that."
856
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:55,319
He goes back to John McCloy.
857
00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:58,799
He sends him a copy of the Protocols
with a cover note that says,
858
00:53:58,800 --> 00:54:03,759
"I am now convinced that we need to
use direct bombing action
859
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:07,400
"to destroy the gas chambers and
crematorium in Auschwitz-Birkenau."
860
00:54:09,680 --> 00:54:13,639
Pehle was told conclusively by
Assistant Secretary of War
861
00:54:13,640 --> 00:54:17,119
John McCloy that bombing Auschwitz
was not feasible
862
00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:18,760
from a military standpoint.
863
00:54:20,600 --> 00:54:24,239
He says there is considerable
opinion to the effect that such
864
00:54:24,240 --> 00:54:28,919
an action, even if practicable,
might provoke a more vindictive
865
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:31,000
response on the part of the Germans.
866
00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:35,760
What's more vindictive than
Auschwitz?
867
00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:43,679
The officials who made the decision
that this shouldn't be done,
868
00:54:43,680 --> 00:54:47,039
they weren't concerned about the
people in the camp.
869
00:54:47,040 --> 00:54:50,719
From everything we know, the vast
majority of them
870
00:54:50,720 --> 00:54:53,080
just sloughed it off.
871
00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:58,919
Pehle couldn't force the
War Department to act.
872
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:02,399
So instead, he leaked the full
version of the Protocol
873
00:55:02,400 --> 00:55:05,080
to newspapers, with a covering
letter.
874
00:55:06,560 --> 00:55:08,959
"So revolting and diabolical
875
00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:12,599
"are the German atrocities that the
minds of civilised people
876
00:55:12,600 --> 00:55:16,400
"find it difficult to believe
they've actually taken place."
877
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:21,039
Pehle understood his
responsibilities
878
00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:22,680
and that was his greatness.
879
00:55:24,560 --> 00:55:28,120
I regard John Pehle as one of the
great American heroes.
880
00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:33,040
And he said, "We did too little and
we did it too late."
881
00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:38,719
Pehle knew what he was doing,
882
00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:42,399
and he played the media card very,
very well.
883
00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:45,079
It got a great deal of attention.
884
00:55:45,080 --> 00:55:46,680
It was all over the newspapers.
885
00:55:48,120 --> 00:55:50,719
This is front page news nationwide.
886
00:55:50,720 --> 00:55:54,199
The Washington Post publishes an
editorial entitled "Genocide".
887
00:55:54,200 --> 00:55:57,920
It's the first time that word
appears in a national newspaper.
888
00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:06,079
The day that this information is
released to the American people,
889
00:56:06,080 --> 00:56:08,200
the Nazis destroy the gas chambers.
890
00:56:09,680 --> 00:56:12,639
It was an attempt to destroy the
evidence,
891
00:56:12,640 --> 00:56:14,080
but it didn't work.
892
00:56:16,320 --> 00:56:20,719
Two months later, on the 27th of
January 1945,
893
00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:23,320
Auschwitz was liberated by the
Red Army.
894
00:56:26,480 --> 00:56:29,959
The Soviet soldiers who entered
Auschwitz were moved and shaken
895
00:56:29,960 --> 00:56:31,839
by what they saw.
896
00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:35,399
They understood that they had come
across something unique,
897
00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:39,720
that they had seen something
horrific beyond the imagination.
898
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:47,879
I wish the British or the Americans
had pushed for this target
899
00:56:47,880 --> 00:56:52,239
to have been bombed - as a statement
of principle, as a statement
900
00:56:52,240 --> 00:56:56,919
to the Nazis that this is atrocious
and we, as the human species,
901
00:56:56,920 --> 00:56:58,480
will not stand for it.
902
00:57:00,600 --> 00:57:03,079
It's one of the most emotive things
that's ever happened
903
00:57:03,080 --> 00:57:04,279
in modern history.
904
00:57:04,280 --> 00:57:07,519
You could say this is a great
failure, but one has to understand
905
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:09,199
that we were fighting a world war,
906
00:57:09,200 --> 00:57:12,159
and the fate of the surviving Jews
of Europe largely depended
907
00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:16,200
on liberating Nazi-occupied Europe
and destroying the Nazi regime.
908
00:57:19,840 --> 00:57:23,039
I would advocate bombing as a
statement
909
00:57:23,040 --> 00:57:25,120
of profound moral outrage.
910
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:28,799
But do I think it would have solved
the problem?
911
00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:30,519
No.
912
00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:33,719
And I think the critics who say that
it would have,
913
00:57:33,720 --> 00:57:35,919
haven't read the history well.
914
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:38,960
But moral protest in the wake of
genocide...
915
00:57:40,600 --> 00:57:42,360
is much better than nothing.
916
00:57:43,760 --> 00:57:45,960
Much, much better than nothing.
917
00:57:52,640 --> 00:57:55,479
I think it's important when people
have been subjected to genocide,
918
00:57:55,480 --> 00:57:57,719
for the world to say,
"We do give a damn."
919
00:57:57,720 --> 00:58:00,320
Because you don't know where it's
going to happen next.
920
00:58:03,200 --> 00:58:06,559
We came to the position that we had
to recommend this,
921
00:58:06,560 --> 00:58:08,159
and that it should be done,
922
00:58:08,160 --> 00:58:11,039
and not only should the rail lines
be bombed
923
00:58:11,040 --> 00:58:14,079
but the crematoria should be bombed,
too.
924
00:58:14,080 --> 00:58:17,759
It's tragic that we didn't take this
position in the first place,
925
00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:19,200
but that is the fact.
75173
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