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The World
Jewish Congress representative in Geneva, Gerhard Riegner, obtained
information from a German manufacturer, Eduard Schulte-who had
connections in Hitler’s general headquarters-indicating that
Hitler had decided to systematically annihilate all of European
Jewry, and that gas was being used to attain this goal. After
Riegner gathered further information about his source, he approached
the American Consulate in Geneva with the report. He handed the
deputy-consul a cable and asked him to forward it to Stephen Wise,
an American Jewish leader. The cable contained the information that
Riegner had obtained from Schulte concerning the plans for the
murder of European Jewry. The State Department received the cable,
but decided not to transmit messages from "private
individuals". On August 28, the second addressee of the cable,
Sidney Silverman, a member of the British Parliament, sent a copy of
the cable to Wise. The Assistant Secretary of State, Sumner Welles
summoned Wise and asked him not to disclose the information until it
could be verified.
Wise
agreed, yet he informed a number of cabinet ministers, President
Roosevelt, Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and Christian clergymen.
On November
24, when the US government was finally convinced, Wise broke the
news of the cable, together with other supporting information to the
press.
Thus, more
than another year passed until the information, which was already
available, led to action. |
