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Broadcasting
the Massacres: An Analysis of the BBC’s Contemporary Coverage of
the Holocaust
The
BBC, both its Home Service and European Service, did not give
Holocaust reports top priority between 1940-45. The Home Service’s
coverage of the Holocaust was especially limited, because it chose
to relate positive news about Jews, such as the military
achievements of Jews in the British Army, and not negative news
which it was felt would increase antisemitism. The European
Service’s reports were much more detailed, but still insufficient
considering the influence the BBC might have had in occupied Europe
in helping to save Jewish lives. The article analyzes the factors
that influenced BBC policy: state control; the decision to broadcast
news only from reliable sources; skepticism; fear of alienating
listeners in Europe, especially in Germany; and some antisemitism.
British Jews shared the BBC’s apprehensions of growth of
antisemitism in the country and did not pressure the BBC on the
issue of fuller coverage of the Holocaust.
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