International Institute for Holocaust Research

Podcast Lecture Series
►Dr. David Silberklang-
The Allies and the Holocaust

►Professor Walter Zwi Bacharach-
-The Holocaust Reflected Through Personal Experience
-The Protocols-Fueling Antisemitic Myths

►Dr. Robert Rozett-
Contemporary Antisemitism

►Prof. Michael J. Bazyler-
Holocaust Denial Laws and Other Legislation Criminalizing Promotion of Nazism

From Recent Symposium: “Holocaust Denial: Paving the Way to Genocide” Denial: Paving the Way to Genocide:
►Prof. Yehuda Bauer-
Some Thoughts on Radical Islam

►Yigal Carmon-
The Role of Holocaust Denial in the Ideology and Strategy
of the Iranian Regime

From Recent Conference: 60 Years Marking the Nuremberg Trials:
►Michael Marrus-
Different Perspectives: Lawyers and Historians Looking at the Holocaust

►Lisa Yavnai-
Vengeance or Justice? Trials of Kapos

►Hanna Yablonka-
The Eichmann Trial: The Jewish Nuremberg?

►Serge Klarsfeld-
The Primary Role of the Trials: Informing the French People About the Fate of the Jews in France

The Allies and the Holocaust
Dr. David Silberklang

To play Audio, click here
To download Podcast, click here (15MB)

Placing the Allies in the context of the “bystanders” in the Shoah, the lecture examines their responses on the basis of their understanding of the war, their national interests, and the differing time frames of the Shoah and World War II. Two questions are examined in depth: information about the Shoah vs. knowledge; and the willingness to try to do something about the murder of the Jews, vs. the ability. Whereas antisemitism in Allied government circles played some role in the degree of seriousness with which some Allied officials addressed the subject, other factors came into play. The Jews’ stateless and powerless condition made them less of a distinct entity to be taken into account. Regarding the question of the bombing of Auschwitz in 1944, the Allies argued that it was technically impossible and that the only way to rescue Jews and others would be through victory, which necessitated that there be no diversion from the war effort. Of the many factors that influenced Allied responses, their lack of understanding of the Shoah was one that needs to be taken into account.

Contact information: feedback@yadvashem.org.il

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Dr. David Silberklang

Dr. David Silberklang is the Editor of Yad Vashem Studies, the scholarly annual journal of Yad Vashem, and a lecturer in Jewish History in the Rothberg International School and in the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is also the Series Editor for the English-language memoir series published jointly by Yad Vashem and the Holocaust Survivors’ Memoirs Project and is Israel’s representative on the Academic Working Group of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research. He has published scholarly articles and reviews on various aspects of the Holocaust, and his book, “Gates of Tears,” on the Holocaust in the Lublin District of Poland will be published next year in Hebrew by Yad Vashem.

Related Exhibitions
The Auschwitz Album
Aerial Photos of Auschwitz

Suggested Bibliography
Allied Response

Lexicon Entries
Bombing of Auschwitz
Jan Karski
War Refugee Board