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Reference
Interview Transcripts | Bibliography | Primary Sources
Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles tells Rabbi Stephen Wise he has
information confirming that the Nazis plan to kill all of Europe's Jews.
During September and October, [the World Jewish Congress representative in
Geneva, Gerhart] Riegner continued to receive first-hand reports from countries
all over Europe that the plan for mass extermination was being rapidly
implemented. All these reports he transmitted to the State Department through
Leland Harrison, American minister in Berne. In November, four sworn
statements reached the State Department through Harrison, fully substantiating
Riegner's reports. Mr Welles telegraphed that I come at once to the State
Department...
In the office of Mr. Welles, we took our places and I shall never forget the
quiet but deeply moving way in which he turned to us and said, every word
etching itself into my heart, "Gentlemen, I hold in my hands documents which
have come to me from our legation in Berne. I reget to tell you, Dr. Wise,
that these confirm and justify your deepest fears." He handed me the original
documents from Berne which confirmed our dreadful apprehensions. The
documents' red seals suggested the blood of my people pouring forth in rivers.
Mr. Welles added, "For reasons you will understand, I cannot give these to the
press, but there is no reason why you should not. It might even help if you
did.
From: "The Challenging Years: The Autobiography of Stephen Wise"; G.P. Putnam's
Sons, 1949.
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