On the Holocaust

The allies were receiving accurate information about the murder of European Jewry at a very early stage. However, even though they formally denounced Nazi atrocities against the Jews in 1942, the "Final Solution" continued to unfold, largely uninterrupted. Why did allied leaders stand by as millions were being killed? In this episode of "On the Holocaust", Yad Vashem's podcast, Dr. David Silberklang will continue to explore the free world's response to the Holocaust.

How did the free world stand idly by during the Holocaust? This question is one that continues to echo today.
For many years it was commonly thought that the "Final Solution" was shrouded in secrecy, as it was indeed planned to be by Nazi Germany. Yet Information regarding the mass murder of Jews in Europe began to reach the free world soon after these actions began.
What did this information entail and how did it reach the "outside world"? In this episode Dr. David Silberklang will discuss these issues, as well as present the unique story of – Jan Karski who made it his mission to change that. He walked into Hell and back to tell the world what was happening to the Jewish people.

The Auschwitz concentration camp was one of the most horrific places ever conceived of by man–a place of constant torture. The experience was uniquely terrible for women, who were forced into some of the most unimaginable of circumstances. Even years later, the mothers who survived couldn't escape the memory.

Germany's army during World War II was seen by many, on both sides of the conflict, to be politically "neutral". While the Nazi regime carried out the Holocaust, it was thought, the army was elsewhere, carrying out more traditional warfare. This was a fiction. The Wehrmacht were a Nazi army. So how did this fiction spread? And who had an interest in spreading it?

The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem is the world's most significant memorial for Holocaust victims. But gathering information on thousands of people killed so many years ago is not easy. Teams of dedicated historians and archivists work every day to find, gather and present information in a way that will properly honor those lost.

While so many were being kidnapped, held in captivity and killed, a group of free Jews in Europe were working to help their brothers and sisters. They called themselves "The Working Group." Their goal was to save as many people as possible. The odds were not in their favor.