Letter: U.S. knew of Jewish deaths in 1944

Christian Century, Nov 15, 2000

A recently released letter from the U.S. secretary of state in 1944 to the Vatican warned Germany that Nazi officials would be prosecuted after the end of World War II for their roles in the deaths of millions of Jews in the Holocaust. The October 12, 1944, letter from Secretary of State Cordell Hull was sent to the U.S. representative at the Vatican, who was to forward it to German officials at the Vatican, according to the Reuters news agency.

The World Jewish Congress released the letter on October 26, the same day that a group of Catholic and Jewish scholars asked for greater access to Vatican archives to find out what, if anything, wartime Pope Pius XII knew about the Holocaust. Jewish groups oppose the proposed canonization of Pius XII because they feel he did too little to help the Jews. Vatican officials maintain, however, that Pius XII worked behind the scenes to safeguard as many Jews as he could.

Hull's letter to the Germans raises questions as to how much the U.S. knew about the Holocaust, and whether more could have been done to save the 6 million Jews who were killed. The letter said the State Department had information that "Jews in three concentration camps of Birkenau, Naeuss and Oswiecin [Auschwitz] have been ordered to be exterminated. This probably involves some 65,000 Jews."

Hull's letter was directed at Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler's deputy overseeing the "Final Solution." The letter said Himmler "personally authorized this death order, which certain other officials will carry out." Hull warned of "appropriate consequences" after the end of the war.

Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, told Reuters that Hull's letter is further proof that the Vatican should open its archives to show what church leaders knew about the Holocaust. The six-member team of Jewish and Catholic scholars seeking greater access to church files had completed a year's study of 11 Vatican volumes from the World War II period. "A scrutiny of these volumes ... does not put to rest significant questions about the role of the Vatican during the Holocaust," said the team's report.