In spite of the war effort, nothing was done to halt the transports to the camps.

by Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Classified papers released in 1978 clearly show that as early as 1942, the governments of the world – particularly the Americans and the British – definitely knew what was happening. But nothing would be done until 1944.

The question is often asked: Why didn’t they do anything? Remember, everything worked on the railways. Without the railways, the masses of Jews could not reach the camps. And the rabbis were pleading, "Please bomb the railroad lines to the camps!"

One response was, "We can’t spare any planes because of the war effort. When the Germans are defeated, everything will stop."

Click to Enlarge
Auschwitz-Birkenau

View of Auschwitz-Birkenau Camps
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

Another response was: "We fight by the rules, we fight by the books, we don’t fight dirty. The only time we ‘blanket-bombed’ was ‘tit for tat’ when the Germans bombed Coventry, when they ‘blanket-bombed’ us."

But realize that planes could go over specific targets, and drop their bombs. And what of unused bombs still on the plane? A plane could not come back to England and land with a bomb on board, because the landing jolt could detonate the bomb. "At least, use those bombs!"

The response was, "We can’t, because we might hit civilian targets." So extra bombs were dropped in the North Sea on the way back to England.

Note that in 1944, Auschwitz was going at 20,000 people (killed) a day. The Allies were bombing within a mile of the camp at that time. There were factories all around it.

In the French documentary "Shoah," a German locomotive driver who took trainloads of Jews to the camps was interviewed. He said, "In those days, all the trains drivers wanted to get the run to Auschwitz." Why? Imagine you are an Allied pilot, and you want to bomb a German train. What is the ideal? You blow up the locomotive. It was not a safe place for locomotive drivers back in those days, especially when Germany was losing. The driver said, "About the only run in the entire war that wasn’t bombed was the main line to Auschwitz."

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Published: Wednesday, December 31, 1969
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Visitor Comments: 9

(9) jeff, December 8, 2011 3:33 AM

allies could have helped

it is very plausable that the allies were primary focues on the war. However, it is inexplicable that a group of allied aircraft could detour to take out a undefended railway line. In addition, I personally do not understand, why someone wouldn't contribute a small amount of their forces to assist the needy, the helpless for that matter, when it was documented two years before. I do not understand why the public wasn't notified. Perhaps to prevent a public outroar. But I feel that a public outroar would have been benificial to the allied forces and to the men, woman and childern who lost their lives by the blatant, cursid and tretchorous fist of a surpreme chancellor, Adolf Hitler. By no means am I saying that the allied forces did not do their part, I am simply explaining that looking in hindsight, some of the focus of the war should have been distributed to the Jew's losing their lives in the concentration camps. God bless all the men, woman childern who lost their lives in the Holocaust and the war. Rest in Peace. Thank you.

(8) arthur, February 26, 2007 10:48 AM

Was Roosevelt Anti-Semitic

It is well documented that Roosevelt was aware of camps. His Treasury Secretary - Morgenthau begged him to bomb the railroads.

It is incredulous that Jews worshiped Roosevelt. Jews vote as a group for Democrats, who are usually anti Israel, the only haven in the next holocaust.

(7) Nathan, July 20, 2006 12:00 AM

Everything that described here is completely against logic.Just one air strike of Auswitz could save thousands of lifes. To destroy guard towers, railway station and the fence. Was it seem more difficult than to flatten Dresden during entire night of February, 1945 ?When elemination of Jews were planned by Stalin in Russia in 1952, he died before accomplishing his plans.The terrible outcome of Holocaust seems more than "gzera min ha-shomaim", than anything else.

(6) elena, January 18, 2006 12:00 AM

could it happen again??

Yes, it could and sadly we connot be sure that someone will intervene.We have many enemies being that we live in the united states and there is no fact that could prove if we get in trouble someone will" do something".As americans i think we depend a little too much on other nations to help us.Someday we are going to have to think for ourselves and it wont be easy so we might as well start now.hoping for the best wont get us anywhere and it certainly wont defend us in a war or terrorist attack.

(5) Leslie White, January 17, 2005 12:00 AM

could it happen again??

Yes, it could. We cannot depend on anyone to "do something." We have to do something, and that does not mean hoping for the best. But what? You may ask. Think Maccabees.

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About the Author

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis studied biology and geology at Northern Illinois University. In addition, he spent time as a deep-sea diver in the oil fields in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway and has circumnavigated the seas of the world in a sailboat. Rabbi Ellis received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah where he is a senior lecturer at the Discovery and Essentials programs.

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky received his BS from Cornell with a major in Communication Arts and a minor in Archeology, and did post-graduate work at UCLA in the field of Desert Plants and Natural History. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked in the field of Urban Ecology including several years as a landscape designer in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Silinsky received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He currently teaches at the Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

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