Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- PART I THE MAKING OF THE MULTIPLE TRAP
- PART II THE RESCUE DEBATE, THE MACRO PICTURE, AND THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
- PART III THE SELF-DEFEATING MECHANISM OF THE RESCUE EFFORTS
- 18 Istanbul, Geneva, and Jerusalem
- 19 How the Holocaust in Slovakia Was Suspended: The “Europa Plan”
- 20 The Significance of the British Decrypts
- 21 The “Small Season”: Begin's Rebellion
- 22 The Origins of the Budapest “Rescue Committee”
- 23 The War Refugee Board and the Extension of the Trap: The “Dogwood” Chain
- 24 The Double Hungarian Debacle
- PART IV THE BRAND–GROSZ MISSIONS WITHIN THE LARGER PICTURE OF THE WAR AND THEIR RAMIFICATIONS
- PART V THE END OF THE FINAL SOLUTION: BACK TO HOSTAGE-TAKING TACTICS
- Epilogue: Self-Traps: The OSS and Kasztner at Nuremberg
- Notes on Sources
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
20 - The Significance of the British Decrypts
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- PART I THE MAKING OF THE MULTIPLE TRAP
- PART II THE RESCUE DEBATE, THE MACRO PICTURE, AND THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
- PART III THE SELF-DEFEATING MECHANISM OF THE RESCUE EFFORTS
- 18 Istanbul, Geneva, and Jerusalem
- 19 How the Holocaust in Slovakia Was Suspended: The “Europa Plan”
- 20 The Significance of the British Decrypts
- 21 The “Small Season”: Begin's Rebellion
- 22 The Origins of the Budapest “Rescue Committee”
- 23 The War Refugee Board and the Extension of the Trap: The “Dogwood” Chain
- 24 The Double Hungarian Debacle
- PART IV THE BRAND–GROSZ MISSIONS WITHIN THE LARGER PICTURE OF THE WAR AND THEIR RAMIFICATIONS
- PART V THE END OF THE FINAL SOLUTION: BACK TO HOSTAGE-TAKING TACTICS
- Epilogue: Self-Traps: The OSS and Kasztner at Nuremberg
- Notes on Sources
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Apart from Himmler's activities in fall 1943, which culminated in the liquidation of most Polish Jewry late in 1943 and early in 1944, and his infamous speech before the SS generals in Posen discussing the Holocaust as an act of bravery on October 4, 1943, which contradicted any serious attempt on his part to negotiate the end of the Holocaust with the West, we have at our disposal British decrypts concerning murderous activities by the SS at that time outside of Poland. These decrypts were made available to the Americans out of many thousands more that are stored at the British Public Record Office. According to these documents, when Wisliceny was supposed to have negotiated the Europa Plan in September 1943, the Germans were busy introducing “measures” against the Jews of Rome in spite of their fears that these measures would combine with the other, seemingly serious problems that they faced by suddenly taking over a former ally and its capital. By October 10, 1943, the Nazi official in charge – SS Captain Herbert Kappler – pretty much aware of the local conditions and possible trouble if the deportation of Rome's Jews was to be carried out at that early stage, reported to Berlin that at least “50 gks [kilograms] of Jewish gold are being dispatched to CdS” (Chef der Sicherheitpolizei – Gestapo and Criminal Police), expressing his hope that “as far as the Reichsbank is concerned this will facilitate the supply of Devisen [foreign currency – S.A.] for our purposes.”
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- Hitler, the Allies, and the Jews , pp. 181 - 184Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004