Attitude of Jewish Leaders Outside Europe During WWII

That the Jewish leaders outside Europe, who were publicly speaking of “extermination”, were in contact with the Jews in occupied Europe but failed to inform them of “extermination” can be easily inferred from Yehuda Bauer's American Jewry and the Holocaust.

Many more examples of this failure can be cited. A good recent one is the Conway-Fatran exchange in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, Fall 1995, pp. 269-276, relating to Jewish leaders in Slovakia and Hungary.

Much of the writing on the actions of Jewish leaders concerns efforts to negotiate with the Nazis for the release of Jews, which the Nazis were always open to, an observation that makes it difficult to believe that the Nazis were simultaneously pursuing “extermination”. In American Historical Review (April 1996, pp. 159f) Francis R. Nicosia reviews Yehuda Bauer's Jews for Sale? Nazi-Jewish Negotiations 1933-1945. Nicosia finds the motivations of the Germans “unclear” and their behavior contradictory, as they seem to be willing to release Jews while pursuing their policy of “extermination”.

The statements and actions of Jews in the postwar period are another subject, which can be pursued via this link.

Last modification: 5 May 1996.