Did the Allies know what Germany was doing to Jewish people (and other groups) before they entered the war?

Question

I thought that Germany made concentration camps look like POW camps and that the Allies didn't find out what was going on until AFTER THE WAR. The reason I ask is because my English teacher (who could easily be wrong about History) said the leaders of the Allied countries saw evidence of the Holocaust but didn't get involved.

Answer 1

As Jews fled Europe they brought the stories of the horrors with them, but there was little they could do to give help.

Answer 2

Didn't get involved???? i guess leaving Germany in a pile of rubble and winning the war wasn't good enough?

I think maybe you're asking, why didn't we jump into the war sooner???

Attacking continental Europe and winning earlier than June 1944 was not possible. Attacking sooner would've meant tactical defeats and prolonged the war at least another year. The US strategy of building up an overwhelming force was the strategy in WWII.

In 1943, the US & western allies were landing in Sicily and making their way up the boot of Italy. Building up the force that attacked the Atlantic Wall required a June 1944 attack date.

Several setbacks in 1944 also prolonged the war, inluding the little gamble known as the Battle of the Bulge.

I guess winning the war and defeating the Germans wasn't good enough? I think you may be asking is why didn't we conquer the German's sooner? But even that question is a little out of context, as the Allies went about the invasion of the Atlantic Wall and the Eastern Front as fast as they could...although i see that the Red Army stopped just short of Warsaw during the Polish uprising, causing more Poles to die than there should have.

Some people wonder why the railways leading into Auswitz weren't bombed. I have to believe that the extent of the state-sponsored genocide was not known and that the few reports that did get out were too fantastic to believe.

Answer 3

The question and anwers all seem pretty confused to me.
Did the allies know what was going on before the war? Yes, but not much had happened then. Virtually all of what we call the holocaust (and the killing of the mentally unfit) happened during the war.
Did the allies know what was going on during the war? Yes. But they had to concentrate on winning it. Bombing extermination camps, rail links to them, etc, wasn't a realistic proposition given the technology of the time, since most of them were way out east.

Answer 4

Yes, the allies new especially the British and Americans. The British knew because of their extensive system of radio intercepts at Bletchley Park. They intercepted the radio traffic of the Wehrmarcht (German Army) and the Einsatzcommando Brigades (citizen "police" brigades) sent into Poland after the Army to liquidate Jews.

The American knew because of refugees from Europe. There was also an organized Jewish movement in the U.S. to petition the Government of Roosevelt to help. They tried approaching the cabinet members who were Jewish to help, Henry Morganthau, etc. They even encourage Roosevelt, after the American entry into the war to Bomb the camps to destrpy the gas chambers.

Answer 5

Absolutely. Your teacher is right....take a look at the cite below, and you'll understand.
"Republican Congressman Hamilton Fish accused FDR of “spiritual anesthesia” (to use the words of Ben Hecht). Fish concluded that FDR’s inexplicable decision not to take a stand to save European Jews may have been a deciding factor in Hitler’s execution of the Final Solution: “If such a definitive announcement had been made from the White House, it might well have stopped the megalomaniac Hitler or at least brought home the truth to the German and Polish people, most of whom probably knew little of Hitler’s extermination policy.” "
http://www.fdrheritage.org/fdr&holocaust.htm

The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 was the start of the Holocaust as we know it. Messages reaching Churchill through his intelligence services told of the murder, in groups, of thousands of Jews. He made powerful reference to these killings when he broadcast on November 14 1941:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/churchill_holocaust_01.shtml

Answer 6

Oh yes, they knew. It was much more than just vague rumors or unsubstantiated ideas, it was well known. If there is one huge blot on Roosevelt's presidency it is that he not only refused to help stop the Holocaust, he actually contributed to it. Perhaps the story of the ship, the SS St. Louis, that was filled with Jews that went to Cuba, was rejected there, went to Florida and was rejected by Roosevelt and every high level official, and went back to Europe is enough, just by itself, is enough to condemn Roosevelt and every other Allied leader. 2/3 of the 900 Jews on-board were killed when, rejected by the USA, they were sent back to Europe.

Read the story

Answer 7

They saw evidence, but not before the war began. Most of the head honchos of the allies knew part of what was going on, but they probably didn't know the full extent of it.

Answer 8

they knew. they just didnt know how bad until they invaded Germany, France, Poland and Austria. The allies actually ceded france to hitler's regime in order to appease him. they didnt care. it was only when hitler bombed england and invaded poland (which russia had dibs on) is when they got involved

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Listen to your teacher, she knows what shes talking about