Correspondence Regarding
the “Riegner Cable”
(August-October, 1942)
Correspondance between
R. Lichtheim (Representative of the Zionist
Movement in Geneva) and Y. Gruenbaum concerning
the “Riegner Cable”:
The following is a cable
from Gerhardt Riegner, representative of
the World Jewish Congress in Switzerland,
August 8, 1942, advising of the plan
to annihilate European Jewry.
An alarming report was received that in Fuhrers'
headquarters, a plan was discussed and under
consideration according to which all Jews
in countries occupied or controlled by Germany
numbering 3.5 - four million [excluding Jews
in the Soviet union] should, after deportation
and concentration in East, be exterminated
in one blow to resolve once for all the Jewish
question in Europe - stop - Action reported
planned for autumn methods under discussion
including Prussic acid - stop - we transmit
information with all necessary reservation
as exactitude cannot be confirmed - stop
- informant stated to have close connections
with highest German authorities and his reports
generally speaking reliable Riegner
Source: Central Zionist Archives L-22/3
The remarks were attached to a letter from
Richard Lichtheim to Palestine (August 30,
1942):
I attach a report based on information from
a source (not Jewish) in Poland who is considered
reliable. The report is so horrific that
I had doubts about whether to send it to
you or not. Since certain facts mentioned
in the report (such as deportations from
the Warsaw Ghetto in the past few weeks)
have been confirmed by other sources. I decided
to send it. In fact, I believe the reports
are accurate. They correspond to Hitler's
statements to the effect that no Jews will
remain in Europe at the end of the war.
Source: Central Zionist Archives L-22/3
The first reply to Lichtheim from Jerusalem
came on September 28, 1942 (Lauterbach to
Lichtheim, September 28, 1942:
As for your letter...I will tell you frankly
that we are not inclined to accept all of
its contents verbatim.... Just as one should
learn from experience sometimes to accept
unimaginable actions as indisputable facts,
so should one learn from history to distinguish
between reality—however
harsh it may be—and imagination aggravated by justified fear.
Source: Central Zionist Archives L-22/3
Excerpts from a more detailed letter follow:
Lichtheim to Gruenbaum,
October 8, 1942
It is easy for me to understand that you
do not wish to believe the aforementioned
report. As you can see, the report is dated
August 15 but I sent it on August 30. This
is because I myself had doubts about the
desirability of forwarding the report. Ultimately,
however, I decided that you should know about
it for the following reasons: I noted in
my letter the source of the information and
left it to your judgment to decide how reliable
the report should be considered. The facts
described have been confirmed by another
source that is totally unrelated to the first
source. I cannot disclose his identity, but
he holds a key position and should know whether
these things happened or not. This source
should be considered highly reliable. He
has given us further details that were not
yet included in the aforementioned report.
I was told that there are at least two facilities
meant for annihilation in the east. From
here, it is impossible to explore the matter.
No eyewitness would be allowed to depart
for the neutral countries and only a small
number of people have observed these events,
if they have indeed occurred. Therefore,
the only testimonies available are the accounts
of German officers who returned from the
east and who saw something or heard about
the matter directly from those who are perpetrating
it. The first source that confirmed the report
was of this type.
The Nazis have committed
so many crimes of this kind that this account
seems no less and no more reliable than
the others. What has happened to the deportees
and the ghetto inhabitants, and what is
happening to them every day, has been confirmed
by so many sources that there can be no
doubt about the intentions of Hitler and
the Gestapo. In this context, I mention
my reports about deportations from the
west and the mass liquidation of Latvian
Jewry. I have often heard of similar horrors
in Poland, and there is no doubt that mass
murder and deportation to unknown destinations
has indeed occurred in Poland, especially
in the ghettos of Warsaw and Lodz. The
Jewish relief organizations that still
exist in Cracow have confirmed all of this
indirectly. When we combine all the reports,
we cannot doubt that the deliberate destruction
of Polish Jewry has already advanced from
the stage of planning to that of execution.
We all know what Hitler decided to do with
the Jews, and now he is doing it. ... We
must face the fact that most of Jewry in
occupied Europe has been annihilated. I
have nothing to add. The tragedy is greater
than words.
Source: Central Zionist Archives L-22/3,
Geneva 84.
Sources:Yad
Vashem
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