Washington DC

Revealed: the hidden Nazi death camps

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:23:00 +0000

The scale of Nazi atrocities was at least six times worse than previously thought, new research has revealed this week.

Geoffrey Megargee and British academic Martin Dean, who are based at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, are midway through a 25-year project to catalogue the Nazi campaign in the years before and during the Final Solution.

They have now released the second volume of their research, in which they cite evidence of 42,500 Nazi sites in operation between 1933 and 1945, including “killing centres”, ghettos, forced labour camps and other sites of persecution and murder.

“When we started this research back in 2000 we had an estimate of between 5,000 and 7,000 sites, which I thought was astounding,” said Dr Megargee. “But the actual number proved to be far beyond any estimates.”

Their research corresponds to a death toll of six million Jews but Dr Megargee said it suggested that up to 20 million — Jews and non-Jews — went though the system, even if not all were murdered.

The newly-collated evidence has been hailed by campaigners against Holocaust denial. American historian Professor Deborah Lipstadt, who won a libel battle in 2000 with Holocaust denier David Irving, said it was “exceptionally important”.

“Just when we thought we know it all — we don’t”. She hoped that deniers “would be forced to confront this evidence. It makes it impossible for people to say they didn’t know what was going on.”

Germany has accepted the new research as evidence that can be used in court cases.

The details reveal how, across Germany and occupied areas from North Africa to Norway, the Nazis built camps. The researchers document 980 concentration camps and 1,150 Jewish ghettos.

Some are sites that “nobody knew about at all”, but Dr Megargee said the discrepancy was also because historians had tended to focus on “particular camps or particular kinds of camps… nobody had pulled it all together.

“An awful lot of sources only became available when the Iron Curtain fell. Beyond that, there are records on the Nazi camps system scattered throughout a dozen different countries in as many different languages,” he said.

Survivors say they are not surprised. Vienna-born Freddie Knoller, 91, said: “I have spoken to other survivors and they have mentioned a lot of different camps that I didn’t know about and have never heard of before — especially from east Poland.”

Frankfurt-born Henry Wermuth, 89, survived at least eight camps, including periods at Kraków-Płaszów, Auschwitz and Mauthausen. He said that in addition to the well-known camps, “there were many small camps run by the SS and army.”

Alec Ward, born Abram Warszaw in Poland, spent time at two ghettos, three slave labour camps and two concentration camps. The 86-year-old said: “The findings don’t surprise me. A lot was done in secret by the Germans to annihilate as many Jews as possible.”

All survivors are members of Jewish Care's Holocaust Survivors' Centre in Hendon.

Dr David Silberklang, senior historian at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, said: “This is an important piece of research. What they’ve come up with has been fantastic. They’ve looked at a wide range of sources, used experts and explored different kinds of camps — and they’re still in the process of publishing their findings.

“There’s a lot more out there that we don’t know about. Yad Vashem has found more Jewish communities across Europe than we initially knew about. We’ve also found around 1500 killing sites in the Yad Vashem-led Killing Sites Project — and that’s only looking at the Ukraine and Belarus.”

But the Washington research was dismissed by Dr Efraim Zuroff, director of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. He said his initial reaction was “one of annoying dismay” and complained about a “PR blitz” and “sensationalism”.

He said: “For decades it has been obvious to historians that the number of Nazi camps, ghettos, and other places of persecution was astronomical and historically unprecedented”.

Pentagon report shows Iran boosting military capability

Jennifer Lipman — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:25:00 +0100

A US government report into Iran has found evidence of advancements in the country's weapons capability and warned that the country would "present a formidable force" in the event of a conflict.

According to the Pentagon report, which was obtained by Bloomberg News, the Iranian military is improving the accuracy and killing power of its long and short-range ballistic missiles, including those that can reach Israel and Eastern Europe.

The report, which was intended to give congressional committees an update on Iranian capabilities and was signed by the US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta, revealed: "Iran has boosted the lethality and effectiveness of existing systems by improving accuracy and developing new submunition payloads"

It also showed that Iran was working on designing a weapon that could target vessels, as well as continuing ballistic-missile training and building up its collection of ships and submarines.

The authors of the report left little doubt about the reasons the Ahmadinejad regime was shoring up its military capabilities. "Iran has methodically cultivated a network of sponsored terrorist surrogates capable of targeting US and Israeli interests…We suspect this activity continues."

Netanyahu: We can't wait on Iran like we did on Auschwitz

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:21:20 +0000

The Israeli Prime Minister has emphasised the urgency of a response to the Iranian nuclear threat.

Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing a crowd at the Aipac conference in Washington soon after a White House meeting with President Obama, said a nuclear Iran would "dramatically increase terrorism by giving terrorists a nuclear umbrella. That means that Iran's terror proxies like Hizbollah, Hamas will be emboldened to attack America, Israel, and others."

He also dismissed Tehran's claim that Iranian scientists were not developing nuclear weapons.

"If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then what is it? That's right, it's a duck," said Mr Netanyahu. "This duck is a nuclear duck and it's time the world started calling a duck a duck."

He said: "We waited for diplomacy to work; we've waited for sanctions to work; none of us can afford to wait much longer".

Pointing out that in 1944, when the Nazis were at the heights of their attempt to wipe out the Jews, the US government ignored pleas to bomb Auschwitz, he said: "Today, we have a state of our own. And the purpose of the Jewish state is to defend Jewish lives and to secure the Jewish future.

"Never again will we not be masters of the fate of our very survival."

The details of his discussions with President Obama were kept under wraps, although according to the New York Times the pair disagreed on the time frame for a diplomatic solution, but overall the meeting was "friendly, straightforward, and serious".

However, in a speech at the Aipac conference on Sunday, the US leader promised that all options would remain on the table.

Obama's Aipac promises on Iran threat welcomed by Israel

Jennifer Lipman — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:12:24 +0000

President Barack Obama has vowed that all options will remain on the table when it comes to US action against a nuclear Iran.

The US leader, speaking at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) conference in Washington DC, said he would be willing to consider "all elements of American power" to counter the Iranian threat.

"When it comes to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, I will take no options off the table, and I mean what I say," he told the conference.

Although he cautioned against counterproductive "loose talk of war", he added that options included " a political effort aimed at isolating Iran; a diplomatic effort to sustain our coalition and ensure that the Iranian programme is monitored; an economic effort to impose crippling sanctions; and, yes, a military effort to be prepared for any contingency.

"For the sake of Israel's security, America's security and the peace and security of the world, now is not the time for bluster."

He also reiterated his support for the Jewish state, telling the audience: "Whenever an effort is made to delegitimise the state of Israel, my administration has opposed them. So there should not be a shred of doubt by now: when the chips are down, I have Israel's back."

His speech was heavily praised by senior Israeli politicians, including Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom , who said it was "almost perfect."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his gratitude for the president's pledges. "I appreciate the fact that he repeated his position that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and that all options are on the table," said the Israeli leader. "I also appreciate the fact that he said that on the Iranian issue, containment is not an option. But most of all, I appreciate that he said that Israel must be able to defend itself against any threat."

President Obama will meet Mr Netanyahu at the White House later today.

Ben Stiller to star in HBO Jewish family series

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:31:10 +0000

The life of a Jewish family in Washington DC is to be dramatised by the television network behind The Sopranos and Sex and the City.

HBO has ordered a pilot episode of a series, starring Ben Stiller and written by novelist Jonathan Safran Foer. A film adaptation of Mr Safran Foer's post-9/11 novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Clos will be in cinemas later this year.

Mr Stiller is set to produce and direct the show, titled All Talk, in conjunction with The Social Network's producer, Scott Rudin. M*A*S*H actor Alan Alda is said to be in talks to co-star.

Although no date has yet been set to start filming, the series is being described as a "politically, religiously, culturally, intellectually and sexually irreverent," look at the daily and life-altering dramas of a Jewish family

HBO's president of programming, Michael Lombardo, said: "Ben Stiller continues to be a major, multi-talented star because of his discerning ability to embrace creative and innovative projects - whatever the medium.

"The common thread is always the excellence of the material."

Jack Lew named as Obama's new chief of staff

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:55:01 +0000

A Shabbat-observant Jew will take over as chief of staff to President Barack Obama.

Jack Lew, who previously worked for President Clinton, has been named as the successor to William Daley.

Mr Lew, 56, is President Obama's second Jewish chief of staff. Until October 2010 he was served by Rahm Emanuel, but the combative son of a onetime Irgun fighter stepped down to run – successfully – as mayor of Chicago.

It is not Mr Lew's first role in the Obama administration; he was deputy secretary of state from 2009-2010 and since has been working as budget director, the same position he held under President Clinton.

Seen as an expert in Washington politics, Mr Lew's insider knowledge has been welcomed as a contrast to Mr Daley, whose background was state politics rather than the federal government.

Mr Lew, the son of a Polish immigrant to New York, is well-known for his refusal to work on Shabbat. However, according to Washington lore, President Clinton once called his answer-phone on a Saturday urging Mr Lew to respond. The devout politician consulted his rabbi, who gave him his blessing to answer urgent calls from the president.

Republican leader: Obama must do more on Arab antisemitism

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:55:27 +0000

The most senior Jewish politician in US history has called on President Barack Obama to do more to challenge antisemitic attitudes amongst leaders in the Middle East.

Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader and the only Jewish Republican in congress, said that the Obama administration needed to "send a clear signal to the emerging governments of the Middle East and the international community that it is not OK to vilify Israel and it is not OK to demonise Jews".

Mr Cantor, speaking at a Reform Judaism conference in Washington DC, urged the White house to tell the new generation of Arab leaders that "any justification of any form of antisemitism must not be tolerated or condoned".

His speech was the latest example of how Republicans and Democrats are seizing on Israel as an issue ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Mr Cantor reserved specific criticism for the US ambassador to Belgium, who last week received widespread criticism for suggesting that Muslim antisemitism was due to events in Israel. Howard Gutman’s remarks were condemned by the US State Department but the administration resisted calls to sack him.

In Thursday's New York Times a right-wing group called The Emergency Committee for Israel, has placed a full-page advert attacking the White House for its record on Israel. It asked: "Why does the Obama administration treat Israel like a punching bag?" President Obama is due to speak at the Reform conference later today.

This week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich for stating in a debate that the Palestinians were an "invented" nation.

Republicans in Washington to woo Jewish voters

Jennifer Lipman — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:40:37 +0000

Republican candidates will be vying for the attention of Jewish voters at a panel session today.

Although the Democratic Party has traditionally enjoyed the backing of much of the Jewish community, the Republicans are hoping that disillusion with President Obama will help secure new voters next November.

Accordingly, most of the politicians hoping to secure the Republican nomination after primary season will be in Washington DC today for a forum sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

The organisers sparked controversy earlier this week after they refused to allow Texas Congressman Ron Paul to take part. Mr Paul, who ran as a Libertarian candidate for the presidency in 1988 and was a Republican hopeful four years ago, has been vocal in calling for the US to cease foreign aid to Israel.

Matthew Brooks, executive director of the RJC, told the Washing ton Jewish Week that Mr P aul had been left out because "he's just so far outside of the mainstream of the Republican party and this organisation."

He suggested that President Obama's stance towards Israel could help shift support to the Republicans.

He said: "You'll see some very strong, clear, unequivocal contrast between the vision of Republicans running and the current president as it relates to Israel, a turbulent Middle East and pushing back on the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons".

In the 2008 election, the Democratic Party secured the votes of about 78 per cent of the Jewish population.

Rabbi arrested in Washington for budget protest

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:28:51 +0100

A group of Jewish leaders and their Christian counterparts were arrested in Washington DC on Thursday after staging a protest over budget cuts.

The 11 religious representatives had gathered at the Capitol Rotunda and started a sit-in to make a statement urging President Obama not to "balance the budget on the backs of the poor".

They said they were frustrated that their pleas to the administration and Congress to protect funding for America's most vulnerable were being "ignored".

The demonstrators included Rabbi Arthur Waskow, founder and director of the Shalom Centre, a Philadelphia-based Jewish social action organisation.

After police intervened they were charged with demonstrating within a US Capitol building.

Cuts to social security and medicare are some of the key issues in the ongoing budget dispute between the Democrats and the Republicans.

If a deal to raise the US debt ceiling is not agreed by Tuesday, the US could default on its debt and be unable to pay its bills for the first time in history.

On this day: Attack at the Holocaust Museum

Jennifer Lipman — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:02:26 +0100

It was supposed to be an ordinary day of work for Stephen Johns, a 39-year-old security guard at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.

But in a tragedy that shocked the nation, Mr Johns, who was later described by colleagues as "a soft-spoken, gentle giant", was shot dead that afternoon by an octogenarian with ties to white supremacist groups.

James von Brunn opened fire with a rifle and began shooting indiscriminately, hitting his victim at close range. Another guard fired in response, wounding the killer.

The 88-year-old, a veteran of the Second World War, had written essays denying the Holocaust and ran an extreme antisemitic website, Holy Western Empire.

Police found a note in his car that read: "The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America's money. Jews control the mass media."

He had a criminal record and in 1981 walked into the Federal Reserve brandishing a sawn-off shotgun, a stunt which earned him nearly seven years behind bars.

Von Brunn died in prison the following January, while awaiting trial for first-degree murder and firearms violations.

What the JC said: Von Brunn…brought more than death and the shattering of innocent lives to the public consciousness. He also shattered a number of myths and rationales that saner members of society carry around with them when not confronted with pure hatred, face-to-face. The first is the myth that time mellows a hardcore ideologue. At 88, with a documented, internet-accessible trail of publications and theories of racial supremacy and world domination that rational folks might pass off as Mein Kampf for Idiots, Von Brunn's venom only intensified with age, together with his desire to act upon it. The second myth is the notion that talkers aren't doers.

See more from the JC archives here.