[Imal]

“The sight of Israeli planes flying over Auschwitz is a tragic reminder that allied planes flew over Auschwitz in 1944 and could have bombed the gas chambers, but instead bombed only the adjacent oil factories. The Roosevelt administration knew about the mass murder of Jews in Auschwitz, but did not order US planes to bomb the gas chambers, largely because saving Jews would have resulted in more pressure to let the refugees come to the United States.

I have seen this claim made before, but never substantiated. While I find it extremely unlikely that the U.S. and Britain did not know about the death camps early in the war, the notion that they avoided bombing them as part of some sort of strategy favoring complicity in murdering Jews is outrageous and slander of the worst sort, unless it is backed up by some hard facts.

Do you know of or have any links to sources that provide some factual basis for this claim? Please post if you do.

Todah rabah.

[SJackson]

The first two directly address Auschwitz, the others have background. Although the Roosevelt administration wasn’t anxious to address the problem, the real underlying issue was tactical, could assets be diverted to bomb railways without slowing the progress of the war, not a issue of FDR being complicit in the murder of Jews.

Could The Allies Have Bombed Auschwitz-Birkenau?

Plea to Bomb the Railway Lines Leading to Auschwitz

Immigration & Refugee Policy During WWII

U.S. Policy During WWII