EXPLOSIVE TRUTH ABOUT PEARL HARBOR: THE STORY THE REST OF THE MEDIA WON’T TELL

Originally appeared in the January 1984 issue of Hustler

REPORT BY JOSEPH LEIB

What you’re about to read will amaze and astound you. More than 40 years after Japan’s cowardly sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, HUSTLER has uncovered unquestionable factual evidence that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew almost to the hour when the Japanese assault would begin - and deliberately did nothing to prevent it. In fact, he had been working on his celebrated “Date Which Will Live in Infamy” speech several days before swarms of Jap bombers and fighter planes demolished the U.S. fleet and killed in excess of 2,400 American citizens. Now, for the first time, HUSTLER reveals the incredibly sordid story of how our 32nd President sold his country down the river.

There was an eerie calm over Hawaii that morning. Perhaps it was a silent warning of what was to come. On every prior Sunday, for nearly two months, U.S. Navy carrier-based fliers posing as enemy aviators had conducted mock bombing raids while Army antiaircraft batteries directed simulated fire in defense of the island. Just a week earlier the sky over Oahu has resembled a three-ring circus as Navy planes circled, dove and buzzed the decks of the mighty Pacific Fleet’s warships lying in anchor at Pearl Harbor.

But Sunday, December 7, 1941, was different. With just a few exceptions nearly all the Navy’s and the Army’s aircraft were on the ground. No army gunners were ready at their posts. Not a single Navy reconnaissance plane was in the air. Instead, the fighters, bombers, patrol planes, transports and trainers were carefully lined up on runway aprons - wing to wing, tip to tip, in perfect target position.

The sailors of the fleet were also unaware that the clear blue sky above would soon begin raining death and destruction on their gently lolling ships. Except for the carriers Enterprise and Lexington - which were at sea along with a few heavy cruisers and destroyers - virtually the entire Pacific Fleet was in the harbor.

Curiously, though the USS Ward reported sinking a submarine in the prohibited area off Pearl at 6:45 a.m., no alert was sounded. Instead, each vessel’s crew routinely prepared for Sunday religious services.

Aboard the battlewagon USS Arizona the members of the band were excused from performing at morning muster since they had won second place in a contest the night before. They snoozed contentedly, little knowing that their bunks would soon become their eternal resting place and the ship their tomb.

At 7:50 a.m. swarms of Japanese planes swept over the island. From the north, bombers roared over the Army’s Schofield Barracks and past Wheeler Field toward the fleet. Another force came from the east, attacking Kaneohe Field, then Bellows Field and on to the harbor. From the south a third group of planes pock-marked Hickam Air Field with bomb craters and ignited a chain of exploding U.S. planes before continuing toward the helplessly moored warships.

In rapid succession the battleship USS Utah and the light cruiser USS Raleigh were struck by torpedoes from the diving Japanese planes. A single torpedo crippled both the Oglala and the Helena. Moments later an 1,800-pound bomb penetrated the Arizona’s deck and ignited fuel and ammunition caches below, sending more than a thousand sailors and Marines aboard her to a watery grave.

Wave after wave of Japanese planes descended on the harbor, bombing, strafing and torpedoing their targets. By 11 a.m. the attack was over; only the flotsam and jetsam of a once-mighty fleet was left bobbing in its wake.

A terrible price in lives and equipment had been paid. More than 2,400 men were killed outright or died of their wounds soon after. Another 1,178 were wounded. A total of 18 vessels - eight battleships, three light cruisers, three destroyers and four auxiliary ships - were either sunk or knocked out of commission. Eighty-seven naval aircraft were also destroyed along with 77 Army planes.

Equally devastating, the pride of the U.S. Navy also sank that morning. By contrast, the Japanese lost only 29 planes, one attack submarine and five midget subs in their daring raid.

As news about the attack flashed across the nation, Americans reacted with shock, fear and then rage and anger. Yet, as emotions calmed, the inevitable questions were raised.

How could the Japanese fleet sail across the Pacific without detection? Where did Japan obtain the detailed information about the deployment of U.S. forces on Oahu? Why were our ships and planes lined up so neatly together, inviting attack? How could our fighting forces be caught so off-guard? How could they be taken so totally by surprise?

Today, more than four decades later, some of those questions can now be answered. Most of the players in the tragic drama staged at Pearl Harbor are dead now, their terrible secrets taken with them to the grave. There is little owed to them. A far greater debt must be paid to historical truth.

Within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was hand-correcting a speech he planned to deliver the next evening before a joint session of Congress. That draft is among my most prized possessions. In faded pencil, is the unmistakable scrawl of Roosevelt, inserting a word there, a phrase there.

The next day, the third-term President gave one of his best-remembered addresses. In his lilting, sing-song cadence, Roosevelt called the grieving nation to arms. He labeled December 7, 1941, as “a date which will live in infamy.” His words were so carefully crafted and eloquent, it was difficult to believe he had managed to compose them in the haste and confusion following the attack.

In fact, the treachery of our nation’s leader rivaled that of the Japanese. Roosevelt had labored on the speech for days. He knew well in advance that the Japanese were planning a sneak attack. He knew to the day, almost to the hour, when the assault on Pearl Harbor would begin. December 7, 1941, held no surprises for Roosevelt, nor for me.

A full week earlier, on November 29, I learned about the impending attack from an unlikely source - Cordell Hull, Roosevelt’s own secretary of state. To put the matter into proper perspective, I should explain how and why Hull came to entrust me with the terrible secret of Pearl Harbor.

I arrived in Washington, D.C., on the same train that carried President-elect Roosevelt in March 1933. Though I was only 22 at the time, I moved comfortably within the ranks of movers and shakers who were soon to inherit the reins of government.

My credentials among the Roosevelt crowd were impeccable. I had organized the first Roosevelt for President Club three years earlier in my hometown of South Bend, Indiana, while FDR himself was still running for reelection as governor of New York. By the end of 1930 I was directing active clubs in 21 states.

Prior to the Democratic National Convention of 1932 I convinced House Speaker John Nance Garner to issue public statements that he was not a candidate for the Presidency, and helped head off the “Stop Roosevelt” bloc within the party. As sort of a thank-you, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jim Farley arranged a brief visit with Roosevelt at the governor’s mansion in Albany. At a private meeting with FDR following his victorious election he suggested I select a post in his administration and submit my application directly to him after the Inaugural on March 4, 1933.

Though I had proven my political savvy during the long Roosevelt Presidential campaign, I knew little about the machinery of the government itself. I was caught on the horns of a dilemma. Here I was, presented with an opportunity to pick nearly any job in the administration I desired short of a Cabinet post, and I couldn’t decide. I wanted a job where I could meet people and rub shoulders with the power-brokers, something in public relations.

Finally, a few weeks after he formally took office, I wrote to Roosevelt and asked for an appointment as chief of the passport division under the jurisdiction of the newly appointed secretary of state, Tennessee Senator Cordell Hull. By March 27, Louie Howe, Roosevelt’s closest confidant, had forwarded my request to the State Department, and within a few days Hull himself telephoned to suggest I drop by his office.

Tall and distinguished, with thick-tufted brows poised above kindly eyes, Cordell Hull cut an imposing figure. He had the carriage and bearing of a king; yet he never forgot his Tennessee hill-country origins.

With a sincere twinge of sorrow in his voice Hull explained that the job I sought was held by a career civil servant who could not legally be removed, and asked whether I would be interested in an appointment as special assistant to the woman who currently held the post. After considering his offer for a few days, I thanked Hull for his time and attention but declined the position. The papers were full of rumors of sex scandals within the State Department, and I decided that that agency probably shouldn’t serve as my initiation into government service. My meetings with Hull, however, began a cordial, respectful relationship that was to last throughout his nearly 12 years as secretary of state.

Over the next few years I moved through several of the “alphabet soup” agencies President Roosevelt created to focus government attention on the nation’s depressed economy. At the National Recovery Administration I managed to obtain the participation of the Du Pont Corporation in the NRA’s work. But soon I recognized that the restrictive codes and regulations imposed by the administration were driving small Mom-and-Pop businesses into bankruptcy and launching chains of conglomerates that changed the very face of American retailing.

Next I began handling complaints for the Agriculture Adjustment Administration (AAA) until I witnessed the deliberate slaughter of hogs to keep pork production down. While millions of families starved and begged for food, the government was directing the destruction of crops, dairy products and animals to prop up prices!

I resigned in protest and took a post in the Treasury Department, which wasn’t much of an improvement. As chief of correspondence of the emergency-accounts section in the department’s procurement division, I could watch from a front-row seat while tax dollars were squandered on outrageous programs and federal agencies paid exorbitant sums for equipment that could have been purchased at half the price on the open market.

I argued until I was blue in the face, but it was all to no avail. The fix was in. I finally figured that government service was not for me.

Over the next months I began working as a freelance writer for the New York Herald-Tribune, the Pittsburgh Press and the Paul Block newspaper chain, among others. I also worked for a number of congressmen, writing speeches, handling their public relations and investigating issues.

Meanwhile, Roosevelt was finding that his smooth-sailing ship of state had run into some rough water. The Supreme Court declared both the NRA and the AAA unconstitutional and challenged other parts of Roosevelt’s New Deal program.

Roosevelt, of course, fought back. He began behind-the-scenes maneuvers to purge members of the Senate who opposed his pet projects, and blatantly tried to pack the Supreme Court with justices who would be subservient to his whims. For me that was the last straw. I publicly broke with the President and began directing my efforts against his tyrannical plans.

At the height of the controversy I wrote to Supreme Court Justice James C. McReynolds and questioned him about the rumors circulating in the capital that he intended to retire. McReynolds advised me in his reply to “disregard” all the talk about his resignation, and I leaked the text of the letter to my friend Lyle Wilson, Washington bureau chief of United Press. The story put a damper on Roosevelt’s court-packing plan and spelled defeat for his judicial reorganization proposal in Congress.

Only nine months after FDR took the oath of office for his second term as President, I continued my assault by revealing in the New York Herald-Tribune on October 31, 1937, that Roosevelt was hoping for a war in Europe so that he could sidestep the Constitutional provision limiting a President to eight years in office and seek an unprecedented third term. The story was later reprinted in full in the Congressional Record, only weeks before the election in 1940.

Of course, my organizing activities against Roosevelt earned me his undying hatred, just as my efforts in his behalf a decade earlier had won his friendship. But it was clear he had become a demagogue and wanted to be a sort of king or a president-for-life. I was not alone in that assessment, and my opposition to a third term for Roosevelt also gained for me the fellowship of many politicians and even the grudging admiration of one of Roosevelt’s own Cabinet secretaries, Cordell Hull.

For decades Hull had toiled in service to the nation. He volunteered for duty in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and upon his return he rode the Tennessee hills as a circuit judge. He was elected to Congress in 1907, and he remained there until Roosevelt beckoned him in 1933.

Between 1921 and 1924 he had paid his political dues serving as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. As secretary of state, he suffered in silence while Roosevelt used Undersecretary Sumner Welles - a closet bisexual - to direct foreign policy from the White House, undercutting Hull at every turn.

At first, Hull had ample reason to be patient. He wanted to be President and told me later that Roosevelt had secretly promised Hull not to seek reelection to a third term. Roosevelt, Hull claimed, had even vowed to support him for the Democratic nomination. But unknown to Hull at the time, FDR had made the same guarantee to a score of others.

Months went by - crucial organizing months - while Roosevelt refused to discuss the issue of a third term publicly. Finally, when FDR made his move, Hull realized he had been betrayed. By the time Roosevelt’s third term ended in 1944, Hull would be 72 - too old, he figured, for a tough race for the White House.

Early in 1941 I came upon some incredible information that, if true, could have badly tarnished Hull’s shining political image. Remembering his personal kindness years before, I wrote to the secretary of state and requested a private audience.

Independently, I managed to confirm the gist of the story that concerted events dating back to the beginnings of Hull’s career in public life. My intention was merely to get a statement from the secretary of state and then publish the story. In a series of meetings over the following weeks Hull acknowledged the truth of what I had discovered.

The scene of our meeting in Hull’s office is still etched deeply in my memory: the courtly secretary of state, hunched over in despair, sobbing and pleading with me to keep the story secret. As Hull related to me the difficult circumstances Roosevelt had placed him in, I began to understand the sorrow and anguish he had suffered. He’d had enough, I decided. I promised Hull never to reveal the information I had obtained, and I have kept that confidence to this day.

Hull told me he never forgave Roosevelt for double-crossing him in 1939; yet he remained in office, cautiously and carefully tying to hold together the fabric of U.S. foreign policy. Hull knew he was the only man in the New Deal Cabinet who had the power and stature to blow the whistle on Roosevelt’s chicanery. But he remained a loyalist for the good of the nation. It was clear that war clouds were on the horizon and that a political crisis in the United States could only benefit the enemies of democracy.

It was in this volatile and uncertain atmosphere that Cordell Hull telephoned me early on Saturday, November 29, 1941, and asked me to see him in person as soon as possible. He wanted to discuss a matter of extreme importance with me, and it was a subject of such sensitivity, it could not be talked about on the phone. There was an obvious note of urgency in his high-pitched voice, and I quickly agreed.

We met outside the State Department (then housed in what is now known as the Old Executive Office Building next door to the White House), and after exchanging brief hellos, walked briskly across the street to Lafayette Park. As we sat on a bench, Hull was fidgeting nervously, betraying the emotions usually masked by his cool demeanor. Suddenly, he burst into tears, and his lanky figure shuddered.

I resisted an impulse to drape my arm around his shoulder and waited patiently for him to regain his composure. Sucking in great gasps of air, Hull began to talk. His words came slowly at first and then fairly streamed from his mouth. It was as if he could barely wait to pronounce them he was so anxious to tell the story.

I could only sit in startled silence as Hull told me Japan was going to attack Pearl Harbor within a few days, and pulled from his inside coat pocket a transcript of Japanese radio intercepts detailing the plan. Recovering from my shock, I began to question him.

“Why are you telling me this?” I blurted out. “Why don’t you hold a press conference and issue a warning?”

“I don’t know anyone else I can trust,” he replied, shaking his head. “I’ve confided in some of your colleagues in the past, but they’ve always gotten me into hot water. You’ve had the goods on me for months; yet you’ve kept your promise not to publish them. You’re the only one I can turn to.”

“Does the President know the Japs are going to attack Pearl Harbor?”

“Of course he does. He’s fully aware of the plans. So is Hoover at the FBI. Roosevelt and I got into a terrible argument, but he refuses to do anything about it. He wants us in this war, and an attack in Hawaii will give him just the opportunity. That’s why I can’t hold a press conference. I’d be denounced by the White House. No one would believe me!”

(Hull’s allegations about FBI complicity in the coverup were confirmed more than a month after Pearl Harbor. A bylined article by United Press reporter Fred Mullen in the Washington Times-Herald declared, “FBI Told Army Japs Planned Honolulu Raid.” The article explained that the bureau had intercepted a radio-telephone conversation on December 5, which mentioned details of the planned raid. Within hours of publication Hoover pressured the newspaper into pulling the story from its later editions.)

After exacting a promise from me never to reveal where I got the document, Hull gave me a transcript of the Japanese message intercepts. I nearly ran the few short blocks to the National Press Building on 14th Street, where I had an office. I took the elevator up to the United Press bureau and brushed past the clerks and reporters into Lyle Wilson’s private office.

Wilson was a longtime friend who had used many of my stories in the past. He was also a chum of Steve Early, Roosevelt’s press secretary; so I swore him to secrecy before I would reveal the purpose of my visit.

I told Wilson I had just left a high governmental official who gave me unimpeachable evidence that Pearl Harbor was about to be attacked and that Roosevelt knew all about it. Wilson was incredulous. He told me my story was simply unbelievable and refused to put it on the United Press wire. Again I made Wilson swear an oath that he would not divulge what I had told him, and I hurried out of his office.

After a frantic series of calls I finally located Harry Frantz, until recently the cable editor of United Press. Harry still had excellent connections at the bureau, and he managed to transmit the story on the UP foreign cable - but not the syndicate’s main trunk line.

Though written in haste, the story as it left Washington contained all the important details of what Hull had confided to me earlier that morning. Yet, somehow, the text was garbled in transmission.

The only newspaper in the whole world to use any portion of the story was the Honolulu Advertiser. A front-page banner headline in the paper the morning of Sunday, November 30, “JAPANESE MAY ATTACK OVER WEEKEND!” A subhead noted, “Hawaii Troops Alerted”.

Suspiciously, the story didn’t mention that the target of the Japanese attack would be Pearl Harbor itself. The horrible cost paid for that simple omission is well-known.

The gloomy news of the calamity at Pearl Harbor descended on Washington like a pall. A couple of days later Lyle Wilson phoned and asked me to come to the bureau. As I walked into his private office, he handed me Roosevelt’s personally edited press release about the “surprise offensive,” saying simply, “I want you to have this.”

“Why are you giving this to me?” I inquired. “It will probably be recorded as the most famous speech Roosevelt ever gave!”

“Steve Early gave it to me,” he replied. “You see, I told him I knew about the attack and didn’t use the story. It was Early’s way of saying thanks. I muffed the most important story of my career. We might have saved thousands of lives.”

Wilson slumped behind his desk and buried his face in his hands. Clutching FDR’s press release, I sat in an empty chair and wept.

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See also:
World Jewish Congress FDR & WWII.

World Jewish Congress FDR & WWII

The following article seems to describe a fairly overlooked aspect of history, and should therefore be of interest to all who seek a full and accurate understanding of the origins of World War II. We have not physically verified all of the assertions, but the sources are cited and referenced according to academic standards. If anybody knows of demonstrable inaccuracies in this article, please let us know.

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	Samuel Untermeyer, who called for a "holy war" against Germany in 1933
	Unity in Dispersion
	A History of the World Jewish Congress and particularly, the Jewish influence on the Roosevelt Presidency and the Origins of WWII
	Udo Walendy

In order to emphasize the documentary character of this publication, we left largely without commentary our examination of the very important document on the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Unity in Dispersion, a History of the WJC, published in New York in 1948. The WJC is a permanent world organization. It has, conforming to its aim, attempted to influence, and, in fact, has exercised enormous influence on world politics. It has shaped the destiny of mankind ever since its inception in 1936, although it does not even represent a national entity within the meaning of international law. An objective historiography must therefore take notice of this influence and its consequences. Following a brief review of the beginnings of international collaboration, the book begins with the First Zionist Congress in Basle in 1897, at which two different objectives were set: The creation of a Jewish state in Palestine; Joint efforts to improve the living conditions of Jews living in the "Diaspora," i.e. outside Palestine. At the Zionist Conference convened in Carlsbad in 1922 it emerged that, in addition to the Zionist Organization which was increasingly engaged with Palestine-related tasks, a Jewish world organization should be created to take care of problems in terms of world politics. In 1932 the first preparative conference of the World Jewish Conference was convened in Geneva, but the essential preconditions for this meeting had already been fulfilled during World War One by the efforts and unification of the Jews, predominantly in the United States. These had assumed leadership in the representation of worldwide Jewish interests as early as 1919 in Versailles. ‘The Jews took an active part in the constitution of many of these new nations, but they were also concerned with securing their own recognition as a national minority’ (pp. 23-24). ‘By the time the Peace Conference assembled in Paris at the beginning of 1919, a great number of Jewish delegations from many lands had found their way to the French capital. It became clear to responsible Jewish statesmen that their first task was to coordinate the activities of these delegations. ‘On March 25, 1919, a Comite des Delegations Juives aupres de la Conference de la Paix (Conference of Jewish Delegations at the Peace Conference) was formed, composed of delegations from Palestine, the United States, Canada, Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, East Galicia, Rumania, Transylvania, Bukovina, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece, speaking in the name of democratically elected Jewish Congress, National Jewish Councils, or federated Jewish communities. In addition, the World Zionist Organization and the B'nai B'rith were represented on the Comite. The Comite des Delegations Juives thus rightly claimed to be the spokesmen of over ten million Jews’ (p. 26). ‘The work of the Comite des Delegations Juives was crowned with a substantial measure of success’ (p. 26). These measures included: a) The protection of the rights of minorities; b) Influence on international law to restrict the sovereignty of a state. This obviously referred primarily to Germany, even if she is not explicitly mentioned, for it was only with reference to Germany that one could possibly define such endeavors as having been "crowned with success." For instance, the provisions governing the rights of minorities that were imposed on Poland (which she never complied with) were at no time regarded as a restriction of the rights of sovereignty by Poland, as has been proven by Warsaw's politics during the years from 1919 to 1939. This is also valid for Czechoslovakia and Lithuania (here with reference to the German Memel territory). When the Versailles 'peace conference' was drawing to an end, the committee did not disband. Instead, it decided to continue its work as a permanent panel under the chairmanship of Dr. Leo Motzkin (p. 27). In this manner, great influence was exercised within the Interparliamentary Union, at International Minority Congresses, and on the panels of the League of Nations (p. 28). Dr. Nahum Goldmann convened the first preparative World Jewish Conference in Geneva, on behalf of the American Jewish Congress. It took place on 14-17 August 1932. The Zentralverein Deutscher Staatsbuerger Juedischen Glaubens (Central Association of German Nationals of Jewish Faith) and a number of other organizations refused to participate in this conference. The purpose of the WJC was defined by Dr. Nahum Goldmann as follows: ‘It is to establish the permanent address of the Jewish people; amidst the fragmentation and atomization of Jewish life and of the Jewish community; it is to establish a real, legitimate, collective representation of Jewry which will be entitled to speak in the name of the 16 million Jews to the nations and governments of the world, as well as to the Jews themselves’ (p. 33). The Conference elected an Executive Committee, in which Dr. Stephen Wise and Dr. Nahum Goldmann were entrusted with leading positions. During 5-8 September 1933 and 20-23 August 1934 the second and third preparative conferences convened. In the meantime, the rise to power of National Socialism had become the crucial subject at these conferences. Demands for uncompromising action, calls for the boycott of German goods and services and the rejection of any coexistence were usually based on allegations such as: "World Jewry, not German Jewry, is under attack," therefore this is a "fight for freedom and justice for all races, religions and peoples" (p. 38). Dr. Nahum Goldman was elected President of the Executive Committee. The World Jewish Congress was founded in Geneva during a convention held 8-15 August 1936. From thirty-two countries, 180 delegates arrived, but none from Germany and none from the Soviet Union. At the meeting, Dr. Nahum Goldmann analyzed the world situation and concluded that the existing sovereignty of nations should be considered obsolete. However, the idea of the League of Nations should be reinforced to safeguard the interests of the weaker groups in the world: ‘Millions of Jews in eastern Europe are being economically expropriated, politically disenfranchised, and physically terrorized in the name of the supremacy of the state and of the dominant nation’ (p. 49). ‘Where the equal rights of a Jewish community are affected, we are no longer concerned with a regional Jewish question, but with the Jewish question, with a common, worldwide Jewish interest. The surrender of the Jews' equality of rights in any country would mean the surrender of their equality of rights throughout the world. ‘Dr. Goldman concluded by linking the Jewish fate with that of humanity itself. We know quite well, he said, that we cannot by ourselves succeed in repelling the attack launched by the Germans upon our right to exist. We can only join forces with the many others in the world who in their own interest must fight against this world menace’ (pp. 50-51). In conclusion, Dr. Goldmann integrated the Jewish destiny with that of the whole of mankind, which "has to fight against this world menace in her own interest – to defend against an aggression, which was started by Germany" (p. 51). It was emphasized that "fighting against Hitlerism is one of the most important tasks" and that "anti-Semitism must be branded an international crime," that "propaganda is at present one of the main instruments of foreign politics," and that a boycott as well as a confidential international intelligence service were required to be used as political weapons (pp. 56-57). Dr. Stephen Wise became President of the Executive Committee and Dr. Nahum Goldman President of the Administrative Committee. The founding of the World Jewish Congress was to terminate the era of Jewish disunity and uncoordinated action (p. 73). When World War Two erupted, the WJC's headquarters were moved to Paris, and in July 1940, to New York City. In Geneva, the office continued to exist under the management of Dr. Gerhard Riegner and Dr. Abraham Silberschein; it maintained contacts with the countries occupied by Germany and with the International Red Cross. The first inter-American conference convened in November 1940, shortly before America's entry into the war, in Baltimore, Maryland. It dealt with plans for the re-integration "of large Jewish masses" in Europe (p. 127). In 1942, eighteen representative committees for Jewish communities in the countries occupied by Germany were created. Together they formed the Advisory Staff for European Jewish Matters. This amalgamation took place during a meeting on 6-7 June 1942 in the Hotel Commodore in NYC; three hundred delegates attended. At this meeting, which was coordinated with the WJC, a demand was made for the first time that no peace negotiation should ever be carried out without representatives of the WJC participating (p. 131). On the basis of some preparatory work dating back to April 1939, the 'Institute of Jewish Affairs' was founded on 1 February 1941 in NYC, under the directorship of Dr. Jacob Robinson. Amply provided with a staff of scientists, this institute was assigned the task of gathering information from all parts of the world concerning Jewish affairs and to prepare the Jewish peace program to be submitted to the peace conference after the end of hostilities (pp. 134-136). The Institute did not consider the period from 1919 to 1939 as "peacetime," but as an "armistice" or at most a "post-war situation" (pp. 136-137). As early as 1942, the "punishment of war crimes" had become a central question, and the necessity was stressed that a basis should be created on which crimes could be punished retroactively as from 1933. The Institute entertained close relations with the Geneva office and the British Section of the WJC in London, particularly after the British Section had built up a research staff of over thirty experts. The Institute compiled a remarkable amount of material in its archives, consisting of thousands of documents, press reports and other material. In these archives there are hundreds of papers, projects, drafts and manuscripts, ready for printing. Part of this material is confidential and will most likely never be published (p. 139). Some of the most important publications are: Zorach Warhaftig, Starvation over Europe (1943); (no authors named), Jews in Nazi Europe, Where Shall They Go? (1941); Hitler's Ten Year War on the Jews (1943) (this book made a tremendous impression on the Allied governments and served as a basic textbook at the Nuremberg Military Tribunal); Jacob Robinson, Unfinished Victory (1946); Zorach Warhaftig, Uprooted (1946); Jacob Lestschinsky, Balance Sheet of Extermination. The most important paper transmitted to the American authorities was 'The Conspiracy against the Jewish People,' the main chapters of which were headed: I. The Originally Conceived Plan of Extermination of the Jewish People II. The Different Stages of the Crime Against the Jewish People III. The Responsibility of Individuals and Organizations (translated from the German original). During 26-30 November 1944 the 'War Emergency Committee' of the WJC convened in Atlantic City, at which 269 delegates coming from forty countries attended, and for which the Institute of Jewish Affairs had compiled the most essential papers to be discussed, such as: The Jewish migration on the European continent to be expected as a result of the war. The emigration of Jews from Europe to other parts of the world, including mass settlement in Palestine, were discussed, along with the problems of the Jews who could not be repatriated (p. 146). The claims and properties of Jews who have remained without heirs should not be assigned to the respective state – as is general practice – but to the Jewish Representative Organization. Wiedergutmachung and reparations1 as well as the participation of Jewish representatives in the meetings of large international panels. Jewish claims for future peace settlements and participation therein. ‘In December, 1944, Dr. Kubiwutzki sailed on a mission to the European continent, being the first Jewish emissary from overseas to arrive in Belgium and Switzerland since the outbreak of hostilities, and one of the first to visit France. ‘Direct contact between the British Section and the continent of Europe began in November, 1944’ (pp. 132-133). For the Allied conference in San Francisco in April 1945, at which the statue of the United Nations (UNO) was voted in, the WJC handed preparative proposals to the representatives of the different nations, until the Charter itself was formulated (p. 147). A remarkable chapter in Unity in Dispersion is the one that deals with the 'Rescue Attempts': "From September, 1939 until June 29, 1942, the Jews were the forgotten men of the democratic world" (p. 160). There was almost no information on the fate of East European Jewry. A first attempt to break this silence was made during the St. James Conference in London in January 1942, when eight exile governments and the National Committee of 'Free France' convened for a "discussion on German war crimes." ‘On January 13, 1942, the Conference issued a declaration branding the reign of terror instituted by Germany in occupied countries, the mass expulsions, the execution of hostages, and the massacres. Not one reference was made to the crimes against the Jews’ (p. 160). ‘On February 18 the Congress made formal representations on this subject to the Conference, asking for a specific statement with reference to the "many and special crimes against the Jews." It was not until almost three months later that General Wladyslaw Sikorski, President of the Conference, finally replied that a specific reference to the sufferings endured by the Jews "might be equivalent to an implicit recognition of the racial theories which we all reject"’ (pp. 161, 261-262). Thereupon the British section of the WJC organized on 29 June 1942 its own 'Conference of the Press of the Free World,' where the "Facts of a Systematic Extermination of European Jewry" were announced. What "facts" these were is not revealed in the conference minutes. One is therefore forced to rely on a number of general press reports that cannot be checked out and are lacking documentary value. There were, however, immediate reactions in Britain and abroad. The British Broadcasting Corporation transmitted – for the first time – pertaining news, and there were mass demonstrations in the US, which addressed war crimes and the rescue of European Jewry. It was to one of these meetings (Madison Square Gardens, 21 July 1942) that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent the following message: ‘The Jews were Hitler's first victims, and ever since they have been in the forefront of resistance to Nazi aggression’ (p.161). The WJC commented that "This sentence rightly characterized the Jews of whatever nationality as an allied people of the United Nations" (p. 240). At the World Jewish Congress in NYC, the then President of this congress, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, stated on 3 December 1942: ‘We are not denying and are not afraid to confess that this war is our war and that it is waged for the liberation of Jewry... Stronger than all fronts together is our front, that of Jewry. We are not only giving this war our financial support on which the entire war production is based, we are not only providing our full propaganda power which is the moral energy that keeps this war going. The guarantee of victory is predominantly based on weakening the enemy forces, on destroying them in their own country, within the resistance. And we are the Trojan horses in the enemy's fortress. Thousands of Jews living in Europe constitute the principal factor in the destruction of our enemy. There, our front is a fact and the most valuable aid for victory.’2 In its official document, the WJC neither mentioned any details on the speeches and resolutions of the December 1942 meeting, nor on the meeting as such. However, it can be proven from press reports that the meeting did take place, and Chaim Weizman's speech has been confirmed in its content by an array of facts. Obviously, we are facing here a clear example showing that the present documentation does not contain all the necessary details that are required for historical research to give us an objective judgment of events. It remains as a presentation on Jewry as seen by Jews. It must therefore be supplemented by other documents, including the American government's diplomatic papers. But even this would not suffice. Dr. Nahum Goldmann refers to other connections: ‘This weakness of the President frequently results in failure on the part of the White House to report all the facts to the Senate and the Congress; its description of the prevailing situation is not always absolutely correct and in conformity with the truth... ‘When I lived in America, I learned that Jewish personalities – most of them rich donors for the parties – had easy access to the President. They used to contact him over the head of the Foreign Secretary and the representative at the United Nations and other officials. They were often in a position to alter the entire political line by a single telephone conversation... ‘Stephen Wise... occupied a unique position not only within American Jewry, but also generally in America.... He was a close friend of Wilson... he was also an intimate friend of Roosevelt and had permanent access to him, a factor which naturally affected his relations to other members of the American Administration.... ‘The President's car stopped in front of the verandah, and before we could exchange greetings, Roosevelt remarked: "How interesting! Sam Rosenman, Stephen Wise and Nahum Goldmann are sitting there discussing what order they should give to the President of the United States. Just imagine what amount of money the Nazis would pay to obtain a photo of this scene." ‘We began to stammer to the effect that there was an urgent message from Europe to be discussed by us, which Rosenman would submit to him on Monday. Roosevelt dismissed him with the words: "This is quite all right. On Monday I shall hear from Sam what I have to do," and he drove on.’3 This should only be understood as an example that is off the record, but may nevertheless be of paramount significance. Nor is it unimportant to know that Samuel Untermeyer, who called for a "holy war" against Germany in 1933, ‘was so close to Roosevelt that his nephew Lawrence Steinhardt became the new US ambassador in Moscow in the fall of 1938, succeeding the President's friend Joseph Davis. It is customary in American politics, that only the closest friends of the President are normally entrusted with jobs of this importance.’4 Equally important, but not mentioned in the diplomatic papers, is certainly the creation of a 'World Anti-Nazi Council to Fight for Human Rights.' It was founded in 1936 by Samuel Untermeyer together with the British unionist, Sir Walter Critine, to serve as an Agent for "psychological warfare" and – concealed from the public – to be financed by the Jewish Defense Fund. Winston Churchill became one of its activists. And the ideas of the American President F. D. Roosevelt – years before the actual commencement of the war! – about a sea blockade and "quarantine" against "the Dictators" (directed however only against Germany and Japan) in collaboration with Britain which would have to be pressured for this purpose, exposed the world-political dimensions of the engagement of "pressure groups." Also the catchword of the "rejected coexistence" had been assumed by FDR years before the war.4      Henry Morgenthau jr: US Finance Minister who emphatically intervened in favor of a war-like engagement of the United States even before the war in Europe began. Author of the infamous ‘Morgenthau Plan’ unofficially, if not officially, implemented after the defeat of Germany by Dwight D. Eisenhower (see James Bacque, Other Losses and Crimes and Mercies). But we return to the WJC documentation. Inspired by these measures, Great Britain and USA convened the so-called Bermuda Refugee Conference. It seemed that this conference was in fact dealing with the "refugee problem" and not with the rescue of Jews. The representatives of the Jewish organizations were even refused participation (p. 146). Neither the sending of food into the ghettos nor a liberalization of the immigration policy on the part of the US or Palestine was discussed at this conference. It was not until 22 January 1944 that a new kind of reaction was heard: President F. D. Roosevelt created the 'War Refugee Board.' Members were the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War. The Director of this panel was Henry Morgenthau's deputy, John W. Pehle. The War Refugee Board was the result of constant encroachment upon the US administration by the WJC. The two continued to be in close contact, and relations between the WJC and the military commands were likewise very good. ‘However, it was in vain that it endeavored since June, 1944, to have the instruments of annihilation – the gas chambers, the gas vans, the death baths, the crematoria – attacked in force either by the underground fighters or by Allied paratroopers. Neither did the Congress succeed any better in this respect in its negotiations with the Soviet Embassy, nor were E. Frischer, A. Reiss, and Dr. I Schwarzbart more successful in their conversations with the Czechoslovak and Polish Governments, respectively’ (p. 167). In London, discussions on the bombing of the "extermination chambers" came to nothing. Respective details or documents which might assist in revealing what information was available at the time cannot be found; no names, hours or meeting places are mentioned. This is all the more regrettable, considering that now, forty years later, no pertinent documentation on this vexing subject seems to exist. ‘The persistent silence of the Red Cross in the face of the various stages of the extermination policy, of which it was well informed, will remain one of the troubling and distressing riddles of the Second World War’ (p. 168). – although "the greatest pressure" was exercised on the International Red Cross (p. 200). The World Jewish Congress took several rescue measures into its own hands: ‘On June 14, 1940, 14 large cargoes of medical supplies, the first of their kind, were sent from Geneva to the Jewish community in Warsaw. Food packages followed, and a total of over 50,000 such parcels were sent through the Geneva Committee to individuals. Considerable amounts of money were also transmitted during that first period to the territories occupied by the German and Soviet armies and reached the addresses’ (p. 202). At the important Allied war conferences, where the war aims of the USSR, the US and Great Britain were agreed upon and eventually realized by Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill (Teheran Oct.-Nov. 1943, Yalta Feb. 1945 and Potsdam Jul.-Aug. 1945), a Jewish problem was not discussed nor was any Jewish organization heard or took part in the proceedings. Strong pressure had to be exercised on the US administration in order to obtain from the 21 December 1945 Reparations Conference in Paris at least the creation of a fund to benefit those persons "who had seriously suffered under the Germans." Jews were not mentioned as being special or even as sole beneficiaries. The fund amounted to $25 million and was to be financed from German assets in neutral states or from the gold stocks found in Germany, provided these were not tied up within the currency system. Only after very intensive endeavors by the Jewish organizations was a final agreement reached on 14 June 1946; ninety percent of this fund and of the gold reserves, and ninety-five percent of the assets left without heirs, were to be made available to the Jews. But this, too, was tied to practical proposals by Jewish agencies for the resettlement of Jewish war victims (pp. 272-273). The peace conference which opened in Paris in August 1946, and ended on 10 February 1947 with peace treaties for Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Italy and Rumania, had attracted numerous Jewish organizations. On 20 August 1946 the WJC handed over a written declaration in which it demanded the fulfillment of numerous Jewish claims. The large powers recognized that the "Jews were the victims of racial and religious persecutions" but Jewish delegations were not admitted to the peace conference (p. 257). ‘There was a general lack of interest on the part of the non-Jews in those aspects of the Jewish problem which relate to international protection of Jewish rights in the peace treaties’ (p. 258). And this in spite of Stephen Wise's pointed letter that in Versailles 1919 the committee of Jewish delegations had been heard by the panels of the peace conference and that a "non admission at this time constitutes a serious break with a long tradition" (p. 258). In conclusion, yet another chapter of Unity in Dispersion dealing with the tracing department of the WJC – the Location Service – may be of some importance. It was founded in New York in the second half of 1942 and coordinated with similar facilities in Buenos Aires, Geneva and Stockholm. The tracing department in London did not begin to operate until 1 March 1945. Since 1942, the New York Location Service received more than 150,000 letters of inquiry and about 25,000 families were reunited. The London office located 24,629 lost persons during the period 1 March 1945 – 31 December 1947; 200,000 letters were exchanged, probably including the letters of acknowledgment and gratitude and the many inquiries as to changes of location. ‘Summarizing the work of the Congress in this field it may be said that its offices handled over 275,000 inquiries about missing Jews. Nearly 85,000 were traced and some 50,000 survivors were reunited with members of their families in all parts of the world’ (p. 298). Since search inquiries addressed to Jewish organizations in different countries have remained essentially unanswered, and due to the fact that non-Jewish organizations, such as the Red Cross, were not adequately equipped to meet these demands (p. 299), these searches were necessarily concentrated on the WJC offices. The figures indicated here may therefore be considered a documentary proof that the number of search reports between 1942 and 1948 was not higher. NOTES Nana Sagi, Wiedergutmachung für Israel (Reparation for Israel) Stuttgart 1981, p. 27. Professor Nana Sagi confirms in this official investigation that the resolution made in Atlantic City with respect to reparations had been submitted to the Allied governments on 27 October 1944, with the following text: ‘Jewish claims for compensation must be based on the recognition of the fact that the Jews belong to a nation which has been in a state of war with Germany since 1933.’ Archiv Peter, Colburg: D. H. T. chapter: The participation of the Jews in the Second World War and their co-responsibility for the final solution of the Jewish question. Nahum Goldmann, Mein Leben – USA, Europa, Israel (München 1981), pp. 53, 66-67, 116. Dirk Bavendamm, Roosevelts Weg zum Krieg (München – Berlin 1983), p. 310, 1956. From Udo Walendy, The Transfer Agreement and the Boycott Fever 1933, Verlag für Volkstum und Zeitgeschichtsforschung, Vlotho/Weser, 1987