1942 August 20, FIRST HAND REPORT OF THE "FINAL SOLUTION" (Berlin)
Kurt Gerstein, a member of the SS, reported in detail the existence of extermination camps to Swedish Consul Baron Gören von Otter. Baron von Otter conveyed it to the head of the Swedish legation in Berlin, which refused to pass it on to the allies until August 1945. Gerstein tried again to speak to Papal Nuncio Cesare Orsenigo, who threw him out. Gerstein had joined the Nazi movement early on but left it in 1935 disillusioned. He joined the SS after his sister-in-law had been killed by their Euthanasia program with the intent to "see its workings.. and proclaim them to the world." Gerstein surrendered to the Americans and presented them with accurate information regarding Zyklon B gas and his biography. He was being held in a French prison with other SS prisoners when he allegedly hanged himself.
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