Home   69   200   300   400   500   600   700   800   900   1000   1100   1200   1300   1400   1500   1600   1700   1800   1900

 

Search for text:
Date Range From:
Year
Month
Day
Date Range To:
Year
Month
Day

Names Index

Entries Index

Places Index

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.




© 1996 - 2015. This material is copyrighted and cannot be used without the permission of the author.