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1942 August 8, DR. GERHART REIGNER (Switzerland - USA) (Poland)

Representative of the World Jewish Congress in Switzerland, brought the first irrefutable evidence of the German plans for their "Final Solution" to the American Consulate in Geneva. He asked that the Vice Counsel Howard Elting send it to the State Department and to Rabbi Stephan Wise. Elting sent it on to the American Legation in Bern along with a note that confirming that Reigner was "serious and balanced". They in turn sent a telegram to the State Department on September 11 with a note advising that it was probably "a war rumor." Although it was decided to send a copy to Wise ,Elbridge Dubrow, a State Department official , recommended that Bern decline to send any more such messages which could reach a third party. The State Department, especially Gordon Hull and Sumner Wells, refused to send it on to Roosevelt and told Wise, after he approached them, not to publicize it until it could be "confirmed". U.S. officials withheld the news for three months.




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