The Riegner Telegram was a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

message sent on 8 August 1942 from

Gerhart Riegner Gerhart Moritz Riegner (September 12, 1911 in Berlin – December 3, 2001 in Geneva) was a German philosopher and the secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress from 1965 to 1983. Life On August 8, 1942, he sent the famous Riegner Telegra ...

, then Secretary of

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act a ...

(

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

), to its New York and London offices. The cable confirmed the alarming reports that had reached the West previously about the German intention to mass murder the European Jews. Riegner was office manager of the WJC in Geneva. He was indirectly informed about the German plans for the

final solution The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution t ...

by German industrialist

Eduard Schulte Eduard Schulte ( 4 January 1891 in Düsseldorf – 6 January 1966 in Zürich) was a prominent German industrialist. He was one of the first to warn the Allies and tell the world of the Holocaust and systematic exterminations of Jews in Nazi German ...

. Through his British and American diplomatic channels (Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise of the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The AJCongress was ...

in New York and Sydney Silverman, a Jewish Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

and Chairman of the British Section, World Jewish Congress) Riegner sent the following message to his contacts via the

British Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...

and the State Department in Washington:"Riegner Telegram".
United States Library of Congress.

However, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, Riegner's telegram was met with disbelief. The

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

considered the telegram "a wild rumor, fueled by Jewish anxieties" while the British Foreign Office didn't forward the telegram for some time. Only on the 28 August 1942 did it find its way to the President of the

, Rabbi Stephen Wise. On the advice of Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, Wise decided to not make it public until confirmation had been received from State Department sources. When that happened in November, Wise held a press conference about it but it received little attention until the Bergson Group began to publicise it.

Notes

References

70 Years Ago: Riegner Telegram alerts world about Nazi Holocaust - World Jewish Congress websiteThe National Archives UK copy of the Riegner Telegram
*Günter Schubert: Der Fleck auf Uncle Sams weißer Weste. Amerika und die jüdischen Flüchtlinge 1938-1945., Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York *Heiner Lichtenstein: "Warum Auschwitz nicht bombardiert wurde", Köln 1980 *Walter Laqueur: Was niemand wissen wollte. Die Unterdrückung der Nachricht über Hitlers Endlösung", Frankfurt a. M. 1981 *Gerhard M. Riegner: "Niemals verzweifeln. Sechzig Jahre für das jüdische Volk und die Menschenrechte" Gerlingen 2001 *''Portraits Parlés'': Interview and portraits of Gerhard M. Riegner by Ariane Laroux, éditions of L'Age d'Homme. (2006) *Michael Berenaum: "A Promise to Remember" Bulfinch Press 2003 {{Holocaust by country, state=collapsed Telegrams Holocaust historical documents The Holocaust and the United States 1942 documents

See also

Notes

References