Auschwitz and the Allies - by Martin Gilbert, published by Michael Joseph, London 1981 - First Edition. Dedicated copy by the author.
A collection of rare testimonies and documents first uncovered by Gilbert shedding light on the most difficult issue regarding the annihilation of European Jewry during the Holocaust - what was known to the Allies and when about the systematic extermination taking place in Auschwitz during the war. What were the detailed reports arriving in Washington and Jerusalem during the war, and why Auschwitz was ultimately not bombed by Allied forces. Gilbert shows the initial response to grim reports was disbelief, action only considered seriously after facts could no longer be denied, often halted by Allies' fear of "flood of Jewish refugees needing Western shelter". A central part discusses two Jews who escaped Auschwitz, documenting their escape route and information placed before Churchill on Auschwitz horrors in real-time. Gilbert reveals Churchill considered bombing rail lines and gas chambers themselves, something that has never been done before, which Gilbert also examines in his book.
Author Martin Gilbert - Churchill's official biographer published dozens of books and important documentary research on the fate of Jews in Europe.
XII, 368 p. Perfect hardcover copy with original dust jacket. Good - very good condition.
