Who is yehuda bauer

Yehuda Bauer records his testimony in Jerusalem, June 29, So She Focused on the Holocaust. Like this article? Get our e-newsletter. Be the first to learn about new articles and personal stories like the one you've just read. See album in full size. He saw the Jews from Kosow Lacki walk on foot toward the camp. When Lanzmann asks whether the gentleman is sad that there are no more Jews in Poland, he replies that it is not his business and that it doesn't matter to him. Once Jews began to arrive he was no longer allowed inside.

He describes hearing the cries coming from the camp, as well as the orchestra which was there to "drown out the cries of the Jews. Six transports arrived per day, and each had 60 train cars. Only 20 cars could be shunted to the camp to be unloaded at a time, so they divided each train into three parts. He worked in a field very close to the barbed fence, so he could hear the terrible cries. In fact, the camp was built partly on his fields.

He could not go inside, but could hear everything. In the beginning, he couldn't handle the sounds, but eventually he became accustomed to it. Now it seems impossible that it happened, though he knows it did. Lanzmann asks him about the smell emanating from the camp. He explains that initially the odor was terrible because the bodies were buried in mass graves, and the smell became too much so they dug up the graves and burned the bodies, spraying them with gas. He explains that there were not many Germans working, about Ukrainians, and about Jews working in the camp.

The Ukrainians worked eight hours per day and were allowed to leave the camp after hours, so they would come to the village. They don't believe all of the stories their parents tell, because they weren't there. One child comments that she knows what a Jew is, though she couldn't define it. A boy says that a Jew is "a guy who has a beard. Lanzmann presses them-- if they have found human bones, must the stories told by their parents be true?

One says yes, they must be, and another says he does not believe because his family is Ukrainian. A boy adds that the Jew he saw had a curved nose. When Lanzmann asks, the children say they don't have sympathy for the Jews because they are dark and have beards. When he says that he does not, they yell that he is a capitalist and a Jew. Jews are capitalists, they say.

The children admonish Lanzmann for not believing in God and when he asks whether it is worse to kill or to not be a Christian, they say that both are sins and both are bad. Lanzmann asks what they have learned about Jews in church, and they refuse to tell him. CU of the sun on the water. Boat on the river and under a bridge. The water. He gets out of the car and walks up to old rail cars. They are slowed down by a horse drawn wagon. Picture missing from - Repeat shot of Lanzmann walking towards the rail cars.

One swings back and forth on the sliding door rail. CU, blue eyes of one of the Polish boys. He smiles at the camera while sitting on the train. The other kids begin to play around on the trains again. Field beyond the tracks. Train goes the opposite way. Partially iced-over river underneath a bridge. Railway cars and path between the trains. More shots from the other side of the train.

Different Treblinka sign. Moving train and town. Stones that mark the boundary of the Treblinka camp. Memorial and the symbolic cemetery. A Polish man wakes him up and tries to move him from the bench. They talk for a moment. Other men sit on the benches at the station. Men converse on the tracks. Woman with young boy.

Herding cows. Fog rolls in across the fields. Train tracks. People get on and off at the Treblinka stop. The train departs, people wave from window. More shots. A cow grazes. CU woman. Man and a young boy. Woman looks at the boy. CU of a woman sitting in front of a wheel. She adjusts how she is sitting. CU of man eating on the train. CU of the man across from him. Two men sit across from each other having a conversation. CU of a couple.

Wagon passes with three men. Snow geese cross the road, the Treblinka sign in view. Man laying on the side of a road. Claude Lanzmann tries to help, but Mr.

Borowi continues sleeping. Railway cars in the distance. CU railway car. Feeding the pig. Railway cars. Pigeons on the roof. A disabled man, wagon, man sleeping. Wagon filled with hay. CU of railway cars. Pierres Memorial stones representing the railroad tracks into Treblinka. The ramp. Monument pierres Field with trees. Treblinka memorial stone for the gas chamber.

Memorial graveyard. Horse and worker in the distance. CUs, memorial stones. Stones marking the perimeter of the camp. Traveling into Treblinka camp, along the ramp and then out of the camp and through the surrounding woods. Memorial stones. Lazarett Sable Marche Location where Lazarett was located. Walking along the ramp and railroad tracks at Treblinka. Operator with a boom fiddles with the camera and steps away. Men speak. Tracking shot along and across railroad tracks. Dirt path with trees and plants on either side.

Repetitive shots of railroad tracks, moving backwards, the tracks disappear. Railroad tracks, moving to dirt ramp. Pan of skinny trees, dirt ramp, wood piles. Railroad tracks with train. Train approaches head-on down the track. Locomotive horn. More panning of the railroad track. Train passes by. Tracking shot of the railroad tracks, dirt path, vehicles passing.

Train station at Treblinka. Daszerskich St Treblinka. Low wooden building with Treblinka sign. Pan to a different sign. Clapperboard TR Pile of dirt beside railroad track, trees. Biker on path. Pan of buildings at the station, bench. CU of swans walking along dirt path.

Woman in boots. Pan of train cars. Bare trees. Train stops, smoke. Train with smoke behind trees. Train cars. Birds on bare trees. Station building with white Treblinka sign. Shot between two train cars. Treblinka sign through trees. Treblinka train station at night. Headlights, smoke. Train disappears. Building with white Treblinka sign. INT, one light is on. Trees in the wind.

Closer shot of the sign. Train moves slowly with lights on and smoke coming from the chimney against the darkening sky. Red lights in distance. Shot between two trains. People talk silent. Field with fence, bare trees, and houses in the background. Pan of area with cows, railroad tracks, power lines, and buildings. Person walks next to railroad track.

Grassy area. Blue car. Train pulls out of the station sound , smoke floats towards the camera. Pan of building and the railroad tracks with trees and dirt piles. Person with an umbrella walks next to tracks. Red stop lights. Pan of stationary train. White Treblinka sign.

Train pulls into the station. Brief section of sound without picture. Field with water. Train pulls away from the camera. Pan of tracks and surroundings. Field with trees and a rock tower, alternate shots.

TR upside down. TR Trees with memorial stones. Tower and memorial. Traveling shots. Black rocks. Tower with menorah. Engravings including Polaski and Austria. Rock tower. Dirt path, barren trees, chickens. Pan of houses in proximity to the Treblinka camp. Repeat shots. Two people walk down a muddy path. Brick building with green doors. TR inside a vehicle. Pan of neighborhood homes. Dog in a window. More shots of the Treblinka area.

Truck with hay. Arm holds a white card with TR Alternative shots. Dirt road. Farmer with cows. TR upside down Three men with a boat. Cows walking across the empty railroad tracks. Man on motorcycle. Woman walking with a bike. TR Pan of forest and landscape. TR upside down Woman walks with a stick. TR Ducks in water. Horse-drawn wagon carries passengers. TR Muddy street with horses. Woman with an umbrella. Church and everyday activity in the village.

TR Field and water. Horse galloping behind a fence. Traveling shot, car driving down the road in the rain, windshield wipers. Train on tracks. Treblinka sign. Church and locals. Pan of buildings. Blue Treblinka Sign. People and children on the street. Horse-drawn wagon with a man and two women with pink flowers drives by with sound.

Camera follows the wagon as it drives aways. People talk and cross the street. Local area, traffic. Treblinka Sign. Women walk towards the church and under its arch.

Street in town. TR Wolka Okraglik sign in yellow. Local Polish people. Moving train passes by. Men stand in front of the Malkinia station house across the tracks. Timetable schedule. Train slowly approaches the station, passes. Woman stands outside the building.

Man in a hat walks by. Train pulls away. Pan of empty tracks. Passengers gathered. A man hangs off the train and steps off to walk beside it. An engineer connects the car to another car. The man is visible between two train cars. Train moves sound. Pan to sound operator with boom. Stopped railcar. Train approaches and passes. Malkinia sign. Pan of tracks. More shots of trains at the station. Car crosses a bridge over the Bug River.

Road from the front of the car on the bridge. Trees alongside a road. Train, railway tracks. At dusk, bridge above river, landscape shots, crossing the bridge.

Railway station, tracks. Officer steps on the median. Trains pass. Boom guy. Various shots of the station. Man walks by the stopped train, switches lever and walks across tracks. Boy in a red coat walks by. Engineer pulls another lever. Empty tracks. Trains at Malkinia station near Treblinka. TR Train with smoke. Children walk on tracks. Horse-drawn wagon, bicycles.

Pan to railcar, surrounding buildings, and tracks. TR Empty hallway. Passengers wait. White card with TR People wait for the train on the platform. A man steps off the train and climbs onto another. Scenes at the railway station. TR Train passes sound. Some shouts. Pan to countryside and river. Hand covers camera.

In Malkinia, nearby to the Treblinka camp: horse-drawn wagons, Polish residents, farm animals. Inaudible dialogue. Man shoos pig from a cage in the wagon to a stall; sleeping pigs. Men smoke and shake hands. Boom guy taps microphone. Farmer moves pigs to a pen. Wagons travel down the muddy path. The camera pans out to reveal more of the wooded surroundings. Pehle walks around the woods and collects small branches.

It is fall or early winter and dead leaves cover the ground. He heads towards his house and goes inside. Claude Lanzmann sits across from Pehle in front of glass doors that reveal the woods that surround them. Lanzmann asks him to explain the policies up until the founding of the WRB.

Pehle talks about how difficult it was to acquire visas during this time because there was a fear of the burden and dependency that comes with aiding refugees. Lanzmann pushes for an explanation for why so few Jews were granted visas during the war and Pehle is unable to give a reason beyond the fact that there were obstacles involved. Pehle describes the obstacles they faced including the FBI's fear that Nazis would try to infiltrate and become recruiters for their cause in America.

Lanzmann and Pehle discuss how few people were allowed into the country during the war. Pehle talks about how the pressure to act intensified in December of Lanzmann wonders why the word "Jewish" was never mentioned when it was specifically Jews who were targeted. Pehle describes a situation that involved sending funds to save a large number of Romanian Jews in March of , but first a license from the Department of Treasury had to be acquired, which did not happen until July.

Then the State Department and the British government had certain objections to the license so the funds were delayed until December when a cable sent to the US revealed the urgent need for them. Information acquired through a cable about the extermination of the Jews caused the license to be rushed in December, but the situation in Europe had turned worse and it was too late to save the Romanian Jews.

Pehle learned that this cable was withheld from Mr. Morgenthau and the rest of the Department of Treasury by the State Department. Pehle explains why the State Department was on the defensive in regards to the funds. He reads a memorandum sent by the general coucil of the Treasury, Randolph Paul, which outlines the circumstances surrounding the cable regarding the extermination of the Jews. The cable was originally sent for the Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles and Rabbi Stephen Wise and it detailed the mass executions and the desperate living situations of the Jews in Europe.

The State Department then circulated a cable which advised that such messages about the Jews in Europe should not be made public. When asked why the State Department did not want people knowing about this Pehle speculates that they did not want the added pressure to act that would be caused by this information going public and that perhaps they feared hysteria.

Pehle participated in a meeting with the President, Secretary Morgenthau and Mr. Pehle reads a memorandum from Secretary Morgenthau to the President that details the State Department's failures in taking action. Without the actions of the Treasury Department the WRB would not have been founded when it was; it would have been formed even later in the war.

Morgenthau used his close relationship with the President to convince him of the necessity of founding the WRB. The policy of the WRB was to "take all measures within its powers to rescue the victims of enemy oppression who are in imminent danger of death, and otherwise to offer these victims all possible relief and assistance. The first thing the WRB did was send representatives abroad to aid the private organizations already located in various areas. These representatives were given diplomatic status.

The WRB proposed a warning be given to the Germans to let them know that any involvement in the annihilation of the Jews would be punished once the war was over. A memorandum from the British expresses their fears of embarrassment if the Germans were to agree to stop the extermination of Jews and release them to other countries as "alien immigrants. One of the greatest accomplishments of the WRB was their ability to transfer funds to private agencies that were already in action, most notably the Joint Distribution Committee.

Moses Leavitt, the head of the JDC, came to Pehle immediately to thank him for supporting them; he felt for the first time that someone in the government was on their side. The JDC was involved in creating false Latin American passports for Jews and at one point the Germans rounded up all those with fake passports and put them in a camp in Vittel, France.

Upon hearing this the WRB urged the Latin American embassies not to deny the validity of the passports while the war was going on and this intervention resulted in those people being saved from the extermination camps. Pehle discusses his preparation for the interview and even though he knew what was happening at the time, to go over the material again was still very shocking and he thinks that people try to forget it almost out of disbelief that something so horrible could occur.

At one point the WRB was able to attain eyewitness accounts from two people [Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler] who had escaped from Auschwitz which was valuable because at the time many people were trying to deny the truths of the war. A journalist named Elmer Davis from the Government's information office called Pehle to ask him to withdraw the article because his staff feared no one would believe it and that further releases from the government would then be discounted as well.

Pehle realized that people will reject believing such awful things. Lanzmann asks about the role of antisemitism and Pehle answers that he thinks many people, both non-Jews and Jews, are antisemitic without even realizing it. Pehle then tells a story of he and his friends, two of whom were Jewish, trying to find a country club at which to play golf.

Most of the clubs did not accept Jewish members, so they decided to join a Jewish golf club. Years later the club had to decide whether or not they were going to accept black members and in the end could not in good consience discriminate against blacks because they themselves had been discriminated against. Lanzmann speaks about the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz.

In there were requests from various Jewish organizations through different underground channels for the bombing of the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz, of the bridges, and of the crematorium at Auschwitz.

There was extensive knowledge of the locations and operations and this intelligence was sent to Morgenthau and to Pehle. Militarily it would have been very difficult and with the tracks could easily be rebuilt. Pehle says had just been to McGill University to speak on the the Holocaust and realized that a lot of people feel that much more could have been done and believe that the bombing should have taken place. Pehle says that at the time the WRB felt that resources should be spent on bombing German cities.

The Auschwitz factories were eventually bombed but they hesitated at bombing the crematoriums for fear of harming even more Jews. McCloy was completely focused on the war and was completely against the bombing. Pehle's own position changed over the course of time; he was very hesitant but the later into the war it got the more he thought this was something that should have been done.

By the time they felt it was an emergency and sent a strong letter recommending the bombing it was already November, and the gassing in Auschwitz was almost finished. Pehle reads excerpts from the letter he wrote to McCloy. The WRB was told that Auschwitz was out of bombing range and would require too much effort; they later found out that the camp was in the range of the Fifteenth Air Force. They would only accept unconditional surrender and would make no deals, which he realizes now might have prolonged the war and caused the loss of many lives.

They hesitated when it came to making any deals with the Germans for the trading of goods for Jewish lives because they did not want the Soviets to feel as though they were being undermined.

It was also a deal they thought doomed to fail because they did not trust the Germans. Pehle does not speculate as to why this was the case. Lanzmann asks Pehle if they tried to involve the Vatican and the Pope in matters of the war. Pehle recalls that they had meetings with the Apostolic Delegate to try and get the Pope to issue warnings but were unsuccessful.

The two men discuss what the plan was for the Jews they were able to save. Pehle states that the WRB "took the attitude that we would worry about that when and if we could get people out, but our concentration was going to be on getting people out.

Labor unions were upset at the thought of immigrants taking up jobs and other people were upset at the thought of the immigration laws being weakened The group of refugees brought to New York were allowed to become residents. Pehle defends this by pointing out that they took the German prisoners of war because Britain was having a difficult time.

They then go on to speak about the difficulty the WRB had with dealing with various Jewish organizations. CU on Pehle as he tells Lanzmann that the WRB preferred to work with the JDC because they were professionals and were not interested in Zionism as much as they were interested in rescuing people.

The camera moves from Pehle to Lanzmann who is sitting next to him on the couch and looking down at his notes. Lanzmann then looks at Pehle and the camera moves back to Pehle. Pehle recounts his dealings with Rabbi Kalmanowitz, head of the religious rescue organization Vaad Hatzala. The rabbi often came to Pehle's office unannounced and would pull his beard and cry.

He would also wait in Morgenthau's office and was insistent about saving a particular group of orthodox rabbis who escaped from Poland, crossed Russia and found refuge in Shanghai.

He wanted them brought to the US to perpetuate Jewish orthodoxy and he did not understand when they told him there were more pressing matters at the time. Often the WRB was approached about sending money to Switzerland to save specific rabbis and their families, but they did not think it was appropriate to save specific individuals and wanted to save people in a more general sense. Other suggestions involved approaching the Soviet government to ask them to dispatch paratroopers to seize the crematoria buildings and encouraging underground Polish forces to attack camps and destroy their buildings.

Ultimately the European Library Platform will target librarians, educationalists, multipliers and decision makers in Holocaust education and remembrance. During this phase the project focuses on analyzing the existing infrastructure and expertise of international library networks, creating an international expert team, establishing international partnerships and multilateral cooperation between national libraries, and developing a detailed concept framework to be presented at a final expert meeting.

In light of its excellent quality, its highly multilateral dimension and efforts to establish an international cooperation using existing infrastructure among a rarely targeted group, it was decided to award this project with the Yehuda Bauer Grant in The Latin American Network Capacity Building reaches out to public officials in Latin America, offering bi-annual seminars in the practice of genocide prevention, alternately in Auschwitz-Birkenau and a site related to genocide or mass atrocities in Latin America.

What were the warning signs? What preventative actions were taken, though unsuccessful? The participants of the seminar are to become agents of genocide and atrocity crime prevention in their country. In cooperation with the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, the targeted governments work to implement a standardized training curriculum that should become obligatory for all civil servants in the region and thus make the benefits of this programme available to the entire population of civil servants.

Recent archival research has challenged long-standing opinions on refugee policies and rescue myths, however only from a national perspective.