WWII: Witnessing the Holocaust | Personal accounts of persecution and genocide by the Nazi regime
CHANNEL | Radio 4
FIRST BROADCAST | 30 March 1985
DURATION | 44 minutes 6 seconds
FIRSTBROADCAST
1985
Edward Schulte was a German industrialist who, in 1942, repeatedly passed information to the Allies about Hitler's plans for the Jews in Europe. This programme asks what the Allies' motives were for appearing to do so little to help the victims of the Final Solution. It also finds out why, even in post-war Switzerland, Schulte was keen to keep his identity a secret.
Nazi plans for the fate of the Jews in Europe were finalised at the Wannsee Conference of 1942, where the 'final solution to the Jewish question' was announced. In preparation for the conference, Adolf Eichmann drew up two lists of Jewish populations, one for occupied and the other for unoccupied countries. Had these Nazi plans been successful, they would have seen the murder of 11 million people.
Seven days after its liberation, the horrors of Buchenwald are made known.
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The broadcaster recounts the horrors of Belsen.
The survivors and the soldiers who relieved Belsen bear witness to the horrors of the camp.
A Red Cross appeal seeking relatives of children liberated from concentration and labour camps.
The only Briton found alive in Belsen describes his experiences there.
A Polish commercial artist describes his experiences in a German concentration camp.
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Harrowing memories of the concentration camps recounted by survivors.

The story of the man who warned the Allies about the Final Solution.
One of Auschwitz's most famous survivors talks to Sue MacGregor.
Broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy meets Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal.
Documents reveal that Britain knew something of the Nazi slaughter of the Jews as early as 1941.
Helen Bamber shares her memories of the liberation of Belsen.
Artist Marianne Grant tells of how she was forced to paint for Dr Josef Mengele in Auschwitz.
A Holocaust survivor and her grandson return to the scene to unlock her story.
Should more be reported on the atrocities in France?
The BBC broadcasts more information on the atrocities in occupied Europe.
Parliament's reaction to news of the Nazis' liquidation of the ghettos.
BBC management considers ways of combating anti-Semitism.
The importance of disseminating news on the liberated concentration camps.
News reports continue to emphasis the liberation of the concentration camps.
A harrowing and moving account of the conditions in Belsen.
Polish authorities thank the BBC for its support.
The submission of Patrick Gordon Walker's diary on Belsen.
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