everything seems to suggest that the tragic fate of the tormented, crushed
Jewish nation in Poland is being completed. Hence, the new deceits of the
German propaganda intended to lull the Jewish masses in the desired frame
of mind should be approached with all the more suspicion and caution.
[64] Germany is known for its inclination to present the world with
accomplished facts. Fait accompli, which was successfully used in the occupation
policy but only for so long, is now widely used in the sphere of war against
the Jewish “enemy”. Chełmno was an accomplished fact and so was the horrifying
massacre in Lublin and the dreadful liquidation “campaign” in the
Warsaw ghetto. For some reason Hitler and his companions have chosen not
to publicise, both among their fellow countrymen and abroad, the accomplishments
and progress in the sphere to annihilate Jews and other nations. Those
who think that crimes on such a scale can be committed only under special,
favourable conditions – in conditions of complete secrecy – are right. Even
though Treblinka and Bełżec would be considered a significant success from
the point of view of militant antisemitic ideology, to publicise the anti-Jewish
accomplishments would be inconvenient and disadvantageous for three
reasons: 1) because of the reaction of the Jewish public once it became aware
of its doom and thus [realised that it] had nothing to lose; 2) because of the
negative response of both the subjugated and the allied nations, which simply
do not suspect such a “solution” to ethnic problems; and 3) because of the
allied nations’ reaction towards their citizens of German origin.
The above reasons have resulted in a crime, whose viciousness and scale
surpass everything known from the history of wars, migrations of people, and
epidemics. It was committed in total isolation. The murder of three million
Jews in Poland shook the entire structure of German propaganda. Suddenly,
the remaining Jews became aware of the unprecedented massacre, whose victims
were their loved ones. The scales fell from their eyes. Consequently, the
news of death camps and all the German activities linked to the destruction
of Jews began to permeate first into the Polish and the German societies
and then abroad. The Declaration of a dozen Allied governments regarding
punishment for the perpetrators of this crime⁷⁸⁸ was inconvenient for the
788 The declaration of 11 Allied governments of 17 December 1942, condemning Nazi Germany’s
extermination policy towards Jews and announcing punishments for all those
responsible for this crime.
