9e58c6a5   
   XPost: edm.general, can.politics, us.politics   
   From: doctor@doctor.nl2k.ab.ca   
      
   In article ,   
   Mr.Smartypants  wrote:   
   >On May 16, 2:44=A0pm, doc...@doctor.nl2k.ab.ca (The Doctor) wrote:   
   >> In article .com>,   
   >>   
   >> Mr.Smartypants  wrote:   
   >> >A Factual Appraisal Of   
   >> >The 'Holocaust'   
   >> >By The Red Cross   
   >> >The Jews And The Concentration Camps:   
   >> >No Evidence Of Genocide   
   >>   
   >> >12-12-5   
   >>   
   >> >A Factual Appraisal Of The 'Holocaust' By The Red Cross   
   >>   
   >> >The Jews And The Concentration Camps:   
   >> >No Evidence Of Genocide   
   >>   
   >> >There is one survey of the Jewish question in Europe during World War   
   >> >Two and the conditions of Germany's concentration camps which is   
   >> >almost unique in its honesty and objectivity, the three-volume Report   
   >> >of the International Committee of the Red Cross on its Activities   
   >> >during the Second World War, Geneva, 1948.   
   >>   
   >> >This comprehensive account from an entirely neutral source   
   >> >incorporated and expanded the findings of two previous works:   
   >> >Documents sur l'activit=3DE9 du CICR en faveur des civils d=3DE9tenus da=   
   >ns les   
   >> >camps de concentration en Allemagne 1939-1945 (Geneva, 1946), and   
   >> >Inter Arma Caritas: the Work of the ICRC during the Second World War   
   >> >(Geneva, 1947). The team of authors, headed by Fr=3DE9d=3DE9ric Siordet,   
   >> >explained in the opening pages of the Report that their object, in the   
   >> >tradition of the Red Cross, had been strict political neutrality, and   
   >> >herein lies its great value.   
   >>   
   >> >The ICRC successfully applied the 1929 Geneva military convention in   
   >> >order to gain access to civilian internees held in Central and Western   
   >> >Europe by the Germany authorities. By contrast, the ICRC was unable to   
   >> >gain any access to the Soviet Union, which had failed to ratify the   
   >> >Convention. The millions of civilian and military internees held in   
   >> >the USSR, whose conditions were known to be by far the worst, were   
   >> >completely cut off from any international contact or supervision.   
   >>   
   >> >The Red Cross Report is of value in that it first clarifies the   
   >> >legitimate circumstances under which Jews were detained in   
   >> >concentration camps, i.e. as enemy aliens. In describing the two   
   >> >categories of civilian internees, the Report distinguishes the second   
   >> >type as "Civilians deported on administrative grounds (in German,   
   >> >"Schutzh=3DE4ftlinge"), who were arrested for political or racial motive=   
   >s   
   >> >because their presence was considered a danger to the State or the   
   >> >occupation forces" (Vol. 111, p. 73). These persons, it continues,   
   >> >"were placed on the same footing as persons arrested or imprisoned   
   >> >under common law for security reasons." (P.74).   
   >>   
   >> >The Report admits that the Germans were at first reluctant to permit   
   >> >supervision by the Red Cross of people detained on grounds relating to   
   >> >security, but by the latter part of 1942, the ICRC obtained important   
   >> >concessions from Germany. They were permitted to distribute food   
   >> >parcels to major concentration camps in Germany from August 1942, and   
   >> >"from February 1943 onwards this concession was extended to all other   
   >> >camps and prisons" (Vol. 111, p. 78). The ICRC soon established   
   >> >contact with camp commandants and launched a food relief programme   
   >> >which continued to function until the last months of 1945, letters of   
   >> >thanks for which came pouring in from Jewish internees.   
   >>   
   >> >Red Cross Recipients Were Jews   
   >>   
   >> >The Report states that "As many as 9,000 parcels were packed daily.   
   >> >>From the autumn of 1943 until May 1945, about 1,112,000 parcels with   
   >> >a total weight of 4,500 tons were sent off to the concentration   
   >> >camps" (Vol. III, p. 80). In addition to food, these contained   
   >> >clothing and pharmaceutical supplies. "Parcels were sent to Dachau,   
   >> >Buchenwald, Sangerhausen, Sachsenhausen, Oranienburg, Flossenburg,   
   >> >Landsberg-am-Lech, Fl=3DF6ha, Ravensbr=3DFCck, Hamburg-Neuengamme, Mauth=   
   >ausen,   
   >> >Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, to camps near Vienna and in   
   >> >Central and Southern Germany. The principal recipients were Belgians,   
   >> >Dutch, French, Greeks, Italians, Norwegians, Poles and stateless   
   >> >Jews" (Vol. III, p. 83).   
   >>   
   >> >In the course of the war, "The Committee was in a position to transfer   
   >> >and distribute in the form of relief supplies over twenty million   
   >> >Swiss francs collected by Jewish welfare organisations throughout the   
   >> >world, in particular by the American Joint Distribution Committee of   
   >> >New York" (Vol. I, p. 644). This latter organisation was permitted by   
   >> >the German Government to maintain offices in Berlin until the American   
   >> >entry into the war. The ICRC complained that obstruction of their vast   
   >> >relief operation for Jewish internees came not from the Germans but   
   >> >from the tight Allied blockade of Europe. Most of their purchases of   
   >> >relief food were made in Rumania, Hungary and Slovakia.   
   >>   
   >> >The ICRC had special praise for the liberal conditions which prevailed   
   >> >at Theresienstadt up to the time of their last visits there in April   
   >> >1945. This camp, "where there were about 40,000 Jews deported from   
   >> >various countries was a relatively privileged ghetto" (Vol. III, p.   
   >> >75). According to the Report, "'The Committee's delegates were able to   
   >> >visit the camp at Theresienstadt (Terezin) which was used exclusively   
   >> >for Jews and was governed by special conditions. From information   
   >> >gathered by the Committee, this camp had been started as an experiment   
   >> >by certain leaders of the Reich ... These men wished to give the Jews   
   >> >the means of setting up a communal life in a town under their own   
   >> >administration and possessing almost complete autonomy. . . two   
   >> >delegates were able to visit the camp on April 6th, 1945. They   
   >> >confirmed the favourable impression gained on the first visit" (Vol.   
   >> >I, p . 642).   
   >>   
   >> >The ICRC also had praise for the regime of Ion Antonescu of Fascist   
   >> >Rumania where the Committee was able to extend special relief to   
   >> >183,000 Rumanian Jews until the time of the Soviet occupation. The aid   
   >> >then ceased, and the ICRC complained bitterly that it never succeeded   
   >> >"in sending anything whatsoever to Russia" (Vol. II, p. 62). The same   
   >> >situation applied to many of the German camps after their "liberation"   
   >> >by the Russians. The ICRC received a voluminous flow of mail from   
   >> >Auschwitz until the period of the Soviet occupation, when many of the   
   >> >internees were evacuated westward. But the efforts of the Red Cross to   
   >> >send relief to internees remaining at Auschwitz under Soviet control   
      
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