Evening star., 1944-12-02

report estimates Lowell Mellett.
the number murdered at Birkenau
between April, 1912, and April, 1914
at 1,765,000
The horror of this story Is so great
that our minds instinctiyely recoil
We don't want to believe. We don't
want to think such things can hap
pen. We remember, too, that many
atrocity tales told during the last
war turned out to be untrue. We
don't want to be misled again
Sharing this feeling to some eX-
tent, despite all the evidence in its
hands of a deliberate German pol
icy of determination, the War Ref
ugee Board heSitated a long time
before making the document public
The substance of the present in
formation was received by cable In
July. The full text came by mail
more than month ago.
The decision to give the informa-
ton to the American people resulted
in part from the fact that it was
sponsored by a special assistant to
the American Minister to SWitzer-
land, Roswell D. McClelland. Mr.
McClelland a Philadelphian, has
been engaged in relief and rescue
work III Europe FOR several years
for the American Society of Friends.
The document contains two reports,
one made by two young Slovak
Jews and one by a Polish major.
The reports were made independ-
emily and without consultation be-
tween their authors. Both were de-
livered into Mr.. McClelland hands
by the representative of the Czech
government in Geneva, to whom
they had come through underground
channels.
Information Checked.
while it is Of course impossible
to directly vouch for their COM
plete authenticity. I have every
reason to believe that they are. un-
fortunately, a true picture of the
frightful happenings in these
camps" Mr. McClelland wrote to the
board
In connection with the report of
the SlovakS, Mr.. McClelland said he
had talked with member of the
BratiSlava Papal Nunciature, who
had personally interviewed the
young men and who declared the
impression they created in telling
their story was thoroughly con-
Vinclng. The young men were closely
cross examined. he said, and the
material that finally went into their
report included only that about
which there was no uncertainty in
their minds or in the minds of their
examiners.
The Czechoslovakian representa-
tive vouched for the reliability of the
Polish major and for the authen-
ITCHY Of his report. Mr.. McClelland
himself corrected the translation
from German into English.
The figures concerning the num-
bers of men and women admitted
to the two camps cannot be taken
as mathematically exact, the au-
thors themselves saying they are
no more than reliable approXima-
tions. But, in the opinion of MIR
McClelland. precise statistical
record would not detract in any
appreciable degree from the value
of these reports"
Reports Convincing.
Mr.. McClelland checked informa-
stlOn in the reports concerning the
dates and points of origin of con-
Voys OF Jews arriving at the camps
with information possessed by re-
liable Jewish and non-JeWish organ
Hations in Switzerland regarding
the departure Of such conveys from
various European countries. Some
OF the information he was able to
check by his own experience He
was in Southern France in August
and September of 1912 and witnessed
the deportation of large convoys of
foreign Jews from four different in
ternment camps, obtaining consider
able f1rst-hand information concern
Ing their numbers and the dates of
their departures.
The reports themselves seem COM
pletely convincing to any one who
reads them. The mass of detail
given is calculated to overcome any
doubts. A limited number of copies
OF the 60-page report has been
,mlnleographed and may be obtained
by writing to the War Refugee
Board in Washington.
The purpose in making the report