The CODOH Revisionist Forum

Back in the 1940s the US State Department used what's called a "central decimal file" system. Documents were sorted by subject. Many documents related to Jewish refugees were filed under decimal 840.48 Refugees. These documents were microfilmed in the following collection:

National Archives Microfilm Publication M1284: Records of the Department of State Relating to the Problems of Relief and Refugees in Europe Arising from World War II and Its Aftermath, 1938-1949

This collection was digitized and is available on the NARA website. You want to search the catalog for "M1284" and filter for Record Group 59 (State Department).
https://catalog.archives.gov/search?pag ... pNumber=59

Here is a guide to is (this is also at the beginning of the microfilm reels. If you have a citation or a date in mind, you can use this to figure out what reel it will be one.
https://www.archives.gov/files/research ... /m1284.pdf

Orthodox scholars have definitely combed through this. David Wyman cites these documents frequently in his endnotes for Abandonment of the Jews. However, I don't recall seeing revisionist books and articles make much use of this material. There probably isn't much if any detail on the "death camps" but some of it could be useful for doing a Sanning style analysis or something in that vein.

There are many rolls of microfilm, but the file numbering is pretty much chronological so you can jump to dates that are more likely to have something of interest. Citations in Wyman and other books might also be of use.

I have browsed through it a bit. Here is one relevant document.

Document /3080 (Sep 3, 1942)
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3016278 ... ctPage=519
Memo to Welles regarding Rabbi Wise's inquiries (about exterminations and human soap factories)
Even at this late a date, the State Department was clearly not convinced of the "exterminations" (they even use scare quotes in the memo). They say the Jews are being put to work.

Below is a sampling of documents from 1943 that are close to each other that might be of some relevance.

Document /3844 (May 21, 1943)
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3016297 ... ctPage=673
"Polish" refugees in British East Africa

/3845 Polish refugees in Mexico

/3846A talks about the family of the Chief Rabbi of Warsaw, Moses Schorr, who had apparently died in Uzbekistan in an NKVD camp. By 1943, the family had relocated to France (since they had bogus Latin American passports).

/3848 has an interesting report on Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe before the war

/3849 talks about 500 Polish rabbis who gone to Iran via the USSR and were trying to get visas to Mexico

/3852 talks about 30,000 Polish Jews in Iran

I've got yo go get my SCUBA gear and my flippers. I'll see you guys later, I'm taking a dive.

If anyone else is skimming this, is NND 730032 (SD V WNC NR1) [Around page 40 of the pdf format dump] redacted? I see only what appears to be a tail in place of the header, referencing Dec 13/1944 and a single line of teletype. Redaction appears to have been done with 2 blank sheets of paper.

(Neither of these are the control number, apparently NDD 730032 is the name of the roll and the SD V WNC NR1 is a file, I think. Perhaps the document control number is the CCC 149109)

Stubble wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 5:46 am If anyone else is skimming this, is NND 730032 (SD V WNC NR1) [Around page 40 of the pdf format dump] redacted? I see only what appears to be a tail in place of the header, referencing Dec 13/1944 and a single line of teletype. Redaction appears to have been done with 2 blank sheets of paper.

(Neither of these are the control number, apparently NDD 730032 is the name of the roll and the SD V WNC NR1 is a file, I think. Perhaps the document control number is the CCC 149109)

I'm not sure which specific file you're looking at, but NND 730032 is the declassification code (to make it clear that the documents aren't classified).

Much appreciated Archie. I'm trying to get a handle on this.

It's page 40 in this one;

840.48 Refugees/12-1444 - 12-3144: December 1944

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/301649232

It looked funny and stood out as largely blank skimming.

Stubble wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 7:14 am Much appreciated Archie. I'm trying to get a handle on this.

It's page 40 in this one;

840.48 Refugees/12-1444 - 12-3144: December 1944

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/301649232

It looked funny and stood out as largely blank skimming.

There's another one a few pages later. I don't know exactly what it means. But this one is stamped Dec 15 1944 so it seems to be a contemporaneous State Department thing. This stuff probably wasn't microfilmed until decades later. I think that stray sentence at the bottom on page 40 might be from some sheet behind the sheet they were microfilming. If you look closely you can see the edge of the paper above it.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/301649232?objectPage=44

Perhaps "MSG SWP 1954" means message swap? And 1954 is some sort of numbering for these messages? Just a guess.

Gotta be a breakfast order.

Message sausage with potatoes.

Maybe.

I think the head of the roll says it was shot in 1987.

The debacle with the poles in Mexico at 'Santa Rosa' is either depressing or comical. I'm going through roll 56 and that question is still open in the spring of 1946. Brazil said 'sure we will take 'em' back in 1942. 100+ were shipped to St Louis Missouri in 1944. In 1946, Columbia doesn't want them, Peru doesn't want them, Mexico says 'we can't take them for economic reasons', but Brazil still says 'sure, we'll take 'em, let us get back to you'.

Then there is the 1600 Hungarian jews run through Bergen Belsen and released then sent to Palestine.

These guys, apparently somebody paid 8,000,000 in gold and jewels for them to some nazi. Then they asked for 200,000 from the US branch of the ICRC to charter a boat. They paid out of pocket.

This nazi with the eight milli, he gets snagged in 1946, so the jews start telling everyone 'he has our 8,000,000 dollars worth of gold and jewels in his pocket, give it back to us'.

Hungry tells these jews, take it up with the Americans, they've got the guy, I already tried to get the jews their property back and they told us to have a meeting in Washington about it, maybe you'll have better luck.

The US tells the jews, you can talk to hungry after this meeting in Washington.

Both parties ignore the part about the ransom and talk simply about property in general.

The jews shoot back talking about fur coats and stuff, then it trails off for a while.

(The references to Hungary are supposed to say Hungary, not hungry, but, the error makes me laugh, so, I'm going to leave it)

840.48 refugees/ 7-2946 (I think I'm calling that out right) references Polish insurgents engaging in pogroms in Poland. This point of history is known, but little talked about.

Another memo from the world Jewish Congress, also entered with 7-2946 in the margin refers to 'rampant antisemitism' in Austria, specifically citing Vienna.

These memoranda are separate as 1 is a report prepared by a diplomat of a meeting with a catholic priest and the chief rabbi of Poland, the other from the world jewish congress. Both are stamped in the margin on the right hand side with the 840.48 refugees/ 7-2946.

In 840.48 refugees/ 7-3046 it appears Venezuela would like to take in the polish jews from Santa Rosa to have them cut sugar cane. Enclosed are a series of news clippings regarding this effort.

840.48 refugees/ 7-3046 also includes a memorandum from the world jewish congress regarding the persecution of jews in Afghanistan.

840.48 refugees/ 8-346 refers to tens of thousands of Polish jews arriving by train in Vienna causing a large concentration and problems locally. The memo advises holding these jewish refugees in Czechoslovakia. There are reply memos from the department of state and some others. So while you have this rabbi holding a meeting with the Polish head of state and a chaplain and a representative of the United States Army, where promises are made to crack down on the Polish Nationalists, you have tens of thousands of polish jews flooding Vienna where it has previously been discussed in memoranda that the population there is becoming incensed about the demographic shift being caused by the influx of jewish refugees.

The disposition of property paid as ransom for the 1,600 Hungarian jews transported from Auschwitz to Belsen, then to Palestine (8,000,000 dollars in gold, jewels, and apparently, fur coats) is discussed in 8-946. It appears the property will go to 'the jewish agency for Palestine'. I wonder if there will be a lawsuit against the red cross to seek reimbursement of the 200,000 dollars paid by the refugees to charter a boat. I also wonder how they had the capital for this endeavor, given all of their property was seized at intake at Auschwitz. (Question answered on roll 53 in 12-3044. 300,000 paid by 'emergency committee to save jewish people' as outlined in wire to Jerusalem to make ready to receive these 1,500 to 1,600 jews)

The roll ends with a multi page affidavit from Kurt Becker regarding the ransom payment made to him for getting the Hungarian jews out of Belsen. He states the value at roughly 2,000,000, not the 8,000,000 claimed in 1944 by the jewish agency for Palestine. He also refers to the 'fur coats' as 'animal hides' and says he got them with coffee.

Odd the amount of attention these 1,600 (now 1,500 according to the jews in Palestine [remember, there was only an allotment for 1,500 to immigrate to Palestine by the law]) seem to get across these reels. They and the Santa Rosa jews get a lot of attention.

These records are enclosed in 'reel 63'.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/301659429

From about page 698 through 712.

From roll 53

84o-.8 Refugees/2-18 44J Telegram

The intercepted telegram regarding immigration to Palestine is redacted.

Page 148 on this reel is a resolution from 'the world jewish congress' thanking 'the war refugee board' for helping to evacuate 'many jews' from axis territory. Also in this reel are receipts for expenditure and an accounting is given stating 2,000,000 spent on relocation efforts by the United States alone and 1,000,000 by the British. Also hundreds of thousands from sympathetic European countries.

The swiss appear to the the party handling transactions and banking services.

12-2044 jews in route to Palestine with a stop off in Bulgaria have spent around 50,000 dollars in us aid on transportation and providing food and medicine fighting typhus and malaria. In northern Italy 20,000,000 lira have been spent deporting the jews. All but 70 have been relocated. Also included, 'not one dollar' to aid assistance has been recieved from 'the world jewish congress'. 80,000 jews remain in Hungary, 17,000 are in Vienna. Sally Mayer secured the release of the 1,600 Hungarian jews from Belsen. Some talk about leveraging 20,000,000 swiss francs to secure release of the rest of the jews at Belsen.

12-2144 is a report from the war refugee board regarding the Hungarian jews and their disposition.

12-2444 memorandum concerning the Soviets 'finally' releasing refugees in Bulgaria so they can continue to Palestine. Also references jews being held in Stalingrad.

12-2544 450,000 jews in Rumania. 30,000 Zionist, 250,000 tradesmen, 200,000 destitute with no skills.

Looking at 12-2744 (of note, this particular cable is regarding the jews stranded in Shanghai, there are others regarding jews in concentration camps, I'll post some of them on my next pass through, I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at when I passed them initially. Some are seeking Spanish passports, some American passports and some seeking various south American passports) something struck me. Contained there in is a wire about a request for passports to emancipate jews from German custody. Apparently, if the jews had some place to go, outside the reich, they would be released and sent on their way. I have seen this type of request repeatedly in the reel. It makes me curious how many jews were released in such a way and if there are records extant regarding this curious facet of the debacle. Further down, another memorandum from the swiss regarding an inspection of Bergen Belsen state 'all guatemalans are interred in regular camps, only people whose nationalities are unknown are in the transit camp Bergen Belsen'. So, apparently arrangements had to be made before people who were in the camp system could be released. Perhaps they hat to have proof of a ticket to leave the Reich. Odd point of history here I'm not incredibly familiar with.

12-2844 Hungarian jews that fled to Rumania and gained citizenship in Vienna along with polish jews, Yugoslav jews etc. All planning to immigrate to Israel. Thousands of Hungarian jews reported to have proceeded to Israel over the past few years.

12-2844 also contains a report from the war refugee board. There is also an authorization for 20,000,000 francs presumably to pay for the release of the jews in Bergen Belsen. This money is going to go through Saly Mayer, as before. This leaves the question about the 8,000,000 in gold and jewels that turned out to be 2,000,000 seized from Kurt in 1946 when he got snagged. Did he double dip? Did Saly Mayer do something with the money provided to free the 1,600 Hungarian jews from Belsen? What happened?

In the war refugee board report, Hungarian jews transited through Bergen Belsen arrived in Switzerland around December 5th to 11th 1944. Number not listed in report.

150,000 Polish jews in the Soviet Union. A special 'Central jewish Committee' has been set up in Lublin (if records are extant this may provide some resolution on census of jews in Poland after 1944).

12-3044 of course there is a spy working for another government named Epstein. Of course there is. At least he is just shilling Soviet propaganda, not filming people banging kids.

12-3044 also contains a cross reference marker for a 'SHAEF report' #46 12/30/1944 from Great Britain. 800.4016 D.P./12-3044. Description of report is: reports on displaced persons for themronth of November.

On page 478 the reel jumps from December 31 1944 to 1942, the it jumps again to January of 1940.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/301649232

Reel 45

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/301641118

6-2944 discusses financial and transportation considerations for transportation of jews from the Balkans to Turkey or Palestine.

Also discussed, deportation of 'the' 400,000 Hungarian jews (you know the ones) to Poland and 350,000 jews remaining in Budapest. Cable routed to rabbi wise.

6-3044 discussion of Hungarian jews and of obtaining commitment from Germany to send jews not fit for work to camps in Germany proper where they will be provided with documentation and means for emigration promptly out of Europe. Mention is made that this has been amenable from the German Government in the past.

Also discussed, movement of jews from Italy into north Africa by the tens of thousands weekly.

Also discussed, Hungarian jewish aristocracy successfully fled to Lisbon but refuses to interact with allied embassies. Apparently they have passports waiting.

Busy day the 30th. There is also a report compiled by 'jewish Agency Committee for the jews of Occupied Europe' regarding the distribution and disposition of polish jews. ";Biuletyn Inf 6rmcacy" of November 19th 1943 is cited as a reference. This bulletin is either Soviet or from the Polish Government in Exile and presumes to speak to 'the death camps'. (This bulletin appears to be a weekly publication from 'The Polish Underground'. It contains various atrocity stories and by 'holocaust' standards, paltry numbers) A 'Polish Underground' paper called "Szaniec" is also cited. It appears to be an atrocity tabloid. Think 1990's era 'batboy', 'mothman" and "bigfoot" style stuff but about 'The Holocaus'. Atrocity pulp.

7-144 Mrs Dicks wants a boy for her dairy. This is a big to do apparently.

7-344 the German Government stresses that people with legitimate Latin American papers in Poland have not been deported, they further say that people with fake documents have been concentrated with their fellow Polish deportees. There is a big to do about jews with fake identity documents issued by various unscrupulous diplomats.

Going through more of the roll, something that merits further investigation seems to be the 'exchange program'. Apparently terms with the German Government were amicable enough that communications were maintained during the war, even as bombs fell on German cities and killed German civilians. Part of the initial reason stated by Berlin for opposition to the 'exchange program' was a lack of reciprocity with the allies concerning German citizens under their control. The allies are also apparently blowing this fake identity documents scandal way out of proportion. Various south American governments have stated these identity papers are indeed fictitious and were issued by unscrupulous and unauthorized embassy personnel.
https://www.archives.gov/research/immig ... aliens/ww2
I would think that pertinent files may be found inside this program. I'm not really good at digging through the archives, but I will give finding this information the old college try.

Archie, thank you for pointing me in the right direction here and for making a good effort at showing me how to cast a net.

Archie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 07, 2025 7:49 am Document /3080 (Sep 3, 1942)
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3016278 ... ctPage=519
Memo to Welles regarding Rabbi Wise's inquiries (about exterminations and human soap factories)
Even at this late a date, the State Department was clearly not convinced of the "exterminations" (they even use scare quotes in the memo). They say the Jews are being put to work.

I'd be very interested to see that memo, but the link you provided brings up a document related to the Red Cross establishing a relief committee in the Middle East.
I would appreciate your help.

Booze wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 11:49 pm

Archie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 07, 2025 7:49 am Document /3080 (Sep 3, 1942)
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3016278 ... ctPage=519
Memo to Welles regarding Rabbi Wise's inquiries (about exterminations and human soap factories)
Even at this late a date, the State Department was clearly not convinced of the "exterminations" (they even use scare quotes in the memo). They say the Jews are being put to work.

I'd be very interested to see that memo, but the link you provided brings up a document related to the Red Cross establishing a relief committee in the Middle East.
I would appreciate your help.

The link works for me. It's reel 32, page 519. I will quote the part I was referring to.

You may state that two points which have been stressed in unofficial reports from European which have never been confirmed: first, that any definite number of refugees from France had been determined upon and secondly, that once refugees from any area of Europe have reached Germany they are to be "exterminated"; rather it is our understanding that they are to be put to labor on behalf of the German machine as is the case with Polish and Soviet and other prisoners-of-war who are now working for their daily sustenance in Germany.

Here's a copy of it.

Archie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 12:01 am The link works for me. It's reel 32, page 519. I will quote the part I was referring to.

Thank you for posting an image of the document.
This btw, is where the link takes me...
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3016278 ... ctPage=519

That link take me to the same document posted.

/shrug

So does the original link.

Stubble wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 1:14 pm That link take me to the same document posted.

/shrug

So does the original link.

That is very strange. When I copy your link and paste it shows a redirect.