ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 19, 1996 TAG: 9611190117
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
The British knew as early as mid-1941 - more than a year earlier than previously acknowledged - that Jews were being systematically slaughtered by the Nazis, The New York Times reports in today's editions.
Citing intelligence documents made public in Washington, the Times reported that in the summer of 1941, British code breakers detected Nazi transmissions from the Ukraine and Belarus that revealed the genocide.
The messages were stark: ``July 18 - `1,153 Jewish looters shot'; Aug. 27 - `Regiment South shot 914 Jews; the special action staff with police battalion 320 shot 4,200 Jews'; Aug. 31 - `2,200 Jews shot.'''
Many historians believe the messages signified the beginning of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed. The British intercepts, after being kept secret for more than 50 years, have only been made public in recent days by the National Security Agency, the Times said.
``What is perfectly clear is that British intelligence had absolutely definite information, not about all of Europe, but certainly about occupied parts of the Soviet Union,'' said Professor Richard Breitman of American University in Washington.
Breitman said the newly released documents establish that the British knew Jews were being targeted for atrocities as early as September 1941, more than a year before Britain or the United States have publicly acknowledged knowing the plight of European Jews.
It is unclear whether the British shared this information with the United States, the Times said, although intelligence generally was shared during World War II.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB