I watched The Diary of Anne Frank at Thomas More yesterday for the second time because one of my professors was speaking after the play.

 

I've always been obsessed with WWII (and wars in general) and I recently had a thought: why didn't they ever bomb the railroad tracks that took Jews to concentration camps? Seems to me that it would pretty much kill the Nazi's process of transporting of the Jews to mass murder them.

 

My old professor even brought up that point today and mentioned that there's a picture of from a plane over Germany during that time looking down from the bomb hatches and you can see the railroad tracks.

 

I looked it up and found this:

 

In reality, McCloy's position was based on the Roosevelt administration’s standing policy that military resources should not be used for "rescuing victims of enemy oppression."

 

That just seems bogus to me, though, because it almost surely would have disrupted German's supply lines, as well as saving millions of Jewish lives, and demoralizing the Germans.

 

Does anyone know why they didn't bomb the tracks or is it as simple as the quote above?

Just a guess here. If you are able to hit the tracks with bombs, within a week they could be rebuilt.

The Nazi’s were very creative. My opinion is that they built many ghost tracks and rail cars across Germany and switched from active to inactive tracks/cars regularly. And I believe we were reluctant to bomb because of possibly hitting cars with prisoners aboard.

1. Bombing in WWII wasn't precise, it was drop and pray.

2. During the war most outsiders didn't know what was going on at the camps.

Might not give clarity about the tracks, but look up M.S. St. Louis to learn Roosevelt's position on accepting 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler with no where willing to accept them. The Holocaust Museum in D.C. is an emotional journey through history.

My guess:

 

- Since most Germans didn't know the extent of the holocaust, maybe US military intelligence didn't either?

 

- As the the US began advancing towards Berlin, maybe US military leadership felt those same tracks would be needed to move troops and supplies deeper into Germany

It would have been very risky for the allies to go after the tracks or Auschwitz itself. Accuracy was always an issue back then with weather. As someone else alluded, the Germans would have fixed the tracks rather quickly. A perfect scenario would have been going after the crematories in Auschwitz, but that would have taken in-depth, dangerous reconnaissance.

Might not give clarity about the tracks, but look up M.S. St. Louis to learn Roosevelt's position on accepting 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler with no where willing to accept them. The Holocaust Museum in D.C. is an emotional journey through history.

 

Just went to the Museum. Wow is all I can say.

Just went to the Museum. Wow is all I can say.

 

Especially the shoe room.

Just a guess here. If you are able to hit the tracks with bombs, within a week they could be rebuilt.

Disagree. Bombs make a pretty big hole, especially if you bomb the tracks and areas on both sides of them.

 

Also, rebuilding the tracks means less people and resources for other things.

The Nazi’s were very creative. My opinion is that they built many ghost tracks and rail cars across Germany and switched from active to inactive tracks/cars regularly. And I believe we were reluctant to bomb because of possibly hitting cars with prisoners aboard.

 

Don't bomb trains, just the tracks.

 

Even if they built ghost tracks across Germany, the Germans still brought in many Jews from other countries, so bomb those tracks in other countries.

 

1. Bombing in WWII wasn't precise, it was drop and pray.

2. During the war most outsiders didn't know what was going on at the camps.

 

Some say Churchill knew as early as the summer of 1941 because they were listening in on classified German radio transmissions that described the murders. I seriously doubt that they kept that knowledge from the US, who definitely knew by 1943 (at the very latest).

 

My guess:

 

- Since most Germans didn't know the extent of the holocaust, maybe US military intelligence didn't either?

 

- As the the US began advancing towards Berlin, maybe US military leadership felt those same tracks would be needed to move troops and supplies deeper into Germany

There were Jews transported from other countries, not just Germany.

It would have been very risky for the allies to go after the tracks or Auschwitz itself. Accuracy was always an issue back then with weather. As someone else alluded, the Germans would have fixed the tracks rather quickly. A perfect scenario would have been going after the crematories in Auschwitz, but that would have taken in-depth, dangerous reconnaissance.

 

Destroy the tracks and all of the land around them by dropping many bombs when the weather was decent and make it a lot more difficult to repair.

 

Plus, as I said above, that takes men and resources away from doing other things.

Especially the shoe room.

 

Yes and those videos below the walls were just brutal.

Disagree. Bombs make a pretty big hole, especially if you bomb the tracks and areas on both sides of them.

 

Also, rebuilding the tracks means less people and resources for other things.

 

 

Don't bomb trains, just the tracks.

 

Even if they built ghost tracks across Germany, the Germans still brought in many Jews from other countries, so bomb those tracks in other countries.

 

 

 

Some say Churchill knew as early as the summer of 1941 because they were listening in on classified German radio transmissions that described the murders. I seriously doubt that they kept that knowledge from the US, who definitely knew by 1943 (at the very latest).

 

 

There were Jews transported from other countries, not just Germany.

 

 

Destroy the tracks and all of the land around them by dropping many bombs when the weather was decent and make it a lot more difficult to repair.

 

Plus, as I said above, that takes men and resources away from doing other things.

 

American bomber crews reported that in a raid on railway facilities in Berlin in late April 1944, only one in five combat wings got its bombs within five miles of the target.

 

The technology at the time made it much more difficult than it seems.

There were horrible atrocities that happened.

 

Here's the thing though. The primary purpose of the Allied forces was to defeat Hitler and protect our own forces. Bombing raids were focused on Axis military production facilities, bases, armed forces, and often bridges. It may sound bad, but your priority is to protect your own, and not overtly risk American lives.

 

As JA said, accuracy was terrible. You had a guy looking through a little scope, trying to do some pretty tough calculations, then saying drop your bombs. Whatever you went after had to be of extreme military importance.

Not an historian here, but do think our objective was to stop Hitler from controlling Europe and beyond. The atrocities were unforgiveable, but militarily actions must be prioritized and stopping the trains to Auschwitz might not have been the priority. Now stopping the trains to cutoff supply lines might be a different story. Just not familiar enough with the strategies to second guess.

I love WWII, especially the European Theater. I find it all very fascinating. Some good responses in here.

 

I highly recommend the move, Conspiracy, for any that enjoy learning more about the Holocaust and how the Germans came to decide upon the Final Solution.