The BBC and the Holocaust

Abstract

Contemporaries and historians have often argued that the Allies did not do more to save Jews from extermination during the Second World War either because little was known about what was happening to them, or because the evidence was not believed. This article demonstrates that at least within the BBC detailed information about the Holocaust was received, believed and broadcast. It argues that despite problems of style and discrimination, the most important reason for the lack of emphasis given to this news was that, in a period when defeat seemed probable, there was no political will to do more about what appeared to be remote events. The key to political action was will, not information.