More difficult to conceal were the mass shootings occurring throughout occupied Russia. The Nazis attempted to quiet the increasing reports of violence against the Jews by inviting the International Red Cross to visit Theresienstadt, a ghetto in Czechoslovakia. The delegation toured Theresienstadt observing stores, banks, cafes, and classrooms which had been hastily spruced-up for their benefit. They also witnessed a musical program put on by Jewish children. After the Red Cross departed, most of the ghetto inhabitants, including all of the children, were sent to be gassed and the model village was left to deteriorate. A further contrast between the Rape of Nanking and the Holocaust was the West's response to both events. In the United States, reports published in the New York Times, Reader's Digest and Time Magazine were met with skepticism. The stories out of Nanking seemed almost too fantastic to be believed. For the most part Americans had only a passing knowledge or little interest in Asia at this time. Political leaders and the citizens of both America and Britain remained overwhelmingly focused on the situation in Europe.

In 1942 the New York Times reported that already over 1,000,000 Jews had been shot. That summer, Swiss representatives of the World Jewish Congress received information from a German industrialist regarding the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews and passed the information on to London and Washington. In December 1942, British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden stood before the House of Commons and declared the Nazis were now carrying into effect Hitler's oft-repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people of Europe.

Jews in America responded to the various reports by holding a rally...

government into action. As a result, the Bermuda Conference was held from April 19-30, with representatives from the U.S. And Britain meeting to discuss the problem of refugees from Nazi-occupied countries. Seven months later, November 1943, the U.S. Congress held hearings concerning the U.S. State Department's total inaction regarding the plight of European Jews. President Franklin Roosevelt responded to the political pressure by establishing the War Refugee Board (WRB) in January 1944 to aid neutral countries in the rescue of Jews. The WRB helped save about 200,000 Jews from death camps through the heroic efforts of persons such as Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg working tirelessly in occupied countries. The WRB also supported the aerial bombing of Auschwitz, although it never occurred since it was not considered a vital military target. The U.S. And its military Allies maintained that the best way to stop Nazi atrocities was to defeat Germany as quickly as possible.