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Nazis Admit Jewish Guerrillas Active Behind German Lines in Russia

July 7, 1943
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The German radio reported today that Jewish guerrillas are especially active in the rear of the German army in Russia and that a guerrilla unit composed entirely of Jews has been rounded up and “wiped out completely.”

Admitting that the Jewish partisans have harassed the Germans for many months, the broadcast stated that their hideout was finally discovered by local police, with the aid of German soldiers. A hand printing press and a large store of arms, ammunition and explosives was captured during the raid on the guerrillas camp, the announcer claimed.

A message from the underground movement in Poland which reached here today, dated June 25, confirms reports that the entire Warsaw ghetto has been burned down and that no Jews remain there. At present the Nazis are busy “liquidating” the remnants of the provincial ghettos, the message says.

SEVERE PUNISHMENT OF NAZIS BY ALLIES DEMANDED IN OCCUPIED LANDS

The announcement from Washington of the appointment by President Roosevelt of Herbert Pell as the American representative on the United Nations’ committee to investigate war crimes has caused disappointment among the underground movements in the occupied countries.

Leaders of the underground in Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia are reported to have conveyed their reactions to pro-Allied organizations in Switzerland. They are dissatisfied with the wording of the White House statement which limited itself to expressing “hope” that some progress may be made towards punishing responsible Axis officials for atrocities committed against the civilian population in occupied territories.

Concerned that the United States and Britain may adopt too lenient an attitude in their treatment of Germany, the underground movement in the occupied countries is demanding a forthright pledge of post-war punishment. This is understandable in the light of reports which continue to reach here from Nazi-held territories where the population, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, is living under unbelievable conditions.

Latest reports reaching here not only from Poland but also from other occupied countries reveal that no mercy is shown to Jews in Yugoslavia, Croatia and Greece. The Nazis have massacred practically all the Jews of Belgrade who were held in the Zemun Camp and are proceeding with the ruthless extermination of the Jews in Greece, the reports reveal. Many of these reports describe conditions so horrible that one would hesitate to credit them if they did not come from absolutely reliable sources.

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