‘Moral Failure’ on Holocaust
- Share via
JERUSALEM — The Red Cross handed over 60,000 pages of World War II-era documents to Israel on Tuesday, and a top official acknowledged the organization’s “moral failure” in keeping silent while the Nazis killed 6 million Jews.
“Very clearly, the ICRC’s activities with regard to the Holocaust are sensed as a moral failure,” said George Willemin, director of archives for the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross. “The ICRC admits--yes--that it has kept silent with regard to the Holocaust.”
Willemin spoke at a modest ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial institute, which received the documents.
Willemin’s statement was the most explicit acknowledgment by a Red Cross official that the group could and should have done more for the Jews.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.