2011/12/01 by Katie Mahoney · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Engineering · #Italian Fascism and Post-war Society #Intelligence, Security, War Strategy #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies #Business #Aeronautics #Computer security #Computer science #Engineering
paper · doi:10.1093/hgs/dcr049
openalex publication_date 2011/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/04/05
The last request to bomb the rail lines leading to Auschwitz reached the U.S. War Department in late August 1944; this request has been mentioned rarely in the historical literature, and without discussion of its military aspects. Newly identified documents from the War Department and the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF), however, permit a more thorough consideration of its rejection. The author examines the operational context and compares the case to MAAF responses to two similar requests by Allied governments-in-exile. The author discusses the September 1944 bombing of one deportation rail line as an alternate target of last resort. The Allied priority of final victory ultimately precluded diversion of resources to what military decision-makers perceived as non-essential goals.