Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- PART I THE MAKING OF THE MULTIPLE TRAP
- PART II THE RESCUE DEBATE, THE MACRO PICTURE, AND THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
- PART III THE SELF-DEFEATING MECHANISM OF THE RESCUE EFFORTS
- PART IV THE BRAND–GROSZ MISSIONS WITHIN THE LARGER PICTURE OF THE WAR AND THEIR RAMIFICATIONS
- 25 The Zionist Initiatives
- 26 Rescue, Allied Intelligence, and the SS
- 27 Hungarian Rescue Deals in the Eyes of the Allies
- 28 How the Missions Were Born
- 29 The Demise of a Rescue Mission
- 30 Open and Secret War Schemes and Realities
- 31 The WRB's Own Reports: OWI's Reservations
- PART V THE END OF THE FINAL SOLUTION: BACK TO HOSTAGE-TAKING TACTICS
- Epilogue: Self-Traps: The OSS and Kasztner at Nuremberg
- Notes on Sources
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
29 - The Demise of a Rescue Mission
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- PART I THE MAKING OF THE MULTIPLE TRAP
- PART II THE RESCUE DEBATE, THE MACRO PICTURE, AND THE INTELLIGENCE SERVICES
- PART III THE SELF-DEFEATING MECHANISM OF THE RESCUE EFFORTS
- PART IV THE BRAND–GROSZ MISSIONS WITHIN THE LARGER PICTURE OF THE WAR AND THEIR RAMIFICATIONS
- 25 The Zionist Initiatives
- 26 Rescue, Allied Intelligence, and the SS
- 27 Hungarian Rescue Deals in the Eyes of the Allies
- 28 How the Missions Were Born
- 29 The Demise of a Rescue Mission
- 30 Open and Secret War Schemes and Realities
- 31 The WRB's Own Reports: OWI's Reservations
- PART V THE END OF THE FINAL SOLUTION: BACK TO HOSTAGE-TAKING TACTICS
- Epilogue: Self-Traps: The OSS and Kasztner at Nuremberg
- Notes on Sources
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
Summary
More sophisticated than Brand's or Schwarz's interrogations was the evaluation of both missions made by Reuben B. Resnik, an AJDC representative in Istanbul who was associated with the WRB's effort in Turkey. Resnik met with Brand upon his arrival in Istanbul and also had his connections with members of the Va'ada in Budapest. In his report, prepared at the request of Ambassador Laurence Steinhardt, Resnik – a wise man – expressed his impression that Brand:
… was not as sincere and straight-forward as other observers thought him to be. He had ready and direct answers for all questions and was apparently very cooperative and reiterated on several occasions the seriousness with which he was carrying out his mission. It is important … to observe that Brand is not completely without anxiety and fear about his assignment and its possible consequences.
(Resnik to Steinhardt, June 4, 1944, RG 226, Entry 210, box 105, folder 447)This description reflects one who initiated or accepted Laufer's mission, and thereby made the Allies and the Zionists seemingly responsible from then on for the fate of the Hungarian Jews, pending his own personal success in that mission.
Resnik mentioned “interviews and conferences” he held with persons “who have had close contact with Mr. Brand during his visit in Istanbul and while he was a resident in Budapest.”
Resnik's “possible interpretations” of both missions (he never met Grosz) are rather penetrating.
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- Information
- Hitler, the Allies, and the Jews , pp. 248 - 261Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004