The industrialised murder at Auschwitz had been known beyond doubt since mid - June, 1944. By August, the Allied air forces were able to bombard the camp and the railroad tracks leading to it. Requests to bomb the camp were submitted to the governments of Great Britain and the United States. The Americans turned them down without considering their practicability, evidently because the Department of War had adopted a non-intervention policy with respect to rescue actions. In response to the pleas, officials explained that such a bombardment would divert air cover that was vital for the success of crucial operations. Thus, as important German industrial enterprises near Auschwitz were bombarded, the gas chambers continued to murder masses of Jews undisturbed.
