After looking at Auschwitz, United States President George W. Bush said that bombers should have been sent by the United States to prevent the extermination of Jews. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explained that Bush referred to the train tracks that led to Auschwitz.
At least 1.1 to 1.5 million people had been killed by the Nazis during World War II.
It has been up for debate whether the camp itself or the train tracks should have been bombed. The lack of action in that part would be interpreted by some as a sign of indifference on the part of the Allies.
There had been detailed reports kept by the Allies towards the end of World War II in regards to Auschwitz from escaped prisoners. However, they chose not to bomb the camps, the lines, or any of the other death camps. The allies preferred to focus everything on the broader military effort.
However, only a handful of experts say only late in the war would the US have the capability to execute a bombing attack. But, there was the moral dilemma as an operation could kill thousands of prisoners. The Jewish leaders too struggled with that issue.
According to Yad Vashem’s chairman, Avner Shalev, George W. Bush had tears in his eyes twice during the tour of the museum.
“It was an exhibit about the train tracks. And so we were just talking about the various explanations because, you know, there are three or four different explanations about why the United States chose not to try to bomb the train tracks,” Rice explains.
The last president to visit that memorial was Bill Clinton in 1994.
Bush wrote in the visitors’ book: “God bless Israel, George Bush.”