Prior to my book on the War Refugee Board, there was not a lot of good primary source research on the War Refugee Board, the agency established in January 1944 as the official American response to the murder of the Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution. Books cited only other books, or published source series of highly selected documents, and a “game of telephone” emerged–where each version of the story got further away from the primary source documents and incrementally less correct. When I started working on this story, I noticed how much detail and context had gotten lost, and decided I would write based on primary sources almost exclusively. I digitized hundreds of thousands of pages of original documents and put them in a chronological database. (You can see more about my methodology here.)
In 2014 I started to keep a blog, posting one document from each day the WRB operated. I ran out of steam after about nine months–since I needed to focus on writing the manuscript–but want to share the pages for anyone interested.
- Sunday, January 16, 1944
- Monday, January 17, 1944
- Tuesday, January 18, 1944
- Wednesday, January 19, 1944
- Thursday, January 20, 1944
- Friday, January 21, 1944
- Saturday, January 22, 1944
- Sunday, January 23, 1944
- Monday, January 24, 1944
- Tuesday, January 25, 1944
- Wednesday, January 26, 1944
- Thursday, January 27, 1944
- Friday, January 28, 1944
- Saturday, January 29, 1944
- Sunday, January 30, 1944
- Monday, January 31, 1944
- Tuesday, February 1, 1944
- Wednesday, February 2, 1944
- Thursday, February 3, 1944
- Friday, February 4, 1944
- Saturday, February 5, 1944
- Sunday, February 6, 1944
- Monday, February 7, 1944
- Tuesday, February 8, 1944
- Wednesday, February 9, 1944
- Thursday, February 10, 1944
- Friday, February 11, 1944
- Saturday, February 12, 1944
- Sunday, February 13, 1944
- Monday, February 14, 1944
- Tuesday, February 15, 1944
- Wednesday, February 16, 1944
- Thursday, February 17, 1944
- Friday, February 18, 1944
- Saturday, February 19, 1944
- Sunday, February 20, 1944
- Monday, February 21, 1944
- Tuesday, February 22, 1944
- Wednesday, February 23, 1944
- Thursday, February 24, 1944
- Friday, February 25, 1944
- Saturday, February 26, 1944
- Sunday, February 27, 1944 [no document]
- Monday, February 28, 1944
- Tuesday, February 29, 1944
- Wednesday, March 1, 1944
- Thursday, March 2, 1944
- Friday, March 3, 1944
- Saturday, March 4, 1944
- Sunday, March 5, 1944
- Monday, March 6, 1944
- Tuesday, March 7, 1944
- Wednesday, March 8, 1944
- Thursday, March 9, 1944
- Friday, March 10, 1944
- Saturday, March 11, 1944
- Sunday, March 12, 1944
- Monday, March 13, 1944
- Tuesday, March 14, 1944
- Wednesday, March 15, 1944
- Thursday, March 16, 1944
- Friday, March 17, 1944
- Saturday, March 18, 1944
- Sunday, March 19, 1944
- Monday, March 20, 1944
- Tuesday, March 21, 1944
- Wednesday, March 22, 1944
- Thursday, March 23, 1944
- Friday, March 24, 1944
- Saturday, March 25, 1944
- Sunday, March 26, 1944
- Monday, March 27, 1944
- Tuesday, March 28, 1944
- Wednesday, March 29, 1944
- Thursday, March 30, 1944
- Friday, March 31, 1944
- Saturday, April 1, 1944
- Sunday, April 2, 1944
- Monday, April 3, 1944
- Tuesday, April 4, 1944
- Wednesday, April 5, 1944
- Thursday, April 6, 1944
- Friday, April 7, 1944
- Saturday, April 8, 1944
- Sunday, April 9, 1944
- Monday, April 10, 1944
- Tuesday, April 11, 1944
- Wednesday, April 12, 1944
- Thursday, April 13, 1944
- Friday, April 14, 1944
- Saturday, April 15, 1944
- Sunday, April 16, 1944
- Monday, April 17, 1944
- Tuesday, April 18, 1944
- Wednesday, April 19, 1944
- Thursday, April 20, 1944
- Friday, April 21, 1944
- Saturday, April 22, 1944
- Sunday, April 23, 1944
- Monday, April 24, 1944
- Tuesday, April 25, 1944
- Wednesday, April 26, 1944
- Thursday, April 27, 1944
- Friday, April 28, 1944
- Saturday, April 29, 1944
- Sunday, April 30, 1944
- Monday, May 1, 1944
- Tuesday, May 2, 1944
- Wednesday, May 3, 1944
- Thursday, May 4, 1944
- Friday, May 5, 1944
- Saturday, May 6, 1944
- Sunday, May 7, 1944
- Monday, May 8, 1944
- Tuesday, May 9, 1944
- Wednesday, May 10, 1944
- Thursday, May 11, 1944
- Friday, May 12, 1944
- Saturday, May 13, 1944
- Sunday, May 14, 1944
- Monday, May 15, 1944
- Tuesday, May 16, 1944
- Wednesday, May 17, 1944
- Thursday, May 18, 1944
- Friday, May 19, 1944
- Saturday, May 20, 1944
- Sunday, May 21, 1944
- Monday, May 22, 1944
- Tuesday, May 23, 1944
- Wednesday, May 24, 1944
- Thursday, May 25, 1944
- Friday, May 26, 1944
- Saturday, May 27, 1944
- Sunday, May 28, 1944
- Monday, May 29, 1944
- Tuesday, May 30, 1944
- Wednesday, May 31, 1944
- Thursday, June 1, 1944
- Friday, June 2, 1944
- Saturday, June 3, 1944
- Sunday, June 4, 1944
- Monday, June 5, 1944
- Tuesday, June 6, 1944
- Wednesday, June 7, 1944
- Thursday, June 8, 1944
- Friday, June 9, 1944
- Saturday, June 10, 1944
- Sunday, June 11, 1944
- Monday, June 12, 1944
- Tuesday, June 13, 1944
- Wednesday, June 14, 1944
- Thursday, June 15, 1944
- Friday, June 16, 1944
- Saturday, June 17, 1944
- Sunday, June 18, 1944
- Monday, June 19, 1944
- Tuesday, June 20, 1944
- Wednesday, June 21, 1944
- Thursday, June 22, 1944
- Friday, June 23, 1944
- Saturday, June 24, 1944
- Sunday, June 25, 1944
- Monday, June 26, 1944
- Tuesday, June 27, 1944
- Wednesday, June 28, 1944
- Thursday, June 29, 1944
- Friday, June 30, 1944
- Saturday, July 1, 1944
- Sunday, July 2, 1944
- Monday, July 3, 1944
- Tuesday, July 4, 1944
- Wednesday, July 5, 1944
- Thursday, July 6, 1944
- Friday, July 7, 1944
- Saturday, July 8, 1944
- Sunday, July 9, 1944
- Monday, July 10, 1944
- Tuesday, July 11, 1944
- Wednesday, July 12, 1944
- Thursday, July 13, 1944
- Friday, July 14, 1944
- Saturday, July 15, 1944
- Sunday, July 16, 1944
- Monday, July 17, 1944
- Tuesday, July 18, 1944
- Wednesday, July 19, 1944
- Thursday, July 20, 1944
- Friday, July 21, 1944
- Saturday, July 22, 1944
- Sunday, July 23, 1944
- Monday, July 24, 1944
- Tuesday, July 25, 1944
- Wednesday, July 26, 1944
- Thursday, July 27, 1944
- Friday, July 28, 1944
- Saturday, July 29, 1944
- Sunday, July 30, 1944
- Monday, July 31, 1944
- Tuesday, August 1, 1944
- Wednesday, August 2, 1944
- Thursday, August 3, 1944
- Friday, August 4, 1944
- Saturday, August 5, 1944
- Sunday, August 6, 1944
- Monday, August 7, 1944
- Tuesday, August 8, 1944
- Wednesday, August 9, 1944
- Thursday, August 10, 1944
- Friday, August 11, 1944
- Saturday, August 12, 1944
- Sunday, August 13, 1944
- Monday, August 14, 1944
- Tuesday, August 15, 1944
- Wednesday, August 16, 1944
- Thursday, August 17, 1944
- Friday, August 18, 1944
- Saturday, August 19, 1944
- Sunday, August 20, 1944
- Monday, August 21, 1944
- Tuesday, August 22, 1944
- Wednesday, August 23, 1944
- Thursday, August 24, 1944
- Friday, August 25, 1944
- Saturday, August 26, 1944
- Sunday, August 27, 1944
- Monday, August 28, 1944
- Tuesday, August 29, 1944
- Wednesday, August 30, 1944
- Thursday, August 31, 1944
- Friday, September 1, 1944
- Saturday, September 2, 1944
- Sunday, September 3, 1944
- Monday, September 4, 1944
- Tuesday, September 5, 1944
- Wednesday, September 6, 1944
- Thursday, September 7, 1944
- Friday, September 8, 1944
- Saturday, September 9, 1944
- Sunday, September 10, 1944
- Monday, September 11, 1944
- Tuesday, September 12, 1944
- Wednesday, September 13, 1944
- Thursday, September 14, 1944
- Friday, September 15, 1944
- Saturday, September 16, 1944
- Sunday, September 17, 1944
- Monday, September 18, 1944
- Tuesday, September 19, 1944
- Wednesday, September 20, 1944
- Thursday, September 21, 1944
- Friday, September 22, 1944
- Saturday, September 23, 1944
- Sunday, September 24, 1944
- Monday, September 25, 1944
- Tuesday, September 26, 1944
- Wednesday, September 27, 1944
- Thursday, September 28, 1944
- Friday, September 29, 1944
- Saturday, September 30, 1944