Crisis Over Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria: "History Repeats Itself," Says Wiesenthal Center Founder & Dean

In view of a possible US strike against Syria over their use of chemical weapons against civilians, Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder anddean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, remarked: "What has the world learned? It was in August 1942 when Gerhard Riegner,Secretary of the World Jewish Congress, sent a cable to the British Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department telling them that he had learned from a reliable informant that Hitlerwas discussing a plan to exterminate millions of Jews using prussic acid. Neither the State Department nor the British ForeignOffice believed the report and ignored it. As a result, six million Jews were murdered.”

Hier continued, “Now, 71 years later, almost to the day, despiteoverwhelming evidence including photographs, intelligence reports and even a recorded conversation between Syrian commanders inthe field, the world and the British Parliament have chosen to do nothing leaving the United States with the sole responsibility of confronting this horrific crime againsthumanity.”

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human
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