ABSTRACT
On 30 July 1942 a twenty-three-page memorandum was sent out by Dr Rothmund to the local chiefs of police which mentioned expressis verbis the horrible conditions in the Jewish ghettos in the East, referring to 'unanimous and reliable reports'. These 'unanimous and reliable reports' came from accidental sources as well as through the ordinary channels of information. It obviously made a great difference whether Swiss officials did know about the 'final solution' in 1942, when they sent refugees back. The Swedish press was more reticent about the 'final solution' than the Swiss although there was no censorship. Some papers stressed both the 'sadistic character' and the 'mechanic precision' of the 'final solution' which was regarded as a terrible stain on European civilization. Among the neutrals, Spain was the country least interested in the Jews: Spanish newspapermen and intelligence agents certainly did not go out of their way to establish what happened to the Jews.
