Target Auschwitz: Historical and Hypothetical German Responses to Allied Attack

Even a successful Allied bombing campaign against the killing center at Auschwitz‐Birkenau probably would not have crippled the “Final Solution.” After detailing the Allied campaign against the neighboring IG Farben chemical plant (IG Auschwitz) and Auschwitz's defensive preparations, the following article argues on the basis of three factors that Nazi genocide would have continued at a ghastly pace: SS reaction to previous bombings, then‐recent innovations in killing and victim‐disposal systems, and the character of the Auschwitz leadership in the summer of 1944.