Knowledge of the Final Solution in Nazi Satellite States: 2) Italy and Croatia

Further to the Critique, on Italian knowledge of the Final Solution (see here), the following quotations are taken from Galeazzo Ciano's diaries and papers. The first two relate to a meeting Ciano held with Goering on November 24-27, 1941. In the first, Ciano noted this statement by Goering:

'On the other hand', he added, 'we cannot worry unduly about the hunger of the Greeks. It is a misfortune which will strike many other people besides them. In the camps for Russian prisoners of war, after having eaten everything possible, including the soles of their boots, they have begun to eat each other, and what is more serious, they have also eaten a German sentry. This year between 20 and 30 million persons will die in Russia of hunger. Perhaps it is well that it should be so, for certain nations must be decimated. But even if it were not, nothing can be done about it. It is obvious that if humanity is condemned to die of hunger, the last to die will be our two peoples.[1]