During September and October, [the World
Jewish Congress representative in Geneva,
Gerhart] Riegner continued to receive first-hand
reports from countries all over Europe that
the plan for mass extermination was being
rapidly implemented. All these reports he
transmitted to the State Department through
Leland Harrison, American minister in Berne.
In November, four sworn statements reached
the State Department through Harrison, fully
substantiating Riegner's reports. Mr Welles telegraphed
that I come at once to the State Department...
In the office of Mr. Welles,
we took our places and I shall never forget
the quiet but deeply moving way in which
he turned to us and said, every word etching
itself into my heart, “Gentlemen, I hold
in my hands documents which have come to
me from our legation in Berne. I reget to
tell you, Dr. Wise, that these confirm and
justify your deepest fears.” He handed me
the original documents from Berne which confirmed
our dreadful apprehensions. The documents'
red seals suggested the blood of my people
pouring forth in rivers. Mr. Welles added, “For
reasons you will understand, I cannot give these
to the press, but there is no reason why you should
not. It might even help if you did.”