William L. Shirer and International Awareness of the Nazi “Euthanasia” Program

In the United States as well as in many other countries, early reports of industrialized mass murder perpetrated by the Germans during the Second World War were connected not with the Holocaust but—beginning in early 1941—with crimes committed as part of the German “euthanasia” program. The writings and reports of journalist and popular radio personality William L. Shirer in particular shaped public perception of the murder of disabled people. The author of this article traces Shirer’s German and American sources, drawing possible connections to journalists, State Department officials, and members of the German resistance.