The Harrison Report (1945)

The report that told President Truman how Holocaust survivors were still living months after liberation, and changed American policy.

In the summer of 1945, President Truman sent Earl G. Harrison to inspect the camps in Europe where surviving Jews and other displaced persons were being held. Harrison found many survivors still behind barbed wire, poorly fed and without hope of leaving.

His blunt report led Truman to order changes in how the U.S. Army treated survivors, including separate camps and better conditions. It is a short, powerful document about what happens after a catastrophe, and about the duty to act.

Part of the Boston Made Reader’s special collection Courage, Conscience & Service. Every book and document here is free to read.