Throughout the 20th Century, the six million figure was used to generate contributions from Western Jews to Jewish causes in Eastern Europe and Russia, typically something like "6 million Jews at Risk of Annihilation in Tsarist Russia." Then WWII happened and the 6 million figure largely disappeared until 1961 when Raul Hilberg's book "dcumenting" the Holocaust appeared. Good post.
Throughout the 20th Century, the six million figure was used to generate contributions from Western Jews to Jewish causes in Eastern Europe and Russia, typically something like "6 million Jews at Risk of Annihilation in Tsarist Russia." Then WWII happened and the 6 million figure largely disappeared until 1961 when Raul Hilberg's book "dcumenting" the Holocaust appeared. Good post.