On 24 May 1995, the Berlin newspaper Die Tageszeitung, reporting that the Holocaust museum in Yad Vashem was planned by the Zionists as early as in 1942, expressed surprise at the fact that such a step was already being envisaged at a time when most of the future victims were still alive. As a matter of fact, the legendary six million figure was repeatedly mentioned by prominent Jews long before World War Two ended.