But the worst was yet to come.
Hitler was mindlessly focused on his goal: the elimination of all Jews from the planet. by Rabbi Ken Spiro
By the beginning of 1942 the Germans had close to 9 million Jews under their control (out of a total of 11 million Jews living in Europe and the Soviet Union). And, of course, it was their plan to murder them all. Already, the Einsatzgruppen killing squads had machine-gunned 1.5 million Jews, (as we saw in Part 60) but this was not an efficient way of killing so many more millions of people -- it was too messy, too slow, and it wasted too many bullets. So the Germans embarked on a policy called the "Final Solution" which was decided upon at a conference held in Wannsee, near Berlin, on January 20, 1942: "Instead of immigration there is now a further possible solution to which the Fuhrer has already signified his consent. Namely deportation to the East. Although this should be regarded merely as an interim measure, it will provide us with the practical experience which will be especially valuable in connection with the future final solution. In the course of the practical implementation of the final solution Europe will be combed from West to East."
DEATH CAMPS The Final Solution -- the systematic gassing of millions of Jews -- was put into place primarily by the top Gestapo brass, namely Adolph Eichmann and Reinhardt Heidrich. Of the 24 concentration camps (besides countless labor camps), six specific death camps were set up. They were: • • • • • •
Auschwitz - where 2 million were murdered Chelmno - where 360,000 were murdered Treblinka - where 840,000 were murdered Sobibor - where 250,000 were murdered Maidenek - where 200,000 were murdered Belzec - where 600,000 were murdered
Auschwitz is the most famous because there the killing machine was the most efficient. There, between 1941 and 1944, 12,000 Jews a day were gassed to death. In addition to the Jews, hundreds of thousands of others deemed threats to the Nazi regime or considered racially inferior or socially deviant were also murdered.