WWII And Final Solution

-in planning invading Soviets -Himmler receives order to begin killing w/invasion -(oral discussion?) from Hitler to Himmler -Nazi (secrecy& bloating-> problem)

-mobile death squads -follow 4 groups of death squads (3-4,000 men) -made of SS, regular police& army men, many were doctors, university educated, one opera singer (ordinary men, NOT sadistic in regular life) -didn't have to participate, but hardly any backed out -Jews were robbed, stripped, & killed -killers were usually drunk (killed from morning-> night) -Jews eliminated in days -urge to document -group A -Walter Stachlecker -rapid killing in short amount of time -by winter of 1941= 250,000 Jews murdered -group B -White Russia -Nov 1941= 40,000 Jews murdered -experience w/ dynamite in pit -group C -Babi Yar, Ukraine -Sept. 29& 30 1941-> over 30,000 Jews murdered -steal possessions-> give to Germans -group D -heavily Jewish-> rounds up 19,000 Jews in one day -couple days later, Romania collaborates w/out Nazis kill 40,000 Jews

-attitude of civilians -passivity -desire to assist when killings begin -threat of Soviets knowing who helped Nazis was wrong (only prevention) -army help -pogroms taking place (Nazi promoted) -Konvo June 25, 1941 -local initiative -civilians= key -behavior due to war -hardly ANY survivors -Rivka Yosselevska May 1941 -VERY detailed testimony

-Polish Jews in annexed territories to be pushed into general government -concentration camps will be there -death of death camps

-15 people in attendance -different offices -constitutes involvement of different agencies -brings everyone together & coordinates final solution -sharing burden of responsibility & organize role of different agencies

-hose w/gas (usually women& children) -suffocation-> distorted faces -Jews should unload trucks -trucks become unfavorable -become clear by winter of 1941 (shooting= not a decent weapon/ effective method) -thus, 6 fixed killing operations-> Nazis bring Jews to them -MAJOR change

-ship Jews to Madagascar (unfeasible) -emigration works for half on German Jews once war begins -too many Jews to be sent to reservation

-all Soviet officials were communists& Jews= killed -explicit/ openly orded (shot at once) -put in writing (not just secrecy like Final Solution) -goes to army/ eliminate Third Reich

-Chancellery -supply extermination camps -training for euthanasia program -foreign office -supply D3=deal w/ Jews in foreign country -various ministries (transportation, economy/finances, justice, interior, propaganda, army, volunteer units of ethnic Germans, civilians, local government forces) -SECRECY= key

-mass murder of Soviet Jews begin -East Europe war begins -July/ August= point of no return -local initiatives e.g. Chelmo or "working towards Fuher" (goal of exterminating Eastern Jewry)

-not a single/ monolithic decision to murder all Jews -emergence of an idea (w/ logistics & expansion of war) -date of decision to kill all Jews is unclear -theories: -moment of euphoria (glory & expansion) -when US joined war -killers: SS, regular German army& German collaborators

-order to Heidrich (from Goerring) -prepare for solution of Jews-> evacuation& emigration -don't really know where they are going/ doing -Office of Emigration is now SS responsibility

-Himmler (head of SS) outlines mission of enemies of Third Reich& Jews -preparing for Soviet invasion& working out SS responsibilities

-accumulated government portfolios/ art -Head of Air force -President of Reichstag -designated Hitler's successor -Prime Minister of Prussia

-Heinrich Himmler= Head of SS -Reinchard Heydrich= Head of RHSA, SD, Gestapo -Ernst Kaltenbrunner= succeed Heydrich

-responsible for arresting Jews -working out logistics (from all corners of Europe& sending them to death/ concentration camps)

-occupied area= free/ pure of Jews -"ethnic cleansing" -remaining Jews-> concentration/work camps

-RHSA (Reich Security Main Office) -SD (SS's security& intelligence branch) -Gestapo, Kripo (criminal police) & foreign intelligence service -MANY agencies under SS& security