• Part I: Germany and Austria

• Part II: Poland

• Part III: Soviet Union

In this volume we have presented a comprehensive collection of essential documents for students' and laymen interested in the history of the Holocaust. The collection reflects both the major trends and developments in Nazi ideology and policy towards the Jews and the behavior and reaction of the Jews in the face of the Nazi challenge in the following countries : Germany, Austria, Poland, the Baltic countries, and the areas of the Soviet Union occupied by the Germans in World War II.

The documents that have been chosen are concerned primarily with the following topics: the crystallization of the principles of Nazi antisemitism, the policies of the Third Reich towards the Jews, the period of segregation and enclosed ghettos, and the stages through which the "final solution" was implemented, on the one hand, and the Jewish public activities, the struggle for life, and the organization of the Underground and Jewish self-defense on the other. In addition to the German documents, a large part of which has been published in the past, the book includes many documents of Jewish origin, of which only a small amount was published previously. The documents derive from a variety of sources-German, Jewish and others-and appear here in chronological order and in accordance with the events they concern.

The book is divided into three sections :

• 1. Germany and Austria (according to the borders established after World War I).

• 2. Poland (in the borders that existed between the two world wars, excluding the eastern areas annexed by the Soviet Union during the war, but including the Bialystok District).

• 3. The Baltic Countries and areas of the Soviet Minion occupied by Nazi Germany.

In each section the documents are presented consecutively, from the beginning of Nazi vale or occupation, but within its separate geographical-political area. At the same time some documents are also included whose application is not limited to any specific geographical-political unit, but concerned the Jews in all the areas under the rule or influence of the Nazi Third Reich. Thus, for example, the protocol of the Wannsee Conference is included in the section about Poland, although, of course, the decisions taken at the conference sealed the fate of all the Jews in all areas where the Germans were able to apprehend them.

Special care was taken to include in this collection only documents whose source and authenticity was not in doubt, and, except for a few, all were produced at the height of the period itself.

It must be noted here that the Nazis were particularly concerned to execute the murders in secret and not to leave traces in writing of the destruction process. Official documents make no reference in plain language to the extermination or its various stages, using accepted code phrases instead. Thus, for instance, the general plan for the destruction of the Jews of Europe was referred to as the "final solution (Endlosung) of the Jewish question."

We have tried to keep the translation as faithful as possible to the original. Each section in this volume is preceded by a short introduction. These introductions are not intended to take the place of a historical review; their purpose is to assist the reader in identifying the main events and viewing the documents against the background of these events and developments.

We tried not to burden the text with many notes. The documents themselves are accompanied by a small number of necessary explanations of the material and of expressions in use at the time.

A selected number of photocopies of original documents is included, and a detailed index of names of persons, places, organizations and institutions, accompanied by explanations, complements the volume.

Most of the documents are reproduced in their entirety. Deletions have been indicated in the customary fashion. Words that appear here in italics were emphasized in the original. Most documents appear under a title chosen by the editorial board, and these titles are marked in larger type than the titles that existed in the original.

Proper use of these documents entails a broadening of the reader's knowledge of the subject through the study of research and background material on the Holocaust period.

The Editors