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Reich Secret
Document
30 Copies
Protocol of
Conference
I.
The following took part in the conference on the final
solution (Endloesung) of the Jewish question held on
January 20, 1942, in Berlin, Am Grossen Wannsee No. 56-58:
Gauleiter
Dr. Meyer and Reich Reich Ministry for the Occupied
Office
Director Dr. Leibbrandt Eastern Territories
Secretary
of State Dr. Stuckart Reich Ministry of the Interior
Secretary
of State Neumann Plenipotentiary for the Four-
Year
Plan
Secretary
of State Dr. Freisler Reich Minister of Justice
Secretary
of State Dr. Buehler Office of the Governor General
Undersecretary
of State Foreign Ministry
Dr.
Luther
SS
Oberfuehrer Klopfer Party Chancellery
Ministerial
Director Kritzinger Reich Chancellery
SS
Gruppenfuehrer Hofmann Race and Settlement Main
Office
SS
Gruppenfuehrer Mueller Reich Security Main Office
SS
Obersturmbannfuehrer Reich Security Main Office
Eichmann
SS
Oberfuehrer Dr. Schoengarth, Security Police and SD
Commander
of the Security
Police
and the SD in the
Government-General
SS
Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Lange, Security Police and SD
Commander
of the Security
Police
and the SD in the
Generalbezirk
Latvia as
representative
of the Com-
mander
of the Security Police
and
the SD for the Reichs-
kommissariat
for the Ostland
II.
The meeting opened with the announcement by the Chief of the
Security Police and the SD, SS Obergruppenfuehrer
Heydrich, of his appointment by the Reich Marshal1*
as Plenipotentiary for the Preparation of the Final Solution
of the European Jewish Question.2* He noted that
this Conference had been called in order to obtain clarity on
questions of principle. The Reich Marshals request for a draft
plan concerning the organizational, practical and economic
aspects of the final solution of the European Jewish question
required prior joint consideration by all central agencies
directly involved in these questions, with a view to
maintaining parallel policy lines.
Responsibility
for the handling of the final solution of the Jewish question,
he said, would lie centrally with the Reichsfuehrer SS
and the Chief of the German Police (Chief of the Security
Police and the SD), without regard to geographic boundaries.
The
Chief of the Security Police and the SD then gave a brief
review of the struggle conducted up to now against this foe.
The
most important elements are:
a)
Forcing the Jews out of the various areas of life (Lebensgebiete)
of the German people.
b)
Forcing the Jews out of the living space (Lebensraum)
of the German people.
In
pursuit of these aims, the accelerated emigration of the Jews
from the area of the Reich, as the only possible provisional
solution, was pressed forward and carried out according to
plan.
On
instructions by the Reich Marshal, a Reich Central Office for
Jewish Emigration3* was set up in January 1939, and
its direction entrusted to the Chief of the Security Police
and the SD. Its tasks were, in particular:
a)
To take all measures for the preparation of increased
emigration of the Jews;
b)
To direct the flow of emigration;
c)
To speed up emigration in individual cases.
The
aim of this task was to cleanse the German living space of
Jews in a legal manner.
The
disadvantages engendered by such forced pressing of emigration
were clear to all the authorities. But in the absence of other
possible solutions, they had to be accepted for the time
being.
In
the period that followed, the handling of emigration was not a
German problem alone, but one with which the authorities of
the countries of destination or immigration also had to deal.
Financial difficulties such as increases ordered by the
various foreign governments in the sums of money that
immigrants were required to have and in landing fees as well
as lack of berths on ships and continually tightening
restrictions or bans on immigration, hampered emigration
efforts very greatly. Despite these difficulties a total of
approximately 537,000 Jews were caused to emigrate between the
[Nazi] assumption of power and up to October 31, 1941.
These
consisted of the following:
From
January 30, 1933: from the Altreich Approx. 360,000
[Germany
before
1938]
From
March 15, 1938: from the Ostmark Approx. 147,000
[Austria]
From
March 15, 1939: from the Protectorate Approx. 30,000
of
Bohemia and
Moravia
The
financing of the emigration was carried out by the Jews or
Jewish political organizations themselves. To prevent the
remaining behind of proletarianized Jews, the principle was
observed that wealthy Jews must finance the emigration of the
Jews without means; to this end, a special assessment or
emigration levy, in accordance with wealth owned, was imposed,
the proceeds being used to meet the financial obligations of
the emigration of destitute Jews.
In
addition to the funds raised in German marks, foreign currency
was needed for the monies which emigrants were required to
show on arrival abroad and for landing fees. To conserve the
German holdings of foreign currency, Jewish financial
institutions abroad were persuaded by Jewish organizations in
this country to make themselves responsible for finding the
required sums in foreign currency. A total of about $9,500,000
was provided by these foreign Jews as gifts up to October 30,
1941.
In
the meantime, in view of the dangers of emigration in
war-time, and the possibilities in the East, the Reichsfuehrer
SS and Chief of the German Police has forbidden the emigration
of Jews.4*
III.
Emigration has now been replaced by evacuation of the Jews to
the East, as a further possible solution, with the appropriate
prior authorization by the Fuehrer.
However,
this operation should be regarded only as a provisional
option; but it is already supplying practical experience of
great significance in view of the coming final solution of the
Jewish question.
In
the course of this final solution of the European Jewish
question approximately 11 million Jews may be taken into
consideration, distributed over the individual countries as
follows:
Country
Number
A.
Altreich 131,800
Ostmark
43,700
Eastern
Territories5* 420,000
Government-General
284,000
Bialystok
400,000
Protectorate
of Bohemia and Moravia 74,200
Estonia
free of Jews
Latvia
3,500
Lithuania
34,000
Belgium
43,000
Denmark
5,600
France:
Occupied territory 165,000
France:
Unoccupied territory 700,000
Greece
69,600
Netherlands
160,800
Norway
1,300
B.
Bulgaria 48,000
England
330,000
Finland
2,300
Ireland
4,000
Italy,
including Sardinia 58,000
Albania
200
Croatia
40,000
Portugal
3,000
Rumania,
including Bessarabia 342,000
Sweden
8,000
Switzerland
18,000
Serbia
10,000
Slovakia
88,000
Spain
6,000
Turkey
(in Europe) 55,500
Hungary
742,800
U.S.S.R
5,000,000
Ukraine
2,994,684
Byelorussia,
without Bialystok 446,484
Total:
over 11,000,000
As
far as the figures for Jews of the various foreign countries
are concerned, the numbers given include only Jews by religion
(Glaubensjuden), since the definition of Jews according
to racial principles is in part still lacking there. Owing to
the prevailing attitudes and concepts, the handling of this
problem in the individual countries will encounter certain
difficulties, especially in Hungary and Rumania. For instance,
in Rumania the Jew can still obtain, for money, documents
officially certifying that he holds foreign citizenship.
The
influence of the Jews in all spheres of life in the U.S.S.R.
is well known. There are about 5 million Jews in European
Russia, and barely another 250,000 in Asiatic Russia.
The
distribution of Jews according to occupation in the European
area of the U.S.S.R. was roughly as follows:
Agriculture
9.1%
Urban
workers 14.8%
Trade
20.0%
State
employees 23.4%
Professions
medicine, press, theater, etc. 32.7%
Under
appropriate direction the Jews are to be utilized for work in
the East in an expedient manner in the course of the final
solution. In large (labor) columns, with the sexes separated,
Jews capable of work will be moved into these areas as they
build roads, during which a large proportion will no doubt
drop out through natural reduction. The remnant that
eventually remains will require suitable treatment; because it
will without doubt represent the most [physically] resistant
part, it consists of a natural selection that could, on its
release, become the germ-cell of a new Jewish revival.
(Witness the experience of history.)
Europe
is to be combed through from West to East in the course of the
practical implementation of the final solution. The area of
the Reich, including the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia,
will have to be handled in advance, if only because of the
housing problem and other socio-political needs.
The
evacuated Jews will first be taken, group by group, to
so-called transit ghettos, in order to be transported further
east from there.
An
important precondition, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich
noted further, for the carrying out of the evacuation in
general is the precise determination of the groups of persons
involved. It is intended not to evacuate Jews over 65 years
old, but to place them in an old-age ghetto Theresienstadt is
being considered.
In
addition to these age groups about 30% of the 280,000 Jews who
were present in the Altreich and the Ostmark on
October 31, 1941, were over 65 years old Jews with severe war
injuries and Jews with war decorations (Iron Cross, First
Class) will be admitted to the Jewish old-age ghetto. This
suitable solution will eliminate at one blow the many
applications for exceptions.
The
start of the individual major evacuation Aktionen will
depend largely on military developments. With regard to the
handling of the final solution in the European areas occupied
by us and under our influence, it was proposed that the
officials dealing with this subject in the Foreign Ministry
should confer with the appropriate experts in the Security
Police and the SD.
In
Slovakia and Croatia the matter is no longer too difficult, as
the most essential, central problems in this respect have
already been brought to a solution there. In Rumania the
government has in the meantime also appointed a
Plenipotentiary for Jewish Affairs. In order to settle the
problem in Hungary, it will be necessary in the near future to
impose an adviser for Jewish questions on the Hungarian
Government.
With
regard to setting in motion preparations for the settling of
the problem in Italy, SS Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich
considers liaison with the Police Chief in these matters would
be in place.
In
occupied and unoccupied France the rounding-up of the Jews for
evacuation will, in all probability, be carried out without
great difficulties.
On
this point, Undersecretary of State Luther stated that
far-reaching treatment of this problem would meet with
difficulties in some countries, such as the Nordic States, and
that it was therefore advisable to postpone action in these
countries for the present. In view of the small number of Jews
involved there, the postponement will in any case not occasion
any significant curtailment. On the other hand, the Foreign
Ministry foresees no great difficulties for the southeast and
west of Europe.
SS
Gruppenfuehrer Hofmann intends to send a specialist
from the Main Office for Race and Settlement to Hungary for
general orientation when the subject is taken in hand there by
the Chief of the Security Police and the SD. It was decided
that this specialist from the Race and Settlement Main Office,
who is not to take an active part, will temporarily be
designated officially as Assistant to the Police Attaché.
IV.
In the implementation of the plan for the final solution, the
Nuremberg Laws are to form the basis,6* as it were;
a precondition for the total clearing up of the problem will
also require solutions for the question of mixed marriages and
Mischlinge.
The
Chief of the Security Police and the SD then discussed the
following points, theoretically for the time being, in
connection with a letter from the Chief of the Reich
Chancellery:
1.
Treatment of first-degree Mischlinge
First-degree
Mischlinge are in the same position as Jews with
respect
to the final solution of the Jewish question. The
following
will be exempt from this treatment:
a)
First-degree Mischlinge married to persons of German
blood,
from whose marriages there are children (second-
degree
Mischlinge). Such second-degree Mischlinge are
essentially
in the same position as Germans.
b)
First-degree Mischlinge for whom up to now exceptions
were
granted in some (vital) area by the highest authorities
of
the Party and the State. Each individual case must be re-
examined,
and it is not excluded that the new decision will
again
be in favor of the Mischlinge.
The
grounds for granting an exception must always, as a
matter
of principle, be the deserts of the Mischling himself (not
the merits of the parent or spouse of German blood.)
The
first-degree Mischling exempted from evacuation
will be sterilized in order to obviate progeny and to
settle the Mischling problem for good.
Sterilization is voluntary, but it is the condition for
remaining in the Reich. The sterilized Mischling is
subsequently free of all restrictive regulations to which
he was previously subject.
2.
Treatment of second-degree Mischlinge
Second-degree
Mischlinge are on principle classed with
persons
of German blood, with
the exception of the following
cases,
in which the second-degree Mischlinge are considered
equivalent
to Jews:
a)
Descent of the second-degree Mischling from a bastard
marriage
(both spouses being Mischlinge).
b)
Racially especially unfavorable appearance of the second-
degree
Mischling, which will class him with the Jews on
external
grounds alone.
c)
Especially bad police and political rating of the second-
degree
Mischling, indicating that he feels and behaves as a
Jew.
Even
in these cases exceptions are not to be made if the
second-degree
Mischling is married to a person of German
blood.
3.
Marriages between full
Jews and persons of German blood
Here
it must be decided from case to case whether the Jewish
spouse
should be evacuated or whether he or she should be
sent
to an old-age ghetto in consideration of the effect of the
measure
on the German relatives of the mixed couple.
4.
Marriages between first-degree Mischlinge and
persons of
German
blood
a)
Without children
If
there are no children of the marriage, the first-degree
Mischling
is evacuated or sent to an old-age ghetto. (The
same
treatment as in marriages between full Jews and
persons
of German blood, [see] para. 3.)
b)
With children
If
there are children of the marriage (second-degree
Mischlinge),
they will be evacuated or sent to a ghetto,
together
with the first-degree Mischlinge,
if they are
considered
equivalent to Jews. Where
such children are
considered
equivalent to persons of German blood
(the
rule),
they and also the first-degree Mischling are to be
exempted
from evacuation.
5.
Marriages between first-degree Mischlinge
and first-degree
Mischlinge
or Jews
In
such marriages all parties (including children) are treated
as
Jews and therefore evacuated or sent to an old-age ghetto.
6.
Marriages between first-degree Mischlinge
and second-
degree
Mischlinge
Both
partners to the marriage, regardless of whether or not there
are children, are evacuated or sent to an old-age ghetto,
since children of such marriages commonly are seen to have a
stronger admixture of Jewish blood than the second-degree
Jewish Mischlinge.
SS
Gruppenfuehrer Hofmann is of the opinion that extensive
use must be made of sterilization, as the Mischling, given
the choice of evacuation or sterilization, would prefer to
accept sterilization.
Secretary
of State Dr. Stuckart noted that in this form the practical
aspects of the possible solutions proposed above for the
settling of the of mixed marriages and Mischlinge would
entail endless administrative work. In order to take the
biological realities into account, at any rate, Secretary of
State Dr. Stuckart proposed a move in the direction of
compulsory sterilization.
To
simplify the problem of the Mischlinge further
possibilities should be considered, with the aim that the
Legislator should rule something like: "These marriages
are dissolved."
As
to the question of the effect of the evacuation of the Jews on
the economy, Secretary of State Neumann stated that Jews
employed in essential war industries could not be evacuated
for the present, as long as no replacements were available.
SS
Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich pointed out that those Jews
would not be evacuated in any case, in accordance with the
directives approved by him for the implementation of the
current evacuation Aktion.
Secretary
of State Dr. Buehler put on record that the Government-General
would welcome it if the final solution of this problem was
begun in the Government-General, as, on the one hand, the
question of transport there played no major role and
considerations of labor supply would not hinder the course of
this Aktion. Jews must be removed as fast as possible
from the Government-General, because it was there in
particular that the Jew as carrier of epidemics spelled a
great danger, and, at the same time, he caused constant
disorder in the economic structure of the country by his
continuous black-market dealings. Furthermore, of the
approximately 2½ million Jews under consideration, the
majority were in any case unfit for work.
Secretary
of State Dr. Buehler further states that the solution of the
Jewish question in the Government-General was primarily the
responsibility of the Chief of the Security Police and the SD
and that his work would have the support of the authorities of
the Government-General. He had only one request: that the
Jewish question in this area be solved as quickly as possible.
In
conclusion, there was a discussion of the various possible
forms which the solution might take, and here both Gauleiter
Dr. Meyer and Secretary of State Dr. Buehler were of the
opinion that certain preparatory work for the final solution
should be carried out locally in the area concerned, but that,
in doing so, alarm among the population must be avoided.
The
conference concluded with the request of the Chief of the
Security Police and the SD to the participants at the
conference to give him the necessary support in carrying out
the tasks of the [final] solution.
NG-2586-G.
1*
Reich Marshal Hermann Goering.
2*
See Document 106.
3*
See Document 57.
4*
See Document 68.
5*
The reference is to the districts of western Poland annexed to
the Reich.
6*
See Documents 32, 33, 34. |
