The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942 (Comprehensive History of the Holocaust)

631 Pages·2004·2.64 MB·English

by  Christopher R. Browning

THE
O|iGINS
OF THE
FINAL
SOLUTION
The Comprehensive History of the Holocaust
editorial board
David Bankier Dan Michman
Yehuda Bauer Dina Porat
Yoav Gelber Renée Poznanski
Israel Gutman Avner Shalev
Bella Gutterman
Yad Vashem initiated the Comprehensive History of the Holocaust
project together with historians from a number of universities and
research institutes. The project seeks to summarize research findings
on the Holocaust during the generations following the war.
for the university of nebraska press
Series Editor
Alan E. Steinweis, University of Nebraska
Associate Editors
Doris L. Bergen, University of Notre Dame
Peter Hayes, Northwestern University
Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College
Michael R. Marrus, University of Toronto
THE
O|iGINS
OF THE
FINAL
SOLUTION
the evolution of nazi jewish policy,
september 1939–march 1942
christopher r. browning
With contributions by Jürgen Matthäus
Published by the
university of nebraska press, Lincoln,
and yad vashem, Jerusalem
∫ 2004 by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust
Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority,
Jerusalem, Israel
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
!
Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Browning, Christopher R.
The origins of the Final Solution : the
evolution of Nazi Jewish policy, September
1939–March 1942 / Christopher Browning ;
with contributions by Jürgen Matthäus.
p. cm. — (Comprehensive history of the
Holocaust)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8032-1327-1 (cl : alk. paper)
1. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945).
2. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Causes.
3. Jews—Government policy—Germany—
History—20th century. 4. Germany—Politics
and government—1933–1945. 5. Germany—
Ethnic relations. I. Matthäus, Jürgen, 1959–
II. Title. III. Series.
d804.3.b773 2004
940.53%1811—dc22 2003060813
The publication of this series was
made possible by the generous gift of the
Ike and Roz Friedman Family Foundation,
in loving memory of
Ike Friedman and Janis Friedman Yale
and all those who perished in the Holocaust.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
1 Background 1
2 Poland, Laboratory of Racial Policy 12
Abdication of the Army 15
Racial Policy and Terror 25
3 The Search for a Final Solution through Expulsion, 1939–1941 36
Eichmann and the Nisko Plan 36
The Baltic Germans, the First Short-Range Plan,
and the Warthegau Deportations 43
The Curbing of Nazi Deportation Plans, January–February 1940 54
The Intermediate Plan, the Stettin Deportations, and the
Volhynian Action, February–July 1940 63
The Army, from Abdication to Complicity 72
The Madagascar Plan 81
The Last Spasms of Expulsion Policy, Fall 1940–Spring 1941 89
4 The Polish Ghettos 111
Ghettoization 111
Exploitation 138
Production or Starvation, the Ghetto Managers’ Dilemma 151
5 Germany and Europe 169
Racial Persecution inside Germany, 1939–1941 169
The Nazi Sphere of Influence 193
6 Preparing for the ‘‘War of Destruction’’ 213
Military Preparations for the ‘‘War of Destruction’’ 215
Preparations of the ss 224
Economic and Demographic Preparations for ‘‘Operation Barbarossa’’
(by Christopher R. Browning and Jürgen Matthäus) 234
7 Operation Barbarossa and the Onset of the Holocaust,
June–December 1941 By Jürgen Matthäus 244
German Perceptions and Expectations Regarding ‘‘the East’’ 245
Early Anti-Jewish Measures and the Mid-July Turning Point 253
Pogroms and Collaboration 268
Toward the Final Solution, August–December 1941 277
The Final Solution in the East 294
8 From War of Destruction to the Final Solution 309
Euphoria of Victory and Decision Making, July–October 1941 309
Consternation and Anticipation 330
Inventing the Extermination Camp 352
9 The Final Solution from Conception to Implementation,
October 1941–March 1942 374
Deportations from Germany, the First and Second Waves 375
Integrating the Bureaucracy into the Final Solution 398
The Gassing Begins 416
10 Conclusion 424
Hitler and the Decision-Making Process in Nazi Jewish Policy,
September 1939–March 1942 424
Germans and the Final Solution 428
Notes 435
Bibliography 549
Index 579
Illustrations
charts
1 Nazi Expulsions, September 1939–April 1941 109
2 General Government, 1939–1942 112
maps
1 Poland 1940 38
2 Europe, December 1941 170
3 Occupied Soviet Territory, December 1941 246