January 20, 1942
Nazi officials meet in a Berlin suburb to devise a plan that would render a “final solution to the Jewish question” in Europe. Various gruesome proposals were discussed, including mass sterilization and deportation to the island of Madagascar. SS General Heydrich proposed transporting Jews from every corner Europe to concentration camps in Poland and working them to death. Although the word “extermination” was never uttered during the meeting, the implication was clear: anyone who survived the harsh conditions of a work camp would be “treated accordingly.” Months later, the “gas vans” in Chelmno, Poland, which were killing 1,000 people a day, proved to be the “solution” they were looking for–the most efficient means of killing large groups of people at one time.
