January 20, 1942 “The Final Solution” Wannsee Conference January 20, 1942 “The Final Solution”

On January, 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler's second in command of the SS organization, convened a conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. At the meeting, 15 top Nazi bureaucrats and members of the SS met to coordinate the "Final Solution" in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the 11 million Jews of Europe and the Soviet Union

The minutes of the conference shown below were taken by Adolf Eichmann, but were personally edited by Heydrich after the meeting, substituting the coded language Nazis often used when referring to lethal actions to be taken against Jews- "...eliminated by natural causes," refers to death by a combination of hard labor and starvation. "...transported to the east," refers to the mass deportations of Jews to ghettos in occupied Poland, then on to the planned gas chamber complexes at Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, and Auschwitz. "...treated accordingly," refers to execution by SS firing squads or death by gassing - also seen in other Nazi correspondence in a variety of connotations such as "special treatment" and "special actions" regarding the Jews.

Wannsee Conference Participants - Dr. Meyer Reich Ministry for the Occupied and Reichsamtleiter Eastern territories -Dr. Leibbrandt Secretary of State -Dr. Stuckart Reich Ministry for the Interior -Secretary of State Neumann Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan of State -Dr. Freisler Reich Ministry of Justice Secretary of State -Dr. Bühler Office of the Government General Under Secretary of State -Foreign Office Dr. Luther SS-Oberführer Klopfer -Party Chancellery Ministerialdirektor Kritzinger Reich Chancellery -SS-Gruppenführer Hofmann Race and Settlement Main Office -SS-Gruppenführer Müller Reich Main Security Office -SS-Obersturmbannführer Eichmann -SS-Oberführer Dr. Schongarth Security Police and SD Commander of the Security Police and the SD in the Government General -SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. Lange Security Police and SD Commander of the Security Police and the SD for the General-District Latvia, as deputy of the Commander of the Security Police and the SD for the Reich Commissariat "Eastland". II.

Letter of Invitation Head of the Security Police and SD IV B 4 -3076/41g (1180)Berlin SW 11, November 29, 1941 Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8                                                                                                     Personal.   To SS Major General [Gruppenführer] Hoffmann [wrongly spelled “ff”] Race and Settlement Main Office Berlin Dear  H o f f m a n n !   On July 31, 1941, the Reich Marshal of the Großdeutsches Reich has commissioned me, together with other pertinent central agencies involved, to carry out all necessary preparations in regard to organizational, practical and material measures requisite for the total solution of the Jewish question in Europe, and to submit to him in the near future a general outline thereof. I am enclosing with my letter a photocopy of this order.             

Invitation Lettercont. Considering the exceptional importance of these measures, and in order to reach a common agreement on all aspects connected with this final solution among the central agencies concerned, I suggest that we make these problems a matter of joint discussion, especially because since October 15, 1941 Jews are already continuously being evacuated from the territory of the Reich, including the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, to the East. I therefore invite you to attend such a meeting, to be followed by breakfast, on December 9, 1941 at noon, at the office of the International Criminal Police Commission, Berlin, Am Kleinen Wannsee No. 16 [handwritten crossed out and corrected to] Am Großen Wannsee Nr. 56/58. [handwritten marginal note: Following to a tel. call of Sturmbannführer Günther on December 4, 1941 street changed].

Invitation Letttercont I have sent similar letters to Generalgouverneur Dr. Frank, Gauleiter Dr. Meyer, State Secretaries Stuckart, Dr. Schlegelberger, Gutterer and Neumann as well as Reichsamtsleiter Director Dr. Leibbrandt, Undersecretary Luther, SS-Obergruppenführer Krüger, SS-Gruppenführer Greifelt, SS-Oberführer Klopfer, and Permanent Secretary Kritzinger. Heil Hitler! Yours  [handwritten signature:]   Heydrich Enclosure: 1

Opening Remarks… the expulsion of the Jews from every sphere of life of the German people, the expulsion of the Jews from the living space of the German people. to make all necessary arrangements for the preparation for an increased emigration of the Jews to direct the flow of emigration, to speed the procedure of emigration in each individual case. -The aim of all this was to cleanse German living space of Jews in a legal manner.

German Lists of Jews throughout Europe Germany proper 131,800 Austria 43,700 Eastern territories 420,000 General Government 2,284,000 Bialystok 400,000 Protectorate 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 unoccupied territory 700,000

German list of Jews throughout Europecont. Greece 69,600 Netherlands 160,800 Norway 1,300 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

German list of Jews throughout Europecont. Slovakia 88,000 Spain 6,000 Turkey (European portion) 55,500 Hungary 742,800 USSR 5,000,000 Ukraine 2,994,684 White Russia excluding Bialystok 446,484 Total over 11,000,000

Breakdown of Jews in Europe by Trade Agriculture 9.1 % Urban workers 14.8 % In trade 20.0 % Employed by the state 23.4 % In private occupations such as medical profession, press, theater, etc. 32. 7%

Nuremberg Laws and how they related to Jews in Germany and Europe Treatment of Persons of Mixed Blood of the First Degree Treatment of Persons of Mixed Blood of the Second Degree Marriages between Full Jews and Persons of German Blood. Marriages between Persons of Mixed Blood of the First Degree and Persons of German Blood. Marriages between Persons of Mixed Blood of the First Degree and Persons of Mixed Blood of the First Degree or Jews. Marriages between Persons of Mixed Blood of the First Degree and Persons of Mixed Blood of the Second Degree.

The villa at 56-58 Am Grossen Wannsee Berlin, where the Wannsee Conference was held. Today it is a memorial and museum