The greatest Nazi minds formalized the plan to eliminate every single Jew.

by Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

January 20, 1942: The Wannsee Conference set a new course for how the Nazis would deal with the Jews. Wannsee is a suburb outside Berlin. It is where the "Final Solution" was decided, the Nazi plan for the complete elimination of the Jewish People.

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"Shopping" List

List Of Figures Of Intended Jewish Victims
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

The drafted document contained sixteen signatures from all the upper ministries of the German establishment. Of these sixteen signators, eight had PhD’s. By the way, Poland was divided up into six governments; all six of the German / Polish governors had PhD’s. Of the concentration camp officers, 43% of them had either MD’s or PhD’s. One of the Einsatz Gruppen commanders, Ohlendorf had a degree in law by age 21. He was a genius. Goebbels, the propaganda minister, had 3 PhD’s. He was a brilliant intellectual.

Ask the question: Does "education" equal "morality"? The answer should be obvious.

The plan drawn up at Wannsee was for the murder of eleven million Jews. One of the last things Hitler did, just before committing suicide, was to apologize to the German people for not finishing the job.

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Published: Wednesday, December 31, 1969
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Visitor Comments: 1

(1) Anonymous, June 22, 2005 12:00 AM

I have found your site very intresting and it has been helpful in my last minute revision for my holocaust examine. However i would like to point out the the Wannsee sonference was not the actually deciding point for the 'final solution'. It is now generally accepted that it had been agreed apon before 1942 and that wannsee was just intoducing it to and was endorsed by the german civil service, the german government and the party itself. the conference told who was there what was already happening and the administrative consequences of the final solution.
Although there is no precise date for the authoristation there are now four key events that could of been it.
The first is march 1942; Private meeting between Hitler and Himmler where Lucy Darwidovicz believes this where Hitler confirmed to Himmler his long standing plan to murder the Jews.
The second is July 31st 1941: Goring signs an authorisation to Heydrich which states 'I hereby charge you with making all necessary preparations for bringing about a complete solution of the Jewish question in europe.
The third is sep/Oct 1942: German forces advance slow down in russia and There is a 'Quantum' leap in the number of deaths by the Einstazgruppen.
The Fourth Is the meeting between Hitler, Himmler and Heydrich on december the 12th 1941: Evidence from Himmlers diary ' Jweish question?to be exterminated like the partisans'.
the first death camp of Belzec began construction in november 41 and the first gaasings of r.p.o took place in september.
Thank you for your time.

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About the Author

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis studied biology and geology at Northern Illinois University. In addition, he spent time as a deep-sea diver in the oil fields in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway and has circumnavigated the seas of the world in a sailboat. Rabbi Ellis received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah where he is a senior lecturer at the Discovery and Essentials programs.

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky received his BS from Cornell with a major in Communication Arts and a minor in Archeology, and did post-graduate work at UCLA in the field of Desert Plants and Natural History. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked in the field of Urban Ecology including several years as a landscape designer in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Silinsky received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He currently teaches at the Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

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