Summary

January 1942 during the Wannsee Conference, Heydrich invited the head of ministries to Berlin to discuss the final solution. Obviously, since the plan was to encompass all of Europe more than tacit agreement would be necessary. To be successful, there had to be full cooperation. Most of the ministers were loyal Nazis who had been with Hitler over the last nine years during his rise to power. The goal of the meeting was to focus on the successful implementation of the Final Solution. Whether half-Jews should be killed or just sterilized was one topic of discussion. The plan was greeted with great enthusiasm.

Eichmann was among the lowest ranking men at the meeting. He had provided some stats for Heydrich’s speech in which he wrote that eleven million Jews must be killed. It was at this meeting that Eichmann’s doubts...