'The Wannsee Conference decisions implemented'—The extermination camps of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka' Summary and Analysis

Chapter 12 includes seven sections and details some of the actions and consequences of the Wannsee Conference, a meeting of senior Nazi officials in January 1942 that set into motion the industrialization of the holocaust by establishing extermination and concentration camps. Section 1, "SS-Untersturmführer Josef Oberhauser on the early days at Belzec" provides information about the early establishment and operation of Belzec. Prior to August 1942 the camp operated at a relatively slow rate of mass murder, killing about 600 to 900 Jews each day. This period was followed by a massive expansion in operations under new leadership. The initial period demonstrated the possibility of mass murder on an industrial scale; during this period bottled gasses or vehicle engine exhaust...