Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides the answers to the following questions: when did the information about the 'final solution' first become known to Jews and non-Jews? Through what channels were it transmitted?. In December 1940 Adolf Hitler signed Directive 21, and soon afterwards Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich Were told to make preparations for the 'final solution' of the Jewish question in Europe. Early in May 1941 the nucleus of the Einsatzgruppen was convened in central Germany. It was clear from the very beginning that the Einsatzgruppen could not single-handedly effect the 'final solution'. The forces were too small and the operations were limited, after all, to the occupied areas in Russia. The techniques of mass murder existed but the installations had to be built and the Jewish communities from the various countries had to be transported to the extermination camps.