"Adolph Hitler invaded Poland in September, 1939  starting WWII." "By the winter of 1942, his armies were freezing and starving  in the snows of Russia, where his best general had died of a heart attack  and America had entered the war." "For the first time, Hitler's dream of a German empire  to last 1,000 years was in doubt." "While he hired and fired generals and the winter grew colder  15 of his officials were ordered from their commands and ministries  to meet in a quiet lakeside residence in Wannsee, in Berlin  far from the crisis at the front." "In two hours, these men changed the world forever." "Only one record of what was said and done here survives  from the wreckage of what was the Thousand-Year Reich." " How many rolls?" " Enough for four hours, sir." "Too many." "Two hours worth should be sufficient." "Do we have enough?" "How many fell?" "I am sure we have a sizable inventory, sir." "You are sure, or you know?" "I know, sir." "Itemize the cost." "He pays." "Make it a separate report to me." "And keep him where I don't see him." "Smile." "It is a fine day." "Yes, sir." "All right, then." "Let's look smart." "Heil Hitler." "No silence in Latvia." "No silence like this." "You're surprised it's better in Berlin?" "Heil Hitler." " We've met, Colonel." " Indeed, we have." " I'm State Secretary Bühler." " Indeed, you are." " Col. Schöngarth." " Sir." "Maj. Lange." "If there's anything any of you need, don't hesitate to call an orderly or me." "My appreciation to the man who picked this spot." "That would be Gen. Heydrich." "Beautiful house, from a more elegant time." "Are they any messages from Cracow, my office?" "No, sir." "Where do we go?" "The Major has come a long way, the man deserves a drink." "This way." "You'll find the wines, and we're not limited to the wines, first-rate." "That way." "Yes, the court will dry your throat." "Drink." "Excellent!" "Put this book away." "It's not built for this purpose, not for meetings." "These floors are not for boots." " It was a private home?" " Private home, yes." "Whose?" "We believe it was owned by a Jew." "There's some dispute." "In the SS, we travel deluxe." " Always." " Well, we've earned it, surely." "Not everyone agrees." " Heil Hitler!" " It's running like a damn truck." "They say they replaced the belts and plugs, but it sounds like a cement mixer." "Can someone here check?" "I can't hear myself think in there!" "Can someone here check?" "I can't hear myself think in there!" "The East is well represented." "And we're here first." "Meet Maj. Lange, a very tired man." "No, please, I am enjoying these surroundings." " Where can I find Col. Eichmann?" " Follow me, sir." "Eichmann?" "Excuse the interruption." "Colonel." "My memorandum of recommendations." "I have here another copy, in the circumstance Gen. Heydrich would like to be refreshed of its contents for the sake of maintaining harmony between the Gestapo and the Foreign Office." " That was my thought." " Yes." "Are there any changes to the list of the invited..." "No." " So even Dr. Kritzinger will be here?" " Yes." "Yes, he will not be happy." "Here we are." "And how are you?" "Very well, thank you." "I'll make sure that the General sees this." " When will he arrive?" " He should be on the ground any moment." "May I take your coat, sir?" "Your hat?" "Neumann, Director, Office of the Four-Year Plan, sir." "Yes." "How are you, Neumann?" "Always surprised and flattered, Dr. Stuckart, that you recognize me." "I'm always thanking you for saying so." "Neumann, Director, Office of the Four-Year Plan." "Dr. Stuckart." " Heil Hitler." "Welcome, sir." " Heil Hitler." "Thank you for the welcome." "Gen. Heydrich's not here yet, I expect." "Am I correct?" "Yes, sir." "He loves a grand entrance." "I have no idea what happened to him." "Probably running a bank somewhere by now." "I understand the purpose, but no idea what the man might propose." " Or what the meeting's about?" "Power." " No, consolidation of power." "We should benefit by that." "Kritzinger, a pleasure." "I'm pleased you're here." "A morbid curiosity." "We have settled this question." "So I thought." " What's been discussed?" " Everything, except the fighting in Moscow." "I've heard we're counter-attacking." "Reichenau's got them out of..." "Reichenau is dead." "Let us not gossip like maids at the market." "We are stalled for the winter." "Time to face reality." " Is Col. Eichmann here?" " Yes, sir." "Tell him Klopfer has arrived." "And the others?" "Neumann, Director, Office of the Four-Year Plan." " For Göring?" " For Reichsmarshal Göring, yes, his office." "And you, sir?" "Luther." "And what is your plan?" "Where will we be in four years, do you think?" "Living in the White House?" "Welcome, sir." " You are very well fixed up here." " I think we are." "I'm late because of a briefing." "We have this general who is now trying to capture Moscow, who has never commanded one brigade." "That is what I've been hearing, and that is why I am late." " Not at all." " Is there beer?" "Yes." "And where is the boys' room?" "I've been briefed by the Governor-General on what concerns, what anticipations." "That is private." "We will all discover what new concepts our SS friends have in mind." "Schöngarth!" "Not bad for French." "Neumann, Director, Office of the Four-Year Plan." "I'm very pleased to be here." "Whom may I be speaking to?" "It is very complex, these laws." "A lot of time and thought have been put to them, and some of these here you notice all the SS have little idea what is lawful and no respect for what they do know." "Certainly not these men." "To them, laws are like ice cream:" "Easily melted." "I suspect that is why this meeting, which is under my department is being called by the SS." "Do you know?" "Only what the invitation suggested." "They always want to meet." "The SS love to meet." "And they always want something more though they have everything." "Has anyone heard anything remotely optimistic about the Moscow assault?" "No good news." "Sympathies all around." " It's cold." " What?" "It must be cold." "What have we got?" "I see wine, but no beer." "And what are these?" " Cigars, sir." " Please." "Neumann, Director, Office of the Four-Year Plan." "Luther!" "Excuse me." " Sir, this is..." " Director, Four-Year Plan." "A close associate of Reichsmarshal Göring." "Neumann, I introduce Dr. Klopfer a close associate of the Brown Eminence." " Brown?" " I represent Martin Bormann the Party Chairman of the Thousand-Year Plan." "...the Party Chairman of the Thousand-Year Plan." " Is Dr. Kritzinger here?" " Yes, he is, sir." "That's a relief." " Are they under way?" " Not yet, sir." " Who's late?" " We are." " Who is not here?" " Gen. Heydrich, sir, but he's on his way." "He will make his entrance." "Everything is fine, everyone's comfortable:" "Food, cigars, wine." "Colonel?" "He's here, sir." " Heil Hitler." " Müller." "I love this house!" "Seeing it from the air, you appreciate the architect." " Are we ready?" " Absolutely, sir." "After the war, it will be my home." "A marvelous home." "There have been questions about Moscow but I think I've deflected them successfully." "Understood." "If we keep doing this all day, we'll never finish." "With no disrespect to our Führer, it is suspended until the end of business." " Yes, sir." " Very good." " There's wine, sir." " You've all had what you need?" "Then let us do what we are here for, and refreshments after?" " There'll be a buffet." " Good." "Dr. Kritzinger, important that you be here." "Let us begin." " Our Führer, how is his mood?" " Commanding, of course." " His generals in Russia are a disgrace." " This conference should've..." "In a moment." "Gentlemen, your places are identified." "Thank you all for coming." "Please, sit down." "I'm sorry I held you up a little." "But you had elegant wine, I'm sure." "And no one there to say it's too early for that." "Are you all set up?" " It's prepared." " Very good." "At the risk of sounding like the first day at summer camp let's go around the table and introduce ourselves for those who do not know others." "I shall save myself for last and start with Gen. Müller." "Maj. Gen. Heinrich Müller, SS Gestapo." "Klopfer, representing the Party, that is who I speak for." "I'm Kritzinger, Ministerial Director of the Reich Chancellery." "I appreciate being called, but wonder why." "The topic, the coordination of the Jewish question, I believe, was resolved." "It will be." "With the Führer stating to me and to my superiors..." "It will be." "Gen. Hofmann, Race and Settlement, Main Office." "We deal with matters of race and settlement." "Is it me?" "Leibbrandt, the Political Office of the Ministry for all we hold and administer in Eastern Poland, the Baltics and in the Soviet Union." "I am the State Secretary for the Ministry as a whole." " Give them your name." " Meyer, Dr., sorry." "Stuckart, Interior Ministry." "Martin Luther, Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry." "I met almost everybody." "My name is Neumann, Director, Office of the Four-Year Plan." "Lange, Deputy Commander of SS Task Forces in Latvia." " Among other things." " We all have other things." "I'm Joseph Bühler Secretary of State of the General Government of German-occupied Poland." "How cold is it up there?" "Better Cracow than Warsaw." "Now that it is run by Germans, you should be spared those Polish winters." "Not the case." "Schöngarth, SS assigned to the General Government." "Dr. Freisler, Ministry of Justice." "Also, I hold rank in the Storm Troopers." "So that is who I am." "Adolf Eichmann, SS Gestapo, Office of Jewish Affairs, and that should be..." "Yes, that's all." "And I am Heydrich, SS Chief of Reich Security, Main Office and Reichsprotector of Bohemia and Moravia." "And welcome." "You have each been given some papers." "These are for you alone." "No copies to be made, not to be seen or discussed with others except superiors." "How we deal with matters here must be held secret from our enemies." "We control events better when we control opinion." "Today, each of us becomes a bearer of secrets." " And our secretary will be discreet?" " He agrees." "He agrees?" "Excellent." "Communication between us after today will pass in both directions through Lt. Col. Eichmann, my deputy for all Jewish matters." "He is your focal point." "To begin, we have a storage problem in Germany with these Jews." "There have been conversations for a year about this Jew and that Jew and the complexities of the law and this problem as you, I'm sure, know has tormented us." "We first undertook to expel them from all means by which our people would have to deal with them, every sphere of life of German people." "The laws enacted at Nuremberg, and we should drink a toast to Dr. Stuckart for devising them." "Coauthor, in all modesty, I am the coauthor." "They established the fundamental legality for the creation of a Jew-free society a Jew-free economy for the world to see." "And we, indeed, have eliminated the Jew from our national life." "Now, more than that, the Jew himself must be physically eradicated from our living space." " Clarification." " Absolutely." "There will be a moment for that." "But if I may, we pursued a vigorous policy of emigration but who would take more of them?" ""Who would want them?" Was the policy's ultimate limitation." "Every border in Europe rejects them or charges outrageously to accept them." " America." " Even America, thank you where Jews constantly whisper in Roosevelt's ear, still turns them away." "Then, in acquiring Poland, we acquired two and a half million more." "By last July, we were met with a new situation we would, in very short order, be acquiring some we would, in very short order, be acquiring some five million Jews as we conquered Russia." "The dimensions of this problem have magnified astoundingly." "Five million." "Exactly the problem." "Our ghettos are full..." "All those ghettos, yes, with Polish names." "Fully occupied, but hold for now, please, if you would." "At that time, last July, confronting this new situation Reichsmarshal Göring prepared a directive, you have a copy." "The operative words, if you'll permit me to read:" ""I hereby charge you with making all preparations..." ""...in regard to organizational and financial matters..." ""...for bringing about a complete solution of the Jewish question..." ""...in the German sphere of influence in Europe."" "Now, for that, I read the cleansing of the entire continent of Europe." "You see, the word "cleansing"..." "An accurate word, I think." "If I may go on in the second paragraph:" ""Wherever other governmental agencies are involved..." ""...these are to cooperate with you..." I hope." "So on, so on." ""...as necessary for the accomplishment..." ""...of the desired solution of the Jewish question."" "This is our mandate, all of us." "May I say, in fairness the Jewish question falls within the responsibilities of my department, the Reich Chancellery, and we received no directive..." "If you will give me a moment or two." " The document is in your folder?" " Yes, it is in your folder." "I'm sure it is." "Finally, what has happened since that directive?" "Succinctly, now we are standing still in Russia, the Americans have joined the war." "Both events are a further drain on our military, our economy our manpower, our food supply." "We cannot store these Jews." "Emigration is over." "And the inevitable solution is what we, together at this table will discuss this afternoon." "We'll go on." "You'll find a document listing the remaining Jewish population by country in Europe and whatever the USSR or Russia calls itself for the time it has left." "As I mentioned, emigration policy will stop..." "I apologize, sir." "A call for Gen. Heydrich." " See who it is, and end the calls." " Yes, sir." "We will take but a moment." "Please sit, Dr. Kritzinger." "Make us all comfortable." "Where is this going?" "Yes, this is Lt. Col. Eichmann." "I understand, Major, but the General is to be free of calls at this time." "If you wish to explain the matter to me..." "Yes?" "Yes, I'm sure if you call his office, you..." "Yes." "Heil Hitler." "This meeting is not taking place." "You are to take no phone calls for anyone at this meeting." "Anyone." "Unless the Führer calls, and he won't." " Understood?" " Yes, sir." "Here is Field Marshall Reichenau strapped to a chair and put, convulsing, on the plane, where he dies." "He wanted to retreat as deeply as Rundstedt did, but Rundstedt got his medal and Reichenau, the hereafter." "Maj. Schussheim was reluctant to give me any message." "He does not appreciate you as I do." "He does not appreciate you as I do." "Emigration." "The policy to replace that of emigration, and we have enough experience to do it well, is evacuation." "Which differs from emigration in what way?" "Evacuation to where?" "Let us postpone that question for a while." " To hell, one hopes." " Many already have." " Do they even have a hell?" " They do now." "We provide it." "We have received assurances that these Jews are held in livable conditions." "You are postponing, that is your prerogative." "Will I have an opportunity to be heard on this?" "On my word of honor." "If I may." "132,000 Jews left in Germany proper." "Austria: 43,700." "Occupied Eastern Territories: 420,000." "General Government: 2,284,000." "Bialystok: 400,000, and Moravia: 74,200." " Estonia:" "Not a one." " The best thing I've heard about Estonia." "You have the list, I won't read it all." "Plenty in France, Romania, England." "USSR: 5 million." "In what is, or will be soon, our sphere of control over 11 million chosen people." " The changing definitions?" " Yes, go ahead." "Except that there are countries that define Jewishness non-racially merely as a religious practice:" "England, America." "Therefore, by our racial principles there may be many additional uncounted Israelites." "And he speaks Jewish." "He does!" "He does!" "What, then, confronts us here in open discussion, which will inform the choices we must make is what to do to deal with this staggering number of Jews overwhelming us." "My suggestion is to take all able-bodied Jews separated according to sex, to the East to work in units, specifically for road building." "Yes." "Can we be practical?" "You are hardly describing the promised livable conditions for these people." "On the face of it, your plan excuse me, does not succeed." "It is fanciful." "You have, in this collection here five million Russo-European Jews:" "10% agriculture 15% urban workers, tradesmen:" "Almost 20% bureaucrats:" "Almost 24% doctors, writers, journalists, actors and so on:" "Almost 33%." "...doctors, writers, journalists, actors and so on:" "Almost 33%." "Building roads?" "75% of your five million have not picked up anything heavier than a pencil." "Yes, and most will be casualties, eliminated by natural causes." "We intend to be complete." "We will comb Europe from west to east starting with the protectorates, Bohemia and Moravia." "We will evacuate them first." "All to-be-evacuated Jews, group by group will be sent to, call them transit ghettos, and then transported to the east." " Please..." " You want yours first!" "I understand." "Let me make my case, you'll be heard." "When, in your plan, do you take their women away?" "How they love to make the beast." "Control yourself." "Jews who have beyond 65 years will be moved into old-age ghettos possibly Theresienstadt will be chosen, where they can expire at their own speed." "We will sweep all wounded Jewish veterans and those given military decorations." "The Iron Cross, first class, that fine distinction will be abandoned." "They go, too, into the old-age ghettos or we will be drowning in requests for exemptions and interventions." "I was referring to intervention of another kind below the waist." "This is all very beguiling, but when you include privileges for certain Jews the Party Chancellery sees its interest a certain way." "And Martin Bormann, I can speak for him has his authority as well from the Führer." "We do not just surrender our prerogative to decide Jew questions." "Everyone's point of view will be considered." "Did you ever see an animal with two heads?" "They do not live." "Want to see Bormann and Göring fight it out?" "We are not trying to roll over anyone, quite the opposite." "Does anyone else want to raise this question now?" "Because I have been asked to direct the release of Germany and all of Europe from the Jewish stranglehold, and I believe, together, we will." "But the brief remains clear:" "All of Europe England, from Lapland to Libya, from Vladivostok to Belfast no Jews." "Not one." "I propose that the appropriate expert from the Foreign Ministry act as channel to the SS security police in each country." "I'm counting on you to be my link to the Foreign Ministry." "I think, having explained in general what we are challenged to do I would be grateful for comments and questions." "Let us have some refreshment in here." "Pretend we are the directors of I.G. Farben." " That's how they do it, yes?" " That is how we do it." "My friend, I have read your recommendations." "I appreciate the effort and the thought." "I heard some of what I wrote in what you already said." "I think not." "I hear that Heydrich has a little Jew blood in him." "Why don't you ask him?" " The numbers are misleading." " Misleading?" ""Who is a Jew?" is another question." " They're not a heterogeneous..." " Not a heterogeneous population." "And how is it that you can speak Hebrew?" "Or is it only Yiddish you speak?" "I lived among them, I worked among them, and I picked up a few words." "Jewish, Yiddish, what they were, not enough to speak." "So I went in search of a rabbi." "Rabbi means "teacher," I came to find out." "May I tell you the Lord's honest truth?" "So many of our highest ranking officers whose responsibility it is to deal with the Israelites they make no attempt to get inside the Jewish head." "I went to visit this rabbi, old man, long beard, in his one-room flat." "And when he saw me, his eyes grew as large as hen's eggs." "I asked him to teach me his language, and he agreed." "And he said that he would, but that he would charge me, of course." "I applied to my commander for funds, and I was denied." "I've run into this opposition all my life, so I paid my own money." "Very little, not much." "And he taught me some vocabulary and letters of the alphabet." "Looking back, I realize, it was poor judgment on my part because I could've so easily had the old man put into prison and demanded lessons from him in his cell, free of charge." "One day, he went out." "He was rounded up and shipped off because he had gone out unadvisedly." "And I thought:" ""That's so stupid."" "Why are they so stupid?" "Didn't he know that I would've protected him?" "At least until my lessons were complete." "I want to be through by 2:30 or earlier." "There's no reason why we can't continue." "I prefer you all at the table." " There will be a buffet lunch." " Excellent." "Settle down, we're moving along." "You have the overall idea but it's clear some areas will evacuate swiftly..." " What about our friends the Italians?" " The Italians." "We must all trust the good Lord to save us from our Italian friends." "In the last analysis, if they don't purge their Jews we'll go down and accomplish it and put their priorities in order." "In France, even where we aren't occupying, they'll ship their Jews out." "Here is another problem." "The Foreign Ministry sees difficulty in evacuating too fast in Scandinavia, as you say, Lapland." "Unless we tie up a lot more troops there troops which we need for the Russian campaign, Moscow the Scandinavians will not cooperate." "What do you see for the rest of Europe?" "The Foreign Ministry sees no difficulty with the Balkans Southeast and Western Europe." "This is very good." "...Southeast and Western Europe." "This is very good." " Sir." " Yes?" "The Race and Settlement main office is planning on sending an expert to Hungary for general orientation on our policies." "I think that should take place at the same time as you send your advisor." "It will put some iron in the glove, so to speak." "The glove is iron, and there should be no confusion as to where policy emanates." "I should hope that established relationships will be maintained." "If they are productive, but not if they are not if I may speak for the group." " It is not my intention..." " What is your intention?" "The work done by our department." "Our particular expert is prepared..." "We both serve the Führer, he gave me the command." "I suggest your advisor serve as an assistant to my man." "That preserves the relative powers of our offices, does it not?" "Yes, it certainly does." "That is how it should be." "I will leave it to you, then, to be in touch with Col. Eichmann?" "Yes." "Settled." "Moving along." "Now, a difficult problem." "My instinct is to be Alexandrian and solve a difficult tangle with a sharp, clean stroke this afternoon." "All our actions must be predicated on law." "Everything we've done is from the Nuremberg Laws which Dr. Stuckart brought forth to the Reichstag in 1935." "We now have to examine the Blood and Honor laws in regard to the problems of mixed marriages and persons of mixed blood." "Not only who is a Jew, but how, in each defined circumstance the Jew is expunged from society, the government, the economy through ordinances." "The tapestry, if you'll permit some pride." "The exemptions written into the law allow too many Jews to remain among us." "We address that problem by examining each category and every exemption." "There's been communication with the Chancellery Head Lammers, who discussed these questions with the Führer." "You asked why you are here." "You represent him." "And your own opinion." "We would like that, too." "Lammers has indeed met with the Führer or his staff on this question and reached an understanding." "Dr. Kritzinger, can we come to a further understanding here?" "What can we all agree on?" "What I would like agreed here is that mixed-blood persons of the first degree they have two Jewish grandparents, they are half-Jews they are just Jews." "They go." "Their children go." "There are, in the law, as of now, two exceptions." "If you would..." "For first-degree mixed, if married to Germans with children they're exempted." "Their children, second-degree mixed, would be treated as Germans." "The other exception is first-degree mixed who the Reich has chosen to honor with privilege for whatever reason." "We are talking here of men and women who live as Germans." "They do not worship or behave as Jews, but have some quantity of blood." " The genetic Jew." "In those cases, we'll examine each determination and perhaps revoke their exemption." " The Nuremberg Laws..." " Whoever receives exemption better have extraordinary merits, not just a German parent, husband or wife." "Those who are exempt from evacuation, they too will fall in certain categories..." "Could you, General..." "Sorry." "I have the real feeling I evacuated 30,000 Jews already, by shooting them at Riga." "Is what I did evacuation?" "When they fell, were they evacuated?" "There are another 20,000, at least, waiting for similar evacuation." "I just think it is helpful to know what words mean." "With all respect." "If I might, I think it's unnecessary to burden the record..." "Yes." "In my personal opinion, they are evacuated." " Explain." " I have just done so." "That is contrary to what the Chancellery has been told." "I have directly been assured!" "Purge the Jews, yes." "But to annihilate them..." "That we have undertaken to systematically annihilate all the Jews of Europe?" "No." "That possibility has personally been denied to me by the Führer." "And it will continue to be." "Yes, I understand." "Yes." "He will continue to deny it." "My apologies." "Do you accept my apologies?" "Of course." "So very kind." "So very kind." " Close the doors, please." " Those mixed in the first degree." "Yes, those mixed in the first degree, who are exempted will be sterilized." "May I just point out, in regard to special exemptions it's widely known, I've heard the opinion expressed myself that there are 80 million good Germans and each one knows his "decent Jew," even if he regards all the rest as vermin." "If there are decent Jews, then before they are decent and indeed after, they are Jews." "No." "First-degree exempted will be sterilized." "No more children, and eventually, no more mixed blood, once and for all." "It is important to know what words mean." "It is important to know what words mean." "But it's important to remember in 1,000 years no matter who holds the power, history will be written in those words." "Do you expect the men serenely to submit to being sterilized?" "Why not?" "They've already had their cocks clipped." "It's voluntary." "One can lose one's possibility to reproduce or one can be evacuated." "If a first-mixed is sterilized, of course, the Nuremberg restrictions don't apply." " The Nuremberg Laws are very specific..." " When I am done." "Thank you." "Please." "As to second-degree mixed, those born to a half-Jew and German or one-quarter Jew, three-quarters German, equals German." "With exceptions:" "If both parents are mixed-blood, the child's a Jew." "If the child looks or sounds Jewish, even with only one-quarter mixed..." "When that blood is dominant." "Then he is a Jew." "Third:" "A mixed-second with a criminal or political record..." "Excuse me, sir, is this a second or a third?" "A mixed-second." " Third exception." " Third exception." "In other words, he that behaves like a Jew will be considered as such." "If any of these second-mixed exceptions marry a German then they will be evacuated, no special dispensations." " The marriage laws are very complex..." " Mixed marriages include German relatives." "They have a vested interest in the couple, also in children born to the marriage." "So here it is." "Marriages between mixed-firsts and Germans, if they have had no children depending on repercussions on the German side either the half-Jew is evacuated, or to the old-age ghetto." " Theresienstadt." " Possibly." "Somewhere." "The same holds true for the full-blood Jew with a German wife or husband." "If there are children, if the rules classify them as Jews they go with the Jew parent, evacuation or ghetto, depending on the case." "If they're classified as German, that spares both the child and the Jew parent." "Jews of first-mixed married to first-mixed are Jews." "Children as well, treated as such." "First-mixed married to second-mixed and children, the same." "Unless they're exempted by special considerations, they are gone." "Otherwise to the ghetto, possibly Theresienstadt." "In all cases, the SS will be the determining agency." "No question lingers in your mind about that, does it?" "Sterilization will be a growth industry." "Who would not choose infertility to avoid evacuation?" " They would never know." " Would never know what?" "If you use a word other than "sterilize"..." "You think they would never know?" "It is simply a matter of secrecy." "The smell of blood carries very far." "I find the plan unworkable." "I find the plan personally insulting." "I have given years to codifying the laws regarding interracial marriage." "Now I'm presented with this clumsy, forgive me, unworkable structure." "My work, these laws, any legal code worthy of the name restricts the enforcers of law as well as its subjects." "There are some things you cannot do." "As you see it." "What I see is all I have to contribute here." "Let me offer a modification, a simple change we can all accept." "Maybe this helps the outline." "Sir, what you have suggested, and not to put too fine a point on it you have said the half-mixed will be eliminated." " Evacuated." " "Evacuated." My mistake." "That is a wholesale departure from the law." "But my suggestion..." "Yes, which is?" "I say the half-mixed should get the choice we talked about to be either sterilized or taken away." "Does that not come closer to the spirit, at least, of the Nuremberg Law?" " Dr. Stuckart, does it?" " No." "Sorry, no." "Sterilization is promising but attempting a supersession of what are clearly defined laws in order to impose all these subjective evaluations, it's like..." "Forgive me, it is like the imposing of ad hoc law." "Depending on subjective evaluations, as to if he looks Jewish or has a Jewish personality, or whatever else is subject to interpretation and variation including the assertions of the damned Jew himself." "What does this do?" "It subverts the Nuremberg Laws and perpetuates disrespect for the law." "I think we are basing our proposals carefully..." "No, with all due respect and all frankness, it's a tangle." "And this is not pride of authorship." "I'm simply reacting to the bureaucratic train wreck that's to follow." "Please, it is simply solved." "Sterilize them all." "We could call it "medical re-socialization" or something." "We can find ways." "The biological necessities are all met." "My..." "The Nuremberg Laws are respected, a simple procedure..." "A snip here, a snip there..." "This is not a joke!" " It is not..." " X-rays." " That is how you do it." " Exactly how?" "You have this X-ray machine built into a counter or a desk." "Some unfortunate Jew stands at attention in front of the desk, and..." "I am not coming to your office." "So you either raise the desk or lower the desk, depending on..." "A certain subterfuge..." " I do not know if it sterilizes the female." " A technical question." "Not voluntary, you're saying?" "Every Jew, of whatever degree, whoever betrothed to however mixed, whatever service to the state." "You're saying we don't need to evacuate them..." " We pinch off the race at this generation." " The Reich's law..." "We make the law we need." "Why am I telling you this?" "How many lawyers are in this room?" "Raise your hand." "Jesus Christ." "It's worse than I thought." "The children, what then for them?" "You just line them up in front of their desks and X-rays toast their little gonads." "If I might, for perspective:" "If I might, for perspective:" "We have already been using sterilization for the mentally defective since 1939 in our T4 program." " T4?" " "Euthanasia" is the correct term, yes?" "Yes." "Reichsführer Himmler discussed it with the General." "Apparently, a doctor at the biological institute in Dresden has a simple injection." "You can father no children." " Where can I get it?" " It would be useful with the ladies." ""I am fixed, my dear."" "Of course, it is as yet only tested with mice and rats." "Actually, you would not need the injection, just the papers to say that you had had it." "I have figures, but they're not exact." "Between 1933 and 1936, roughly 169,000 and by now, to date, possibly 300,000 under the Law for the Protection of German Blood have been sterilized by various methods." "X-rays, injecting some corrosive chemical directly into the womb..." "Yes, this was only for the Reich itself, not occupied territories." " Yes." " Yes." "Are they fit for labor after these methods?" "With the X-rays, it's a problem of dosage." "Less a problem, I think, with the women." "Less a problem with the women." "Secretary Bühler makes an important point." " Labor." " Yes, exactly." "Labor." "I'm not implying that our problems are the same as in the Eastern Territories, but the need for workers as the military need men, the need for production is only growing." "That is why sterilization is the preferred option." "It leaves our captive workforce, what remains of it..." "I do not think our people want to wait a generation to end this problem." "We have deferred Jews by the thousands in armaments, construction." "Wait, I can give you an exemplar." "It's just a quote from a letter from the Debruder Public Company but there are many companies..." "The sound of his voice, and the sun goes down." " The specialist for I.G. Farben..." " I do not think you understand..." "Over 10,000 Jews in the metal industry alone about 19,000 altogether in Berlin, and that's just Berlin failing our production goals, even now, for the war!" "He makes a point." "We are moving too fast here." "Nothing has been thought through." "The questions of sterilization and deportation are separate." " Yes, but linked." " Deportation, evacuation, elimination." "Where I am, we have to move them out now, quickly, wipe them away." " Yeah, not to return." " Never to return." "There are labor shortages in the Reich and elsewhere we control." " There is no argument about that." " Everywhere, and in our four-year plan..." "Not that fucking four-year plan again." "But our war is against the Jews." "I do not see the logic..." "We won't sterilize them and wait until they die, or sterilize and exterminate the race." "That's farcical." "Dead people don't hump or get pregnant." "Death is the most reliable form of sterilization." "Put it that way." "So who is deferred?" "First-degree mixed married to Germans with second-degree children are exempt." "Individually, first-degree mixed who have special privilege." " For labor, if needed..." " I can't give a rule for everything." "Can I just say one word more?" "In the obligation to maintain a lawful society..." "Another lecture." "...what we would be saying to those..." "Where we depart from the law in deporting a Jew married..." "Good!" "Deport them!" " A new law will be required..." " Write it!" "Why don't you write it?" "Consider:" "The Jews are taken away." "The German spouses will inherit the property of the Jewish spouses go to court, and apply for a death certificate." "What happens to your secret killings then?" "No matter what you call them, the secret is out, dear friends." "Perhaps not inheritance." "Perhaps divorce, freedom to remarry." "So a requisite divorce mechanism dealing with these marriages to be terminated becomes the Reich's responsibility to its German citizens." " Fuck." " I am speaking." "Except for those initiated before the spouse is deported the courts will be so busy with divorces, they'll be on 24-hour shifts." " The litigation wait will be decades." " Or longer." "I have no sympathy with Germans who climbed in bed with members of the tribe." "Nor do I. I ask myself, "What is his concern?"" "When the ruling principle of our government and our party is to make Germany Jew-free, you are arguing to let these Yids stay?" "To influence, to operate freely, with the exception that you neuter them?" "They are not free." "The law restricts them, it isolates them." "I am merely speaking of..." " Perhaps the judge has love for them." " Yes, special love." "For whom?" "For Jews?" "Wonderful." "You don't have my credentials." "Forgive me." "From your uniform, I can see that you're shallow ignorant, and naive about the Jews." "Your line, what the Party rants on about is how inferior they are, some subspecies and I keep saying how wrong that is!" "They are sublimely clever!" "And they are intelligent as well." "My indictments to them are stronger because they are real not your uneducated ideology." "They are arrogant, self-obsessed, calculating and reject the Christ." "I won't have them pollute German blood." " Please, Doctor." " He doesn't understand." "And neither do his people." "Deal with the reality of the Jew, and the world will applaud us." "Treat them as imaginary phantoms, evil, inhuman fantasies and the world will have justified contempt for us." "To kill them without regard for the law martyrs them which will be their victory." "Sterilization recognizes them as a part of our species but prevents them from being a part of our race." "They'll disappear soon enough." "And we will have acted in defense of our race and of our species and by the law." "He spoke of the Law for the Protection of German Blood." "He spoke of the Law for the Protection of German Blood." "I wrote that law." "When you have my credentials, then we'll discuss who loves the Jews and who hates them." "Pigs don't know how to hate." "I know, too, when it comes to the half-mixed that to kill them abandons that half of their blood which is German." "I'll remember you." "You should." "I'm very well known." " We should take a moment just to..." " Absolutely." "If I may, for a moment." "Dr. Stuckart has raised the question of administrative consequences of evacuation." "He is a very brilliant scholar of the law and, I'm sure, just as totally committed to a Jew-free Europe as any of us." "Let us take a moment." "Go on with the food." "More lemon." "If you are suggesting that you have dominion over me, just remember this:" "Even the Party, which I have served loyally since 1922 answers to the government." "They both answer to the Führer." "You may be a friend of Göring but if you're a betting man, put your money on Bormann." "Hear you've been flying that little plane of yours." "This morning, yes." "I'm never comfortable off the ground." "Not me, I admit." "Nietzsche advises the secret to enjoying life is to live dangerously." "He enjoyed it so much he went mad." "Look at the world, and tell me the pleasures of sanity." "Excuse me, Doctor." "Would you join me for a moment?" "Thank you." "We will accomplish this." "I will not allow administrative technicalities to slow it down." "Every agency will jump to follow my order, or arses will sting." "And there are no shortages of meat hooks on which to hang enemies of the state." "This will be an SS operation." "And as the war goes on, the SS will more and more command the agenda and put marks against the names of the less than cooperative." "You have a choice to make." "You understand that I respect the..." "Please." "You will still have to make your choice." "Do not let a strutting imbecilic, porcine prick like Klopfer make it for you." "I'd rather not see the bullies I admit we have more than our share of them in the SS take too much of an interest in you." " Interest in me?" " Do you not think?" "And all I want from this meeting is unanimity and no trouble getting what has to be done, done." "With you at my side, so much is possible." "I've done this arithmetic." "The real size of the labor force is already a million less than the figures show." "The economic considerations are not the only considerations." "I'll say they're not." "Have you done the extrapolations?" "My friend, with due respect, may I say, "Fuck the extrapolations"?" "I hope you understand, I want to be as useful as I can." " We must be in contact." " Exactly." "No one listens." "From where he sits, he does not have the ghettoes or the stink." "And he's burglarizing administrative control from the Governor-General." " Privileges of rank." " I don't hear any urgency." "Privileges of rank." "The higher you go, the more infallibility is bestowed." "But I don't hear any cut-the-bureaucracy solutions." "Our problems." "You're right." "He does not have our problems." "Crap. "The privileges of rank."" "All that matters is the SS blood group tattooed under your arm." "That's a secret password for you people." "What are these suspicions?" "I will tell you this:" "When cholera hits the ghettoes, and typhoid your tattoos won't protect you from shitting your guts out until you dry up and die." "Then tell me about infallibility." "Those little Nuremberg country sausages, the gritty little ones." " You can keep your oysters." "What is that?" " Can you get them here?" " Lange?" " Yes, sir?" "Who were those 30,000 you say you shot, when you say you shot?" "In Riga, Latvia." "27,800 I have some responsibility for." "And stood by with my men and allowed Latvian civilians to kill in mobs." "I received memos directing the, one would say, "evacuation" of Jews who, shot and buried in soil and corpses, managed to crawl out, still alive." "Not exactly war, is it?" " And gas chambers about to come?" " What gas chambers?" "Gas chambers?" "I hear rumors, yes." "This is more than war." " Must be a different word for this." " Try "chaos."" "Yes." "The rest is argument, the curse of my profession." "I studied law as well." "I studied law as well." "How do you apply that education to what you do?" "It has made me distrustful of language." "A gun means what it says." "Do we need all this discussion?" " He has his style." " Yes." "Very persuasive." "Is there a problem, Doctor?" "He is non compos mentis." " It's your boss." " On your feet." "Beautiful lake." "Is it not?" "I'm sorry." "After the war, I shall live in this house and rise to see that lake every day and dream comforting things." "I am a dreamer, as I think you are." "Yes, it is a dream world." "Maj. Lange, how can I help you?" "Politics is a nasty game." "I think soldiering requires the discipline to do the unthinkable and politics requires the skill to get someone else to do the unthinkable for you." "But we need the politics, so we put up with them." " At least for now." " Yes." "We look forward to a better day." "A peaceful world." "A German culture triumphant." "That is what we work for." "I appreciate the words, sir." "We are servant-soldiers, are we not?" " Yes, that is what we are." " Indeed." "Did you ask him?" "Ask him what?" " Does he have a little Jewish blood?" " No, not yet." "Inform me when he answers." "That's what I heard." "A grandmother or a grandfather." "His father." "That's the rumor, and if it is true, how happy would he be to tell you?" " I want a work document in two days." " Yes." " No more than 30 copies." " Yes, sir. 30 numbered." "And those spools, the stenotype record, have it destroyed." "Yes, sir." " Let's get them back in here." " All right." " Who's up there, sir?" " Dr. Klopfer." "Kritzinger is..." "The gentleman outside walking:" "Find him." "Sir?" "It has got colder." "What a pretty little maid." "I would like to remind all of you that our Führer enunciates the goals." "It is our task to turn his vision into reality." "We can debate the "how" and the "when" up to a point." "We can not debate the "if," Dr. Stuckart." " I am not purposely contentious." " Nor was I trying to be insulting." "I would like to try..." "We will now discuss method." "Who would like to speak on this?" "What is being advocated here?" "A law dissolving all marriages between mixed and German?" " Why not?" " Courts adjust." "As we all do." "That is not the point." "You're too inflexible, my friend." "You know damn well the courts will be happy to be rid of the problem." "I'm pointing out a problem of casting every Jew and non-Jew into a sausage machine." "If that's the plan, I'm asking that some legal framework be built." "Let's do it." "If we skip a few steps, so be it." ""Skip a few steps!"" "When you plane down a piece of wood, a few chips go flying." "Jews or judges, who are the chips?" "I would like to say in this discussion, regarding the tone, first abandon your misperception that Dr. Stuckart has affection for the Jews." "I'm sure he does not, and his heart is pure." "He believes in supremacy of law." "Jews in any event, will vanish soon enough from Germany." "But the method, yes." "You accept, casually the obliteration of legal distinctions and the use of extreme, inconceivable measures that, I say again, that our Chancellery was assured would not be used." "That is where we have come." "A soldier cannot decide where he chooses to fight." "Where are we here?" "Gen. Heydrich invited your opinions on the methodology." "Indeed." "I can say this." "You're going to have your work cut out with the Catholic church with the Reich divorcing all those Catholics." "That's not going to make our priests very comfortable or the Vatican." "The Vatican has no love for the Jew." "Why should they interfere?" "The Lutherans would not object either." "I agree with Dr. Stuckart." "The problems outweigh the short-term ideological satisfactions." "Military necessity comes first." "Am I wrong?" "Why can this not be simpler?" "The Ministry of Justice, which I represent, can live with it gladly." "Maj. Lange, an opinion?" "General I accept the chain of command." "I have no other gods before it." "The politics of it all..." "No, nothing." " We are more than a nation of armies." " I hope." "General?" "If Dr. Stuckart is saying we should turn a few Jew-loving Germans against us I would happily throw them all on the same transport." "It is, however, a political decision, not mine particularly to make." "Can you step back from trying to settle these details today?" "Other agencies will want to be heard." "Now, that is wisdom from my neighbor." "I favor sterilization, I think, but not wholesale what Gen. Heydrich outlined earlier." "Why not?" "...what Gen. Heydrich outlined earlier." "Why not?" "X-rays, injections:" "Why are we discussing theoretical solutions?" "Goethe said that theories are gray, but that real life is green." "Stop chattering, and be realists here." "I insist, as I have before, that the best way is the quickest way." "Purge them totally off our land, ideally, off our planet." "And for the Eastern Territories, leave us able-bodied workers." "If they are separated, the men from the women, QED, no babies." "And evacuate the others, as you outlined." "Get it done." "All right, we've gone around." "I have your opinions." "I want to move on." "Let's have the food in here." "I wish to keep going." "We can eat while we work." "To clarify what I agree with and what I do not I agree with the doctor about the complications of all the variations." "But I favor deportation or sausage-making, right?" "I hear talk from some of you who live here in Germany about labor force." "What is the reality, at least for the Polish Jews?" "Damn few of them are fit for labor of any kind." "You do not find Jews with dirt under their fingernails, so who is this labor force?" "What we have are ghettoes filled and overfilled with the scabrous, the rotting." "We do not have the food for them." "The stink of their diseases does not stop at the walls." "And you ship them up to us by the thousands to deal with." "What are we to do?" "We have no place to put them." "We have no more place to put our own." "We cannot shoot 3.5 million Jews." "We cannot poison them, and we cannot use them." "You'll have Maj. Lange and his men come in with their special methods." " How many Rigas do we have to have?" " Build the wall higher." "What we are asking, before you flood us with all of these Jews let us first clean out ours, empty our ghettoes into whatever you have for them." "Military, too." "Mass shootings by our groups create morale problems especially when the Jew is a German Jew who is intellectually superior to the Russian Jew." "Even with local civilians cooperating, mass slaughter leaves a bad taste." "I can so testify." "We've had to deal with the backlash when it comes to German ones." "If your method of disposing all the Jews diverts military units and rolling stock from the Eastern Front, then it is a stupid choice." "Recognizing the priority for ridding ourselves of the Jews..." "I'm not arguing priority, but method and expediency." "I'm sorry, why can't you shoot them?" "Didn't you hear him?" "It is the worst thing for our soldiers to be doing." "They are women and children, and soldiers have a sense of honor." "Plenty of honor in following orders." " Would you like to volunteer?" " Enthusiastically." " I will." " You will not." "Eleven million, even half that, executed in small batches would be asinine, for the reasons Dr. Meyer mentioned." "Inefficient use of time, troops, equipment, bullets." "No." "As Maj. Lange will learn, using gas is much cheaper and less public." "Please." "The T4 euthanasia program has used injections but most effectively a carbon-monoxide gas." "We began using it on Polish mental patients in Brandenburg in January, 1940." "An area is constructed that resembles a shower room or a bath." "The subjects are brought in naked, as though for a shower and outside, stainless-steel tanks pump in pure carbon monoxide which, what it does is..." "I have figures." "In May, this program was extended to Hartheim and in June at Sonnenstein." "In the first six months of 1940, 8,765 persons were gassed." "By the end of 1940, a total of 26,459." "By the end of August last year, another 35,049." "We terminated this particular program, however, on September 1." "In the end, 70,273 have been gassed by this method." "At this time, we began the advanced program." " The General Government knew nothing..." " Keep going." "Last summer, we ordered the construction of 20 mobile gassing trucks using their redirected exhaust back into the chamber." "Three such trucks have been in use since last month." " But the Chelmno camp, now Kulmhof..." " Already constructed, under our noses." "In each truck, you can get in 40 to 60 Jews at a time." "In fact, the more you have in, the faster it works." "And the carbon monoxide, what it does is..." "The bodies come out pink." " The gas turns them pink." " That's a nice touch." "If it is already built, what is this meeting?" "Why bother?" "The system has shown that it works." "It will work for you." "It is settling in." "The method is now defined." "The Jews go in red and come out pink." "That is progress." "I should never mix wine with whiskey." "What's the matter?" "I think I will be all right." "Don't make excuses if you have to leave for a minute." "Sort of a headache." "Hurry." "Eat." " Fucking ridiculous!" " Not at all, sir." " It could not be the mixing." " The cigar?" "Everything all right, sir?" "Could be the cigar." "I could never abide them." "And my father would chew them." "His mouth was always full of evil juice and pulp!" "It would fill up, and he would have to spit!" "It would fill up, and he would have to spit!" "I would leave it there, sir." "Cigarettes they calm me down." "Settle my stomach." "They calm me down." "The problem is, there are not enough of them in the world." " We should be in there, should we not?" " Yes." "Sir?" " Is this clean?" " Yes, sir." " Let me have a glass of water." " I brought some out, sir." "I'm not addressing you." " And a bromide tablet of some kind." " You did not like the food?" "I did not eat." " I know of no philosophy..." " Philosophy clutters your argument." "We have to countenance the suffocating glut of this parasitic people consuming our food, contaminating our professions, controlling our currency." " None of that is true." " In your philosophy." "Perhaps that's what the chosen people were chosen for." "No, I apologize." "You take a position, you deserve a response." "It is a cold winter." "The war, in spite of the rallies, posters and the radio looks like a longer, harder war." "The Jews are in the way." "And how can I, one rather peripheral figure in your grand plan, be in your way?" "You underestimate your influence." "I do not." "You would be a hard man to bring down." "But certainly not impossible." "Did I hear you say earlier, "Be practical"?" "Yes." "Then this is the moment to be practical until a time when Germany can afford your philosophy, which is what?" ""Hound them, impoverish them, exploit them, imprison them..." ""...just do not kill them." And you are God's noblest of men." "I find that truly remarkable." "Sitting at that table, I will ask for your agreement to what has been proposed." "And I must answer now?" "You will answer now, or you will answer later." "I will not oppose you." " I want more than that." " Of course." "Good." "We understand each other." "May I tell you a story?" " A good one?" " A true one." "Tell me the story." " It was told to me by a friend of mine." " Yes?" "He knew a man..." "Do you realize how much thought and effort has gone into the Four-Year Plan?" "Plenty, I'm sure." "Reichsmarshal Göring is very clear." "The necessities of the war mean that the Jew question has to wait." "There's been a new directive." "That says nothing about a change in priorities." " It is implied." " Not by me." "Why is it your way or nothing?" "I mean the SS." " Now you understand." " I do not." "You have stated it." " When I report to the Reichsmarshal..." " There has been a new directive." "It has to be as the SS directs." "You can't sail a ship with two captains." "The Führer is the captain." "And for this, he has given Heydrich the command." "Even Göring has given it." " Resign yourself." " Resign?" "Yourself to how it's going to be done." " A soldier cannot decide..." " Yeah, spare me." "A Communist, by definition, has a defect of reason." "The Russian is not a Communist, my friend." "The Russian does not give a damn who runs things." "I have lived amongst them." "The Russian only cares he has a bottle of vodka to suck and some form of domestic animal life to fuck." "Then he will happily sit in shit his whole life." "That is his politics." "I know those people." "That is the distinction." "I absolve the Jews of that." " What did Kritzinger say?" " Told me a story." " Which was?" " Later." "He made his point, he feels better." " Nothing to eat?" " Lf there's time later." "We should've had music." "There must be a piano here." " A string trio would add to the experience." " Yes, I should have." "I'm sorry." "Food, wine, brandy, no music?" "A little lovely, late Beethoven?" " I'm sorry." " It would not have been practical." " Yes." " I'm teasing." "I take it that you do not get good food up in Cracow." "If all Berlin eats like you, no wonder we have shortages." "Was it Mussolini who said, "War reveals man's nobler character"?" "Are we ready?" " Feeling better?" " Thank you, yes." " Something you ate?" " I'm fine." "The cigar." " The cigar?" " Unexpected." "We will forego cigars." "That should be no great trial." "Where did we stop?" "The last remark was by Gen. Freisler." ""The Jews go in red and come out pink." " "That is progress."" " The side-effect of CO gas." "There's more to say on that." "We're studying something faster other faster and cheaper gases that could be used." "Cyanide is being tested various forms." " Electrocution, too?" "There is research being done to see whether electrocution can even more effectively quietly put an end, a period to the end of the sentence." "Say one truckload an hour, including putting the contents in running the engines, removing the contents, cleaning the inevitable soiling on a 24-hour schedule, 1,440 a day times 20 trucks." "That's 28,800 a day 10,512,000 in one year." "But I cannot imagine you could operate consistently at that rate." "Not to mention disposal." "Gas vans are a short-term field solution." "We have three camps where permanent gas chambers will be operational." "I'm sorry?" "Yes, I was about to mention Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka before Gen. Hofmann was taken ill." " It was a fine cigar." "Ultimately, the camps will be the primary locations." "Last summer, Reichsführer Himmler asked me to visit a camp..." "Last summer, Reichsführer Himmler asked me to visit a camp up in Upper Silesia called Auschwitz which is very well isolated and close to significant rail access." "We are turning that camp into a major center, solid structures." "Here's where your Jewish labor comes into play, Herr Neumann." "The Jews hold the bricks, and build the buildings themselves." "When the structures are complete, we expect to be able to process 2,500 an hour, not a day." "An hour." "And those numbers look a lot better." "2,500 an hour?" "2,500?" "At 24 hours a day, that is 60,000." "60,000 each day." "That's 21.9 million Jews a year if ever there were that many." "We are also constructing the means of disposal which will obviously depend upon the process of combustion." "Yes, industrial in nature, large, commercial gas-fed ovens no residue to speak of." "60,000 Jews every day go up in smoke." "We can achieve that." "Imagine." "Assembly line!" "Yes, the clever Americans have shown us that but we put it to the purpose of a triumphant German vision." "Triumphant German vision." "So this is my command to you here." "Link arms, your units, your ministries apply your intelligence, apply your energies." "The machinery is waiting, feed it." "Get them on the trains." "Keep the trains rolling." "And history will honor us for having the will and the vision to advance the human race to greater purity in a space of time so short Charles Darwin would be astonished." "I want to bring this meeting to a close." "One matter we postponed is the point at which mixed becomes wholly German or wholly Jew." "That line will be drawn quickly." "I am not trying to rewrite your law, but I am invoking Führer's princip." "His word is above all written law." "Do we have any disputes left to face here either with my authority or with what we have agreed?" "General?" "Let us astonish Charles Darwin." "I second the motion." "It is our most important war." "Sir?" "We are discussing the inevitable and bringing it about in the most practical way under one command." "I have no dispute with that." "I understand the realities..." " With the understanding that..." " And indeed count on my support." "With the understanding that consideration will be given to my proposal, yes, proceed." "I defer to the SS." "If you are to do it, then force feed it." "Speed it along." "Our situation, such as in Warsaw, is difficult, edging towards disastrous." "Thank you." "Yes, what can I say?" "My enthusiasm is boundless." " Obviously." " Sorry?" "I trust my enthusiasm is clear, is apparent." "Yes!" "Neumann?" "I'd like to know that adequate labor will still be available, especially skilled..." " On a case-by-case basis." "Maj. Lange?" " Yes." "I urge that speed that Dr. Meyer asked of you." "The Poles are not as disciplined a population as we Germans." "I will report our will to the Governor-General." "He'll understand I'm relieving him of a burden." "Colonel?" "I thoroughly approve and am anxious to start." "I look forward to working with your office, and yours, Colonel." "The sooner, the better." " The note-taking, General?" " I think we can now dispense with him." "Many of you took notes, I'll give you the day to memorize them." "They are to be burned." "Col. Eichmann will prepare a discrete transcript of this meeting." "You will each receive a copy." "It may be shown to superiors, but to no one at a lower level." "All comments are to be sent, in the most privileged way, to me through Col. Eichmann." "Good." "We have accomplished something." "I thank all of you gentlemen." "Heil Hitler!" "There is plenty of food left for those of you, and please..." " Are you off, General?" " I have a few minutes." "Come." "Leave him." "His Führer lied to him." "I think he got the message." "General, just a word." "In here." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "You." "What are you doing?" "You're in uniform." "I'm sorry, sir, it just seemed to happen." "Not in uniform." "Nothing ever just happens." "If you prefer, we can send you to the Russian front." "Clean off these cars!" " Are you leaving tonight?" " Yes." "Not another night in Berlin?" "You have nothing to do, sir." "I have." " You surprised me at the end, Dr. Stuckart." " Not my intention." "Leave the paper tapes with me." "We'll begin transcribing tomorrow, but leave the tapes with me now." " You want all the tapes, sir?" " Yes, all of them." "Dr. Stuckart's car!" "Are you unwell?" "Good night, Dr. Stuckart." "My car." "Gen. Hofmann's car!" "It is night in Moscow already." "Soon, it will be dark here." "Do you think we'll ever see the dawn in our lifetime?" "Come spring, we'll be on the move again." "Keep you spirits up, Doctor." "The Governor-General has specifically been told that we would be the first area to have our ghettos emptied, the Jews evacuated." "The possible..." "I know the conditions, but you are wrong." "The first to be cleansed is Germany." "Then you." "Germany first." " The bureaucratic..." " This is my operation, no bureaucrat with his nose in the rule book and hand on his cock will slow it down." "We'll be moving Jews in days, not weeks." "You can start writing up your train schedules." "Schubert Quintet in C Major." "The adagio will tear your heart out." "Tell the Governor-General to expect my call." " Have we helped your problem?" " Yes, I hope so." "Good." "You, sir?" " I'm sure trains will be available." " Anything else?" "You have been very patient." "Don't count on it." "Have a good ride to Cracow." "Thank you." "Well done, Colonel." "Fine meeting." "Thank you." "Thank you as well." "I admire your gift for organization." "The meeting was very economical." "Now." "Do either of you think we would have that final solution?" "That in a year, there wouldn't be a Jew left on the continent?" "That we control?" "Why not?" " You drink, Eichmann?" " Yes, sir." "Were you ever drunk?" "From time to time." "Well, then take a fucking drink." " I am on duty, sir." " Then it's an order." "Thank you." "And tell us again about the pink bodies." "Sir, I'd rather not." " The sounds, the screams." " He will faint again." "I did not faint." "I had a physical symptom." "What was the story you were going to tell me?" " Story?" " Kritzinger." "Yes, he told me a story about a man he'd known all his life, a boyhood friend." "This man hated his father." "Loved his mother fiercely." "The mother was devoted to him but the father beat him, demeaned him, disinherited him." "Anyway, this boy grew to manhood and was still in his 30s when the mother died this mother who had nurtured and protected him." "She died." "The man stood as they lowered her casket and tried to cry but no tears came." "The man's father lived to old age, died when the son was in his 50s." "At the father's funeral, much to his son's surprise he could not control his tears." "He was wailing, sobbing." "He was apparently inconsolable." "Lost, even." "That was the story Kritzinger told me." "I don't understand." "No?" "The man had been driven his whole life by hatred of his father." "When the mother died, that was a loss." "When the father died when the hate had lost its object then the man's life was empty." "Over." "Interesting." "That was Kritzinger's warning." "What?" "That we should not hate the Israelites?" "No, that it should not so fill our lives that when they are gone, we have nothing left to live for." "So says the story." "I will not miss them." "Time." "You have to take me up in that plane of yours sometime." "Yes, we should do that." "Not right after you've eaten." " Friday." " Everything will be prepared." "One working copy, edited by me, for your approval." "30 copies, numbered." "No other records, I guarantee." "Good." " You certainly know how to throw a party." " Thank you." "Shalom." "Does it tear your heart out?" "Beautiful, sir." "I've never understood the passion for Schubert's sentimental Viennese shit." "Col. Eichmann carefully edited the stenographic record of the conference." "Copies were distributed to the participants to be read  and then destroyed." "Gen. Heydrich flew back to his headquarters in Czechoslovakia  where, in a few terrible weeks, he had earned the nickname:" "The Butcher of Prague." "In the spring, two Czech patriots  trained to assassinate him and dropped from a British bomber  succeeded in wounding him." "In reprisal, thousands of Czechs were rounded up and shot." "Heydrich's wounds grew infected, he fell into a coma and died." "Eichmann, as Heydrich's deputy for Jewish affairs  was left to finish what they had begun at Wannsee." "He considered it a matter of honor."