Sobibor - Holocaust Propaganda And Reality - Unity of Nobility ...

202 J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR
This change of course was proposed on 22 August 1941 by SS-
Sturmbannführer Carltheo Zeitschel, advisor to the German embassy in
Paris, who wrote in a note to the attention of ambassador Otto Abetz: 590
“The continuing conquest and occupation of large territories in
the East could at present offer us a rapid solution of the Jewish
problem throughout Europe. As we can see from the cries for help
addressed to the American Jews in the press of all the Jews in Palestine,
some 6 million Jews are living in the regions recently occupied
by us, especially in Bessarabia, amounting to one third of world Jewry.
In the course of any new disposition of the eastern space, these
six million Jews would in any case have to be grouped and a special
territory would have to be staked out for them. It should not be a
major problem to include the Jews from the remainder of the European
states and to move there as well the Jews who are presently
crammed into the ghettos of Warsaw, Litzmannstadt (od), Lublin
etc.
As far as the occupied areas are concerned, such as Holland,
Belgium, Luxemburg, Norway, Yugoslavia, Greece, it would be easy
to issue military orders for the removal of the Jews to the new territory
in mass transports; other states could be encouraged to follow
this example and to expulse their Jews to this territory. Within a
short period of time, Europe could be made free of Jews.
The idea of moving all Jews to Madagascar which has been
mulled for years and has recently been revived by admiral Darlan, is
not a bad thing in itself, but would run into serious logistic problems
so soon after the war when the world tonnage of ships, seriously diminished
by the war, would be needed for purposes other than offering
cruises to masses of Jews. In addition, moving nearly ten million
people by ship would take years, even if enough shipping capacity
were available.
I therefore submit to you to raise this question with the Reich
ministry of foreign affairs in the near future and to suggest a meeting
in this sense with the recently designated future minister for the
eastern Territories, Reichsleiter Rosenberg, and the Reichsführer-SS
for an examination of my proposal. Moving the Jews into the eastern
territories, even during the war, should not present insurmountable
590
CDJC, V-15.