Directives by Heydrich to the Einsatzgruppen commanders, regarding the handling of the Jewish Question in the occupied territories, 21/09/1939

Directives by Heydrich to the Einsatzgruppen commanders, regarding the handling of the Jewish Question in the occupied territories, 21/09/1939 Heydrich relates to a discussion held in Berlin on 21/09/1939; request by Heydrich to maintain secrecy about the information regarding the planned steps and their aim; differentiation is to be made between the Endziel (Final aim) and the steps leading to it; the first step is the concentration of Jews from rural areas, in large cities; action must be taken to decrease the number of places of concentration, in order to enable the implementation of the next steps; Jewish communities that number less than 500 people are to be dissolved by means of transferring the community's Jews to nearby concentration camps; a Jewish council is to be established in each Jewish community, and the Jewish council is to be imposed with the responsibility for the registration of the community members, planning the routes and dates of the deportation to the cities (Abzug), and the implementation of the deportation; the planned steps must be coordinated with the German civilian authorities and the military commanders, while preventing damage being caused to the economic interests in the area; Aryanization of Jewish businesses must be taken care of, in the event that the business is essential to the war needs or the four-year plan; Heydrich requests that the Einsatzgruppen commanders transmit to him the number of Jews in their area, and to indicate the number of Jews who await deportation from the rural areas, the number of Jews in the cities, and the names of the cities designated for use as concentration points; Heydrich requests that the Einsatzgruppen commanders report regarding Jewish businesses of importance.