War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust

1942 was fourth year of war for Germany. Its conquered territories were devastated and demoralized, particularly Poland. This chapter focuses on the extreme human suffering wrought by German conquest between 1942 and 1943. Bergen sets her stage by asking a few key questions: “What did German military conquest mean for the people of Europe? How did Nazi Germans and their accomplices carry out this most deadly stage of their program to annihilate Jews? Who resisted them?” (162).

The Nazis introduced the General Plan East, which “presented the Nazi vision for eastern Europe” (162) and entailed the colonization of Eastern Europe and the enslavement, expulsion, and extermination of its non-Aryan inhabitants. Through this process, the colonized areas would be “Germanized” and a new world order would be established in deference to ethnic Germans and other “racially valuable” people.

In mid-1942, the Battle of Stalingrad commenced as the Germans attacked the USSR. Led by Friedrich von Paulus, the 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army advanced on Stalingrad in September and took the city in November. However, “losses on both sides were staggering” (167), and in January 1943, Paulus capitulated to the Soviets’ Red Army. Support for the Nazi Party waned in the face of this loss.