In recent years the pace of Holocaust scholarship has so intensified that almost inevitably significant new works by other historians appear during the hiatus between the writing and the presentation of one's own work. In particular, I would note that Peter Longerich's recent comprehensive study of the Nazi persecution of the Jews appeared just before these lectures were delivered and could not be taken adequately into account at that time. I value many aspects of Longerich's intrepretation, such as his emphasis on the continuities in Nazi Jewish policy that bridge or tie together the various “stages of escalation” (“Eskalationsstufen”) on the one hand and his extension of the decision-making process into 1942 on the other. But in one regard at least, our portrayals of the decision-making process differ significantly. We both portray the decision-making process as incremental. However, within this prolonged and gradual decision-making process, Longerich delineates four stages of escalation (fall 1939, summer 1941, fall 1941, and spring 1942) and deems the first to be the most important “caesura.” In contrast, I have placed much greater emphasis on and attached more importance and scope to the decisions made in the summer and fall of 1941.

For Longerich, the fall of 1939 marks the beginning of Vernichtungspolitik (“policies of destrution”). In his perspective, the fall of 1941 is seen as important.