22: Genocide
"One believes but can never fully comprehend." -- David Max Eichorn. On January 20, 1943, Himmler wrote to the Reich Minister of Transport about "the removal of Jews" from every area to which German rule or authority then extended. To complete this task, Himmler explained, "I need your help and support. If I am to wind things up quickly, I must have more trains for transport." Himmler's wish was the Transport Minister's command. Not that there had been any relaxation of deportations that winter. On the day after Himmler wrote his letter, a deportation train left Holland carrying all 1,100 adults from the Jewish mental home at Apeldoorn, and 74 boys and 24 girls from the nearby home for seriously physically and mentally handicapped children. There destination was Auschwitz; their fate was to be sent to the gas chambers on arrival. Fifty nurses accompanied the patients. They were put in a separate carriage at one end of the train and offered the choi