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How the Madagascar Plan started
The idea of removing Europe’s Jews to the island Madagascar was first promoted by French anti-Semites in the late 1930s
However at this time was a wild idea with little / no prospect of becoming reality
However Germany’s rapid conquest of France in May-June 1940 changed this
The foreign ministry’s department for Internal German Affairs proposed that Madagascar should be taken away from France to become a German mandate
Vichy, France would be responsible for resettlng the French population there of 25,000 to make room for Jews in Madagascar
Nazis plan for sending Jews to Madagascar
The Nazis planned to send 4 million Jews to Madagascar
In the first phase - farmers, construction workers and artisans up to the age of 45 would be sent out to get the island ready to receive the influx of Jews
Remaining Jewish property in Europe would finance initial costs
Living conditions of Madagascar were intended to be harsh, leading in the long term to the elimination of Jews by ‘natural wastage’
Natural wastage meaning
The action or process of losing or destroying something by using it carelessly or extravagantly
Problems with Adolf Eichmann’s schemes towards Jews
Eichmann had been working on schemes for mass emigration of Jews to Palestine
However there were practical problems about Palestine, which was a small territory under British rule and not far from Europe
Madagascar was far away, offered infinitely more space and there were no serious political problems that the Plan needed working around
How the Madagascar Plan failed
The Madagascar Plan seemed viable in the late summer / early autumn of 1940
Germany’s failure to end the war with Britain meant that the British Royal Navy would be able to disrupt the mass transportation of Jews by sea to Madagascar
By October 1940, Hitler was already planning for Operation Barbarossa
Maagascar Plan was shelved in favour of the plan to send Europe’s Jews deep into Siberia once the conquest fo the USSR was complete
What did the Madagascar Plan show
What the plan actually showed about Nazi intentions towards the Jews in 1940 is debatable
On one hand - it proves that the decision to exterminate all Jews had not been made at this point
As all kinds of different plans were under consideration - ‘Final solution’ was not yet clear
On the other hand - the driving force behind the Plan was the determination to remove the Jews from Europe to somewhere where they’d slowly die off through harsh conditions
The Plan could be regarded as proof that the long-term goal of sending the Jews to die somewhere far away was fixed, but the location was not.
Note 
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