The Third Reich’s plan to forcibly relocate the “racially undesirable” Jewish population of Europe to the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa.

The Madagascar Plan did not originate with the Third Reich. The island was first thought of as the perfect place to relocate the Jews as early as 1885. In that year, Paul de Lagarde, a member of the Prussian Conservative Party and a well-known antisemite, suggested all Jews in Poland, Russia, Romania, and Austria be deported to the French colony.

The plan was resurrected in 1937, when the French government agreed to allow a new Polish commission, led by Major M. Lepecki, to investigate the possibility of using Madagascar as the destination for relocation of Polish Jews. The commission found the idea was not going to be feasible due to the large number of Jews that were to be deported and also the danger those relocated would face due to exposure to tropical diseases. The idea, however, did not vanish.

In 1940, the Nazi Regime was looking for a solution to the “Jewish Problem.” The idea of Madagascar was again brought to the forefront. France had now fallen to Germany, leaving the island of Madagascar under the control of the Germans. Adolf Eichmann drafted a new recommendation that called for the relocation of 4,000,000 Jews to the island and for the creation of a giant ghetto to hold them which would remain under the control of the SS. Financing for the project would be provided from profits gained through the confiscation of Jewish property. The program was considered a winning proposal from all sides. The Jews would be removed from Europe while gaining a new homeland where they would have complete autonomy while still under the control of the Germans. At the same time, the Germans could exploit the propaganda possibilities of showing their generosity in establishing the colony. This "territorial final solution" was not entirely altruistic for the simple fact that the final result of this relocation would most likely have been the deaths of most of those deported due to disease and starvation. The operation was given the codename “Endoloesung” as official preparations began.

Transportation of the Jews to the island was now a major concern. The Germans planned to evacuate the 4,000,000 Jews to Madagascar over a period of four years. In order to accomplish this 1,000,000 people a year needed to be transported. The original thought was that the British Naval Fleet would be used once the Germans were able to defeat Great Britain. However, the battles with Great Britain were not as successful as those in Poland and France had been. This resulted not only in the German’s inability to use British ships for transport, but the danger for German ships to make the crossing to the island.

The Madagascar Plan was falling apart. With the inability to defeat the British, the transport would not be as easy. Other problems including the United States entry into the war and British and Free French forces recapturing the island led to the complete abandonment of the idea. The Germans were now forced to the find a new solution now that deportation was not an option. It is believed that the failure of the Madagascar Plan led directly to the Final Solution arrived at during the Wannsee Conference in January 1942.

SOURCES:
Browing, Christopher R. "Madagascar Plan." The Holocaust Encyclopedia. Ed. Walter Laqueur. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001. 407-409

Yahil, Leni. "Madagascar Plan." Encyclopedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 13. 2nd Edition. Detroit: Macmillian Reference USA, 2007. 330-331.