The year 1941 was a turning point both in the course of World War II and in the scope and magnitude of National Socialist Germany's policies. At the beginning of the year, Germany dominated continental Europe, having defeated the French in a stunning six-week campaign while at the same time forcing British troops to beat a hasty retreat back across the English Channel. To many contemporaries, it seemed as if the German army, utilizing a new doctrine of war termed “Blitzkrieg,” was unstoppable. If Germany began 1941 in such a powerful position, however, it ended the year militarily on the back foot, waging a two-front, truly global war, its human and material resources severely stretched.

It is during these twelve months that the radicalization of Nazi policy, both in terms of an all-encompassing approach to warfare and the application of genocidal practices, can be seen most clearly. In this context, we understand the term “radicalization” to mean a willingness to contemplate, plan, and execute ever more extreme policies in order to achieve ever more far-reaching goals. This was already hinted at with the expansion of the conflict to the Balkans by means of the invasion and occupation of Greece and Yugoslavia. In the former territory, rapacious economic policies unleashed by the German authorities led to widespread starvation, centered on Athens. In Yugoslavia, the Wehrmacht itself initiated a brutal reprisal policy in which Jewish and Romani hostages were executed in “atonement” for partisan and other irregular attacks on army units and installations; within a year of the invasion, Serbia was declared judenfrei by the military authorities.