I plan to research the Madagascar Plan. While articulated and fully researched by the Nazi Party, the concept has roots that run much deeper. Poland considered relocating its Jewish population in the 1930s, and while the project never came to fruition, it did catch the eye of senior German leaders. For instance, the trial of Adolf Eichmann’s involved intensive questioning on the subject of the Madagascar Plan, with this video footage available from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum film archives.
Possible origins for this particular Polish plan are incredibly intriguing. Some maintained that a collection of Madagascar natives held Jewish ancestry, potentially providing a justification for emigration by labeling Madagascar a Jewish “promised land”. Furthermore, ideas for an emigration plan for the Jews may have been proposed as early as the 19th century, in the wake of a resurgence of European anti-Semitism. These ideas were often proposed by academics and other learned individuals, thus making an academic exploration of this topic even more intriguing.
It is these ultimate roots that I am most interested in examining. I wish to scrutinize early plans for Jewish emigration, and why Madagascar was selected as the most likely candidate. In particular, I would like to research the idea that Jews had connections to Madagascar. Did this concept have any form of merit, and why did it arise? Potential sources will ideally be primary, largely consisting of the 19th and 20th century academic writings relating to this topic. I will also rely on the research and compilations of others who have previously researched the Madagascar Plan. This combination of primary and secondary sources should hopefully provide the research with both a sense of breadth and depth. Ultimately, I hope that the examination of this topic will result in a better and fuller understanding of the origins of the Madagascar Plan.