His secretary brought in the paper. She laid it on his desk and withdrew. He glanced up as she left and knew he would have her again tonight. As a duty to posterity he was obligated to father as many Aryan children as possible for the good of the Reich.

He glanced over the paper and saw that it was correct. Ordinarily, such orders were never committed to paper, but now, he sighed. So much had happened. Even his faith in the final victory was fading. He looked at the date on the top of the page. June 10, 1944. He thought back to the days of the Munich Putzch, when he was the bearer of the Blutfahne or blood flag. That cold November day twenty years ago. So much had changed. But much had remained the same. He was still loyal. He could still carry out orders. Befel ist befel. Orders are orders.

Reichsfurher-SS Heinrich Himmler signed the order for the liquidation of the Lodz ghetto.

Seven months later, on January 9, 1945, of the 255,000 people once in the Lodz ghetto, the Soviets found 877 alive.