By the early fall of 1941, Nazi Germany had been at war for two years. German military victories in Europe, especially over France in 1940, stunned many observers, not least in the Reich itself. Despite the tens of thousands of German dead, injured, and maimed, these successes significantly contributed to the Nazi dictatorship's stability and propelled Hitler to the height of his popularity. Supported by Italian and Eastern European allies, German armies started their largest invasion of the war in late June 1941. In violation of the 1939 nonaggression treaty, a German-led multinational force of some 3.5 million soldiers attacked the Soviet Union. After a string of early Axis victories in the summer failed to trigger the collapse of Stalin's regime, the invaders managed to renew their offensive in September and push deep into the Ukraine. On the home front, Germans closely followed the events in the press, on the radio, and in the newsreels. As confidential reports of the SS secret service indicate, most did so with anxiety about a prolonged “lightning war” and still in the hope of another victory.

It was in this context of new military success and anticipation of the Soviets' final defeat, as historian Christopher R. Browning argues, that Hitler and the SS leadership “conceived” and “committed” themselves to a “program of mass murder” directed against European and German Jews.