Plan devised by the Slovakian Working Group to rescue European Jewry from extermination by paying ransom.
In the summer of 1942 activists from the Slovakian Jewish Center wanted to stop the Deportation of Slovakian Jews to Poland. They bribed Dieter Wisliceny, SS advisor on Jewish affairs; he agreed to a sum of US $40,000--$50,000. The deportations did halt after Wisliceny was bribed, but there is no proof that his influence stopped them. Even so, the group believed this was the case. Encouraged, a Working Group leader named Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandel suggested repeating their success regarding other Jewish communities. This plan called for the end of the deportation of Jews from Nazi-dominated Europe to Poland in exchange for US $2--$3 million to be paid by the Jews of the free world. Negotiations lasted from fall 1942 to August 1943. However, the plan ultimately deteriorated. The Working Group believed that they failed because the Jews of the free world, who claimed the money was not available or could not be transferred, would not provide the needed funds.
The "Blood for Goods" negotiations concerning the rescue of Hungarian Jews were a direct follow-up to the Europa Plan. (see also Jewish Center, Slovakia.)
