Minsk was a central site of the Holocaust during the German occupation (1941–1944). Tens of thousands fell victim to the crimes in the local ghetto and at the extermination site near Maly Trostinez, just outside the city, including over 20,000 Austrian, Czech, and German Jews. They died from the extreme living conditions in the ghetto, were shot, or suffocated in gas vans. Petra Rentrop depicts the events and examines their significance in the overall process of the Nazi "Final Solution to the Jewish Question." At the same time, she portrays the fate of the victims and provides a vivid description of life in the ghetto and in the labor camp of Maly Trostinez.