defeat of Poland, the western part of Second Polish Republic was incorporated into Germany and its infrastructure taken over by the RVM. Southeastern Poland was organized into the General Government under Hans Frank, a logistically distinct entity centered in Krakow. The Polish State Railways in this area were organized into the General Directorate of the Eastern Railway ( or Gedob or Ostbahn), financially and operationally separate from the Reichsbahn. German policy in the occupied countries of the west were much different. The invasion of Norway and Denmark in April, 1940, placed little burden on the RVM as those countries were allowed to run their railroads as before. On 1 August 1940, after the victory in the West, the Belgian, Dutch and French national railways were returned to local control under German "observation", except in coastal areas where all transport remained with the Wehrmacht. Luxembourg was the exception. On November 1, 1941, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was annexed by Germany and its entire infrastructure, including all privately owned railways, were turned over to the Transport Ministry. From 1942 to 1944, the primary task of the RVM was supporting the German war economy and supplying the enormous needs of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. The faltering situation in the East began presenting critical transport problems as early as January, 1942. Army Group Center, which alone required 75 supply trains per day, in actuality received only 25 to 40. At the request of Julius Dorpmüller, Hitler ordered the Ostbahn be subordinated to the RVM on 4 January 1942 with a special branch office: Zweigstelle Osten des Reichsverkehrsministeriums. The RVM thus expanded further and became responsible for all rail operations in occupation zones behind army field rail commands. The Holocaust In early 1940, a new unit was commissioned in the RVM Rail Operations Department E II: No. 21 or "Mass Transport". It was responsible for the organization and timetables of special trains deporting Jews from Germany and the occupied territories, working closely with the SS Reich Security Main Office. Following the Wannsee Conference in 1942, transports also began running directly to the extermination camps. As a result, the RVM became responsible for a substantial part of The Holocaust and was an essential component that made its full scale possible. There is no record that Minister Dorpmüller ever considered the moral implications of this. So long as the Reichsbahn maintained its internal autonomy,