Machtergreifung ('seizure of power') – along with Machtübernahme ('take-over power'), referred to the acquisition of full political power when Hitler assumed the role of Chancellor on 30 January 1933. Madagascar Plan – a scheme devised by the Nazis in 1940 to globally alleviate the perceived Jewish problem by shipping them en-masse to the French colony known as the island of Madagascar. Instead of sending the Jews to Palestine, which the Nazis believed belonged to the Christians and Muslims, the idea was to hold them "hostage" so to speak, on Madagascar as a bargaining chip with the Americans.