Sentence:  In other words , the promulgators of the murder plan made clear that physically exterminating the Jews <WSD>was</WSD> but an extension of the anti-Semitic measures already operating in every phase of German life , and that the new conspiracy counted on the general anti-Semitism that had made those measures effective , as a readiness for murder . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  be identical to; be someone or something