56–58 Am Großen Wannsee, Berlin

Last Friday, as Der Spiegel reminds me, was the 70th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference and if there is a God one would have prayed that he might have arranged a Lancaster-load of bombs to fall on that elegant villa on the 20th January 1942.  On that day, 70 years ago a collection of fanatics, intellectuals, security policemen and bureaucrats met to take the Final Decision.  There was nothing special about the meeting, it only lasted around 2 hours, and for most of the participants it was but one more meeting in a constant schedule of meetings.  The result, of course, was horrific almost beyond description.  However, it is worth emphasizing because it seems to have been forgotten, or perhaps 'buried' is a better word, that it was not the first such decision of that sort and the results, compared to other efforts in mass extermination both before and after, were paltry by comparison.  It is appropriate, and admirable, that the Germans represented by their President, remembered the anniversary.  However, if you are waiting for Russia or China to commemorate their monstrous acts of human extinction, please do not hold your breath, it could endanger your health!

Incidentally, anyone wishing to see a depiction of the conference should treat themselves to a DVD of Conspiracy, a film of the event starring Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci amongst many other very fine actors.  It is a great example of art and artifice telling truth.

 

Comments

[H]

"The Villa, the Lake, the Meeting: Wannsee and the Final Solution" by Mark Roseman covers it all very well in one slim volume. And would make the DVD a bit easier to follow (it did for me, anyway).

[David Duff]

Thanks for that tip, 'H'. I think the bit that fascinated and sickened me in the film version was the intricate legal discussion on exactly what constituted a Jew with mixed parentage. "The banality of evil" is a much over-used, and often inacurately used, expression but all through that film it kep coming into my mind.

[David Duff]

Also what strikes me vividly is the elegant house in which it took place. I don't know how accurate the film was in depicting the light lunch and canapes on offer from the dutiful staff but I suspect it was not far off. It was all so urbane and civilised and elegant, well, except for one or two of the rougher soldiery, and if viewed through a window you might have thought they were discussing, say, ways and means of improving the harvest with the assistance of the military, or something like that. Instead . . .

[Jimmy Glesga]

http://www.scrapbookpages.com/EasternGermany/Wannsee/index.html
KEPT THIS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS TO PASS ON.

[David Duff]

Thanks, Jimmy, that's very comprehensive. I particularly relished Eichman's quote with my added emphasis:

"Look, just look at Stuckart, the perpetual law-abiding bureaucrat, always punctilious and fussy, and now what a different tone! The language was anything but in conformity with the legal protocol of clause and paragraph. I should add that this is the only thing from the conference that still has stayed clearly in my mind."

When the Presiding Judge asked Eichmann what Stuckart had said "in general" "on this topic," Eichmann answered, "The discussion covered killing, elimination, and annihilation."