Historical Relevance of the Wannsee Conference

[Sharpe]

Eberhard Jackel - "The most significant thing we know about Wannsee is that it took place"

Being doing some revision for some upcoming exams and covered this topic. Just how relevant was the Wannsee Conference to the implementation of the Final Solution?

Apparently the only thing of importance to come out of the conference were the meeting minutes, full of euphemisms - such as 'evacuating east' meaning death. The Wannsee protocol is evidence of government condoned genocide but is that all?

Cameron Isen argues it marks the point the mass-murder was finally agreed upon and policy shifted from disorderly to departmentally organised, yet the Einsatzgruppen had already killed 500,000 people prior.

Heydrich flexing his SS muscles or an actual key event where intelligent, rational men - some with doctorates - discussed mass murder?

[CK23]

I like it was quite historical relevant truth be told. The scope of the Holocaust prior to the Wannsee Conference was relatively little known to other aspects of the Third Reich. The SS and the Einsatzgruppen had known about it because they had been directly involved in it as the Praetorian Guard of the Holocaust. Informing other departments such as the Justice Ministry, the Eastern Ministry, the General Government and the rest were instrumental in the widespread cooperation of carrying out the Holocaust. So, yeah, I'd say it was incredibly important and totally historical relevant.

So yes, actual key event where intelligent, some rational, some irrational men - some with doctorates - discussed planned, widespread and organized mass murder.

I do not know if you've seen it but Conspiracy, the HBO special was a decent representation of the Wannsee Conference. I'm sure parts of it are a little...fantastic but more or less it is relatively spot on about what we know about the Wannsee Conference.

[Sharpe]

Cheers for the reply.

Yeah that's what I was getting at when I mention Heydrich flexing his muscles - basically showing his SS authoritarianism and absolute final say when it comes to the Jewish Question ensuring full departmental co-operation.

The conference indicated mass killing was only an experimental solution, labour was a more serious solution but became a cover for generalized killing later. I think Wannsee has a transitional quality which, with the informing of the department makes it significant. You could argue it was a culmination of 'off the cuff' anti-Antisemitism' and prior extermination was a dynamic of its own.

[Canister]

I have read a lot about the Holocaust, and have seen many documentaries and movies about the topic. What the Nazis did was so extremely horrific and gruesome.