We Do Not Know What Was Said in Wannsee

The sad truth is that even today, after all these years, we still do not know for sure what was said and done during these fateful ninety minutes (Wannsee Conference lasted only that long).

Just about all our knowledge about Wannsee Conference stems from two sources: Wannsee Protocol and what Adolf Eichmann said when interrogated in Jerusalem and later at his trial. Neither source is particularly trustworthy.

Shorthand notes for the Wannsee Protocol were taken by Eichmann’s secretary, Ingeburg Werlemann, and the protocol proper was written by Eichmann (and subsequently edited by Reinhard Heydrich – CEO of the “Holocaust Project”).

The latter gave the former instructions about what was to appear – and what was definitely NOT to appear in the protocol. And for good reason – the whole thing was totally illegal according to the laws of the Third Reich (according to the Criminal Code in effect at that time, serial mass murder of Jews was a capital offence punishable by death).

True, Hitler could have made it completely legal by issuing a written order – he did it for Aktion T4… but he never did it. So, Heydrich and Eichmann made sure nothing that illegal made its way to the minutes (which was obviously a lot).

Eichmann’s statements made in Jerusalem were not particularly trustworthy because his trial was not about truth (or justice for that matter) at all – it was all about politics. Holocaust politics, to be more precise.

More specifically, about getting the Holocaust into the center of attention worldwide – and about making German legal system getting serious about prosecuting Nazi war criminals. Both were highly noble objectives (IMHO).

However, we do know for sure that Wannsee Conference (and the whole “Holocaust Project”) were illegal according to the laws of the Third Reich – and that Wannsee House was never owned by a Jew.

We also can surmise (from what we do know) that Wannsee Conference was all about team building (“Holocaust by Gas” team, to be more precise); that it operationally defined who was a Jew; that it authorized extermination trough labor – and the “Holocaust by Gas”.

And that the Wannsee Protocol – despite all omissions – was more than sufficient to indict, try and sentence to death by hanging all attendees. Which was not done.