Editorial Review:Description:The horror of the holocaust began on January 20, 1942, when key representatives of the SS, the Nazi Party, and the government bureaucracy met secretly at a house in Wannsee. A quiet Berlin suburb, to discuss 'The Final Solution.' While they enjoyed a buffet lunch, brandy, and cigarettes, they discussed how they could systematically exterminate eleven million Jewish people. Director Heinz Schirk and writer Paul Mommertz use actual notes from the Wannsee Conference, along with letters written by Hermann Goering and Adolf Eichmann, and testimony by Eichmann at his 1961 trial in Israel, to re-create the shocking events of the fateful 85-minute meeting. Viewers become stunned witnesses to the cold-blooded, matter-of-fact manner in which the most hideous crime in history was set in motion.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Great VHS. Another DVD version is available.
This chilling VHS is fantastic. Those who enjoy it are directed to also watch the DVD "Conspiracy" for similar fantastic drama.
Rating: 
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toe curling
in german with german actors, production ofcourse;this is the almost verbatim meeting held in the city of the title where the german elite explained just how they were going to exterminate the jews entirely...the cover-up,how they would make it look and sound palapable,going over details without euphamisims. difficult to watch,but needed. we seem to have already begun willing to repeat the horrible mistakes we promised to learn from...there is an american version with kenneth branagh and stanley tucci that is as good,but lacks the story in and told by germans...it is called the "conspiracy" on dvd...
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Excellent documentary on important topic
The Wannsee Conference was a critical, 2-hour event during which high officials of the Third Reich planned their "Final Solution" for the "Jewish problem." Their solution -- ship them east, then kill them all.
The film, using the last remaining transcript of the actual conference, reveals the most frightening aspect of the Nazi government -- killing millions was treated more routinely than planning the refreshments for the meeting. Anyone can be evil in the right -- or wrong -- circumstances; the sooner we recognize that evil does not arrive with red tail and horns, but dressed like you or me, the better we will be able to see it and reject it.
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Holocaust Incorporated
The Wannsee conference was the official beginning to the organization of mass killings of Jews by the nazis.
This video (another good work that will not make it on dvd) on the Wannsee conference is a representation that lasts 85 minutes, just as the real conference. Every minute of it is meaningful and well directed. There are no distractions or any superfluous commentaries. The camera goes around the table or watches a specific character to convey both the general atmosphere of the occasion and the individual roles of the characters.
I was specially interested in watching how they would depict Eichmann, after reading the description that Hannah Arendt does of him. I think it matches her description well.
A good point about the video is that you don't see actors interpret nazis as you would expect from a modern movie, but you see normal people discussing and approving the death of millions of human beings as a matter of business-as-usual.
I recommend viewing this video along with the German "Downfall" on the last days of the Reich.
Very valuable documentary.
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Footnotes
Other reviews have found this film to be far superior to "Conspiracy". One noted its superior detail on the 'final solution' options; two noted superior acting. In fact, far more detail is given in "Conspiracy", even if there is no conference record cited to support it. As for acting, "Conspiracy" is worth a close look, especially for Colin Firth's splendid performance. Final 'footnote': As one review noted, this film has a flirtatious female stenographer whom Heydrich invites to join him in Prague . She is not seen in "Conspiracy", where there is only a uniformed male steno.. Who has it right??
My suggestion: watch both films.
