Conspiracy is a made-for-TV BBC/HBO motion picture which dramatizes the events that occurred during the Wannsee Conference of 1942. The film delves into the psychology of German officials involved in the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" during WWII. Frank R. Pierson (born 12 May 1925) is an American screenwriter and film director. ... Loring Mandel (born May 5, 1928) is an American playwright and screenwriter whose notable works include the TV movie Conspiracy. ... Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10, 1960) is a versatile Emmy Award-winning British actor and film director. ... Stanley Tucci (born January 11, 1960 in Katonah, New York) is an American actor and film director, known for his work in films such as Road to Perdition and Big Night, and in the television series Murder One. ... Colin Firth Colin Firth (born September 10, 1960) is a popular English actor. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... HBO logo HBO (Home Box Office) is a premium cable television network. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Corporate logo of the British Broadcasting Corporation. ... HBO logo HBO (Home Box Office) is a premium cable television network. ... The Wannsee Conference was the discussion by a group of Nazi officials about the Final Solution of the Jewish Question (Endlösung der Judenfrage). ... This article is about the year. ... The Final Solution (German Endlösung) refers to the German Nazis plan to address the Jewish problem through systematic relocation and later extermination through genocide during World War II. The term was coined by Adolf Eichmann, a top Nazi official who supervised the genocidal campaign. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ...

The movie starred an ensemble cast including Kenneth Branagh as Reinhard Heydrich, Stanley Tucci as Adolf Eichmann, and Colin Firth as Wilhelm Stuckart. It was written by Loring Mandel. Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10, 1960) is a versatile Emmy Award-winning British actor and film director. ... Reinhard Heydrich as SS-Gruppenführer Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (March 7, 1904 – June 4, 1942) was an SS-Obergruppenführer, chief of the Reich Main Security Office, and Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia. ... Stanley Tucci (born January 11, 1960 in Katonah, New York) is an American actor and film director, known for his work in films such as Road to Perdition and Big Night, and in the television series Murder One. ... Adolf Eichmann, Germany 1940 Photo from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archives. ... Colin Firth Colin Firth (born September 10, 1960) is a popular English actor. ... Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart (November 16, 1902 – November 15, 1953) was a Nazi Party lawyer and official and member of the Interior Ministry. ... Loring Mandel (born May 5, 1928) is an American playwright and screenwriter whose notable works include the TV movie Conspiracy. ...

Plot

A secret meeting is held in order to determine the method by which the German government is to execute Adolf Hitler's policy - that the German sphere of influence should be free of Jews, including those in the occupied terrorities of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Czechoslovakia and France. As the film opens, various officials from different German agencies arrive and mingle at a beautiful manor house in Wannsee, where Colonel Adolf Eichmann, SS Officer for Jewish Affairs, has meticulously planned the meeting. Among those present: (help· info) (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Germany from 1934 until his death. ... The Wannsee is both a linked pair of lakes in southwestern Berlin, Germany and the name of the borough in which they can be found. ... Adolf Eichmann, Germany 1940 Photo from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archives. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop...

• Wilhelm Stuckart, a lawyer representing the Interior Ministry and co-author of the Nuremberg laws
• Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger, deputy head of the Reich Chancellery
• Gerhard Klopfer, a lawyer from the Nazi Party Chancellery
• Martin Luther, Foreign Ministry liaison to the SS

Last to arrive is SS General Reinhard Heydrich, who begins by explaining the purpose of the meeting. Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart (November 16, 1902 – November 15, 1953) was a Nazi Party lawyer and official and member of the Interior Ministry. ... 1933 to 1939 Nazi racial policy changed extensively in the years between 1933 and 1939. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger (April 14, 1890 - October 1947) was a Nazi politician. ... Model of the new Reich Chancellory. ... Gerhard Klopfer (1905 - 1987) was an official of the Nazi Party and assistant to Martin Bormann in the Office of the (Nazi) Party Chancellery. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ... Party Chancellery was the name of the office that replaced that of Deputy Fuhrer of the NSDAP (Nazi Party), after Rudolf Hess made his flight to Britain in 1941. ... For other people named Martin Luther see: Martin Luther (disambiguation) Dr. Martin Luther (1895–1945) was a German diplomat, and an early member of the National Socialist Party. ... A foreign minister is a cabinet minister that helps to form foreign policy for sovereign nations. ... Reinhard Heydrich as SS-Gruppenführer Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (March 7, 1904 – June 4, 1942) was an SS-Obergruppenführer, chief of the Reich Main Security Office, and Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia. ...

It is quickly established by those present that the there is a significant "Jewish problem", in that the Jews of Europe cannot be efficiently contained, nor can they be forced onto other countries. Dr Kritzinger interrupts at several points to opine that the meeting is pointless, given that the Jewish question had previously been settled, but Heydrich promises to revisit his concerns. A discussion follows of the possibilities of sterilisation, and of the exemptions for mixed race Jews who have one or more non-Jewish grandparents. At this point, Stuckart loses his temper and insists that a sturdy legal framework is paramount, and that ad hoc application of standards will lead to administrative chaos. He also chides Klopfer for his simplistic portrayal of Jews as evil sub-humans, simultaneously painting his own picture of Jews as clever, manipulative and untrustworthy. Speculation grows at the meeting that Stuckart may be a Jewish sympathiser. Sterilization can mean: Sterilization (surgical procedure) - an operation which renders an animal or human unable to procreate Sterilization (microbiology) - the removal of microbiological organisms This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The terms multiracial, biracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestors are not of a single race. ...

Heydrich calls a break in the proceedings, and takes Stuckart aside to warn him about the consequences of his stubbornness, implying that others in the SS will take an unwanted interest in his actions. When the meeting reconvenes, Heydrich steers the discussion in the direction of wholesale elimination using gas chambers. This causes consternation among many of the attendees, notably Kritzinger, who objects that Hitler had given him personal guarantees that extermination of the Jews was not being considered, and representatives of the Polish administration, who are shocked to discover that the SS have been building camps and making preparations for the "Final Solution" under their noses and in secret. The gas chamber once used at San Quentin State Prison in California for the purpose of capital punishment. ... Majdanek - crematorium Extermination camp (German Vernichtungslager) was the term applied to a group of camps set up by Nazi Germany during World War II for the express purpose of killing the Jews of Europe, although members of some other groups whom the Nazis wished to exterminate, such as Roma (Gypsies...

By this time it has become clear to everyone at the meeting that they have been called together not to discuss the problem but to be given orders by the SS, who are intent on wresting control of the operation from other agencies such as the Interior Ministry and the Reich Chancellery. The meeting breaks again as one of the officials is suddenly taken ill, supposedly due to a cigar.

This time it is Dr Kritzinger's turn to be taken aside and intimidated by Heydrich, who warns that Kritzinger is influential but not invulnerable. Kritzinger realises that Heydrich wants not only consent but active support, and that any hopes he had of assuring livable conditions for the Jewish population are unrealistic. In return, he tells a Heydrich a cautionary tale about a man consumed by hatred for his father, so much so that he is sorry to see his father die, for his life seems empty without the antipathy that drove him.

Heydrich then recalls and concludes the meeting, giving clear directives that the SS are to be obeyed in all matters relating to the elimination of the Jews. He also asks for explicit assent and support from each official, one by one. After giving careful instructions on the secrecy of the minutes and notes of the meeting, they are adjourned and begin to depart.

As the servants at the manor tidy away the remains of the meeting, and the officials depart, a brief account of the fate of each one is given.

Themes

While the majority of the content of the film is historical and taken from the surviving records of the meeting, all other conversation is purely speculative. While the tragedy of the Holocaust has been portrayed in many forms such as Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List, Conspiracy focuses much more closely on the dehumanisation of the Jews by the perpetrators and on the prevalent cultural attitudes that allowed the Nazis to make the leap from persecution to genocide. Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (born December 18, 1946) is a four time Academy Award winning American film director (three OSCARS and 1 Lifetime Achievement Award), and among the most successful filmmakers in history. ... Schindlers List is a 1993 movie based on the book Schindlers Ark by Thomas Keneally, published in the United States as Schindlers List and subsequently re-issued in Commonwealth countries under that name as well. ... Persecution is persistent mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. ... Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) article 2 as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing...

Conspiracy was intended to be a dark parallel to the film 12 Angry Men, where the inhumanity of the conspirators at Wannsee contrasts the conflict leading to the ultimate display of compassion in the classic Henry Fonda movie. 12 Angry Men is a black-and-white film produced in 1957, and tells the story of twelve jurors bound by the acceptance of their civic duty and thrust together into a hot, humid room to determine the guilt or innocence of a boy accused of killing his father in... Fonda in the 1957 classic, 12 Angry Men. ...

Style

Almost self-consciously clinical, the film eschews sentimentality throughout and provides a stark and uncomfortable account of the proceedings, accented by the shoulder-level camerawork that suggests the viewer as a participant. Sedate and lacking music until the final minutes, a gentle rhythm between silence and "crosstalk" gives a natural ebb and flow. The portrayal of everyday details of catering, writing namecards, taking minutes and cleaning up rubbish afterwards juxtaposes the mundane manner of the proceedings with the echoing historical significance of the subject.

Characterisation

Several hints are made at the ghoulish sadism of the officials present. During discussion of sterilisation procedures, there is merriment at the suggestion of using X-rays to infertilise children as well as adults. As for the effects of Carbon Monoxide on its victims, one attendee jokes about the Jews "going in red and coming out pink", presumably a reference to the stereotype of Jews as communist sympathisers. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

The only participants to raise significant objections to the extermination, Dr Kritzinger and Stuckert, are hardly sympathetic themselves, yet they provide the only identification the viewer can obtain. Worthy of note is the fact when Adolf Eichman was interigated by Israeli inteligence in 1960, he said that Stuckert was a energetic supporter of the "Final Solution". Obviously we have to take what Eichman said with a grain of salt. The alien quality of reason at Wannsee is a powerful demonstration of a vastly different mindset - a common set of assumptions about Jews that all at the conference shared implicitly.

External links

• Conspiracy at The Internet Movie Database