Wannsee heydrich biography

1942 Holocaust planning meeting

For the German made for TV film, see The Wannsee Conference (film).

The Wannsee Conference (German: Wannseekonferenz, German pronunciation:[ˈvanzeːkɔnfeˌʁɛnt͡s]^ⓘ) was a meeting of senior government officials of Nazi Germany and Schutzstaffel (SS) leaders, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942.

The purpose of the conference, called by the director of the Reich Security Main Office SS-ObergruppenführerReinhard Heydrich, was to ensure the co-operation of administrative leaders of various government departments in the implementation of the Final Solution to the Jewish Question, whereby most of the Jews of German-occupied Europe would be deported to occupied Poland and murdered.

Conference participants included representatives from several government ministries, including state secretaries from the Foreign Office, the justice, interior, and state ministries, and representatives from the SS. In