What was Wannsee conference

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Q.� Who was at the meeting

A.� The meeting, on 20 January, 1942, was chaired by Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the German State Police and of the SD (Sicherheitsdienst, security service of the SS). Obersturmbannf�hrer Adolf Eichmann - the SS chief of operations in the deportation of Jews to extermination camps - took notes. Other officials included Stuckart, secretary of state for the interior, and representatives for the foreign office, ministry of justice, the race and settlement office and security office.

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Q.� And what did it conclude

A.� Until that moment, it had been policy 'expel the Jews from the life and living space of the German people'. That meant forced emigration. Eichmann's notes - known as the Wannsee protocol - show how it all changed. They were to be killed or worked to death.

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Q.� Is that how they discussed it

A.� No, the Wannsee protocol is chilling in its bureaucratic language. Part of it says:

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Under proper guidance, in the course of the final solution the Jews are to be allocated for appropriate labour in the East. Able-bodied Jews, separated according to sex, will be taken in large work columns to these areas for work on roads, in the course of which action doubtless a large portion will be eliminated by natural causes.

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The possible final remnant will, since it will undoubtedly consist of the most resistant portion, have to be treated accordingly, because it is the product of natural selection and would, if released, act as a the seed of a new Jewish revival.

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The evacuated Jews will first be sent, group by group, to so-called transit ghettos, from which they will be transported to the East.

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Q.� To the East Where

A.� It’s an appalling euphemism for death in a concentration camp. Six million Jews, and five million non-Jews, died.

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Q.� The anniversary is being marked

A.� Gerhard Schroeder, Germany's Chancellor, said the Wannsee agreement showed 'the total perversion of the Nazi system and is a unique document of a breakdown in civilisation that still today leaves us speechless'. The lesson for Germans, he said, was never to tire in saying 'never again'. The event is also being marked in Germany by an exhibition tracing the history of the Holocaust.

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The events at Wannsee were also examined in a BBC-2 play called Conspiracy, written by Loring Mandel, with Kenneth Branagh as Heydrich and Stanley Tucci as Eichmann. Branagh said of his character: 'Heydrich displayed a dazzling economy of effort. Just by force of personality and superb management skills, he was able to ensure that the most catastrophic event of the 20th century was initiated in just 90 minutes.'

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Steve Cunningham