What We Have is a Document: Wannsee
On January 20, 1942, a group of SS officers and mid-level bureaucrats from the ministries of the Third Reich convened at a lakeside villa. The agenda: Genocide.
Image: A photograph of one of the interior corridors of 56-58 Am Wannsee (Credit: Werner Zellien)
Blood Work is a Scam Goldin Production
This episode was produced by Thomas O’Mahony
Our theme song is ‘Dream Weapon’ by Genghis Tron
Our artwork is provided courtesy of KT Kobel
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THIS WEEK IN VIOLENCE: Bozo Time
ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO
It was a bad week for anyone with a moral compass or semblance of a commitment to having consistent and coherent principles. In that spirit, we came through with two stories about two different groups of pigs, bozos and slobs, presented in the spirit of admiration about what a wonderful and cool world we have built, here, on this planet, together.
Sources:
Christopher R. Browning (2004), The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939–March 1942
Uriah Zevi Engelman (Apr. 1940), ‘Intermarriage among Jews in Germany, U.S.S.R., and Switzerland’, Jewish Social Studies [2:2], pp. 157-178
Richard J. Evans (2009), The Third Reich at War
Peter Longerich (2021), Wannsee: The Road to the Final Solution
Mark Roseman (2012 [2002]), The Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution
Comments (11)
this one was rough/incredible. the echoes of multiple ongoing events and, of course, the pissy bureaucratic defensiveness everywhere.
I thought myself fairly familiar with the process of Jewish persecution and extermination under Naziism, but I had not heard the term 'Nisko Plan' before, even though the idea of deportation into the east was familiar to me without a name. In terms of the antisemitic policy in Nazi Germany, while of course it's impossible to touch on all of it in a single discussion (and the purpose of the discussion is weighted towards Wannsee) I think the expulsion of Jewish members of the civil service in April '33, from which Hindenburg secured the concession relating to Jewish veterans of WW1 from Hitler might have been useful to bring up, especially as you go on to discuss Jewish veterans in relation to Nuremberg. It's also worth noting that the policy of concentration camps for ethnic enemies was first employed against the Roma and Sinti (Zigeunerlager), included as a coda in the Nuremberg laws, and then formalised as a mass policy of deportations in '37,. The policy of camps for Roma predates the Third Reich, forerunners existed in the Weimar years. A slightly different angle of hatred employed by the Nazis, and Weimar there, relating to ethnic 'criminality' and 'vagrancy'.
Oooo 40:05 got me thinking about media types pontificating on "the trans issue" 😶
i went to school in austria and thought i had a pretty solid understanding of the third reich but i don’t think i had ever heard of the madagascar plan.
Oh my god. I’m in WWII Studies MA program. Currently in History of Genocide. This is vain but this was made for me 😂😂 I’m so excited. Phew. Okay.
Excellent work!! I say that with my whole chest 😅 Absolutely the summary of the conference I wish I’d had years ago. While I can imagine some things you probably wish you could’ve fit in, I don’t think you missed anything critical at all (ofc I’m not an expert, but the knowledge is fresh in my mind, at least). No notes, and I mean that literally. 10/10
The fact that we even have the document is because Martin Luther defied the orders to destroy the copy afterwards and kept it either as a souvenir or as kompromat. As a Nazi who himself got executed by the Nazis for doing too much backroom scheming, he's got to be one of the most backbiting, pettiest fuckers of all time.
Luther survived the war, though in very poor health (in addition to the fact of being in a concentration camp, he also tried and failed to commit suicide a couple of times in Sachsenhausen). Died a couple of weeks after the camp was liberated.
Thank you for your patience on the slight delay this week. This was a very challenging episode to research, write and record. All that being said, Thomas put a lot of thought into the editing and production and I think we've put together something worthy of the subject. G
For those interested: This episode is soundtracked using a vocal and piano operetta arrangement by Srul Irving Glick, based on the poems written by children in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp called “I Never Saw A Butterfly Again”. Performed by Maureen Forrester on vocals, and John Newmark on piano. The episode ends with their performance of Pavel Friedmann’s poem The Butterfly, after which the arrangement, and the poetry collection are named. T
wow! this'll be a bad time!