Set in Berlin on January 20, 1942, Die Wannseekonferenz opens with the arrival of a group of high-ranking Nazi officials at a luxurious villa on the shores of Lake Wannsee.
[4] Schmemann highlights the extensive research conducted by Manfred Korytowski, a West German-Israeli television producer, who aimed to use the film as an educational tool to impart knowledge about Germany's history to younger audiences.
While Schmemann acknowledges the film's artistic vision, he asserts that its most significant aspect lies in its depiction of the profound cynicism exhibited during the Wannsee Conference.
This cynicism, he contends, echoes themes explored in other German and Austrian productions of the time, which sought to confront previously overlooked or sanitized aspects of history.
However, Schmemann observes that Die Wannseekonferenz distinguishes itself from other works in this genre by its singular focus on the perpetrators and its avoidance of sentimentalism, thereby standing apart from the prevailing tendency to absolve German guilt.
")[7] In a critical analysis, Heinz Höhne, the editor of the German news magazine Spiegel, scrutinizes the film's treatment of historical events within the context of television production trends in 1980s West Germany.
Nicolas K. Johnson, in a master's thesis analyzing the film, highlights the significance of Höhne's review in offering an alternative interpretation of the Wannsee Protocol.
[3] Höhne's analysis relies on accepting the veracity of the Protocol's contents without considering the nuanced language and potential alterations made by Heydrich subsequent to the conference.