Alexander L. Belikoff reviewed Wannsee by Jeremy Noakes
Review of 'Wannsee' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is not your first choice if you are looking to learn about the Wannsee conference and its role in the Holocaust. Rather, this is an extremely valuable resource if you want to move beyond the basics. The Author conducted a monumental amount of research, which resulted in a book somewhat dry and pedantic but brimming with information and analysis.
What this book excels at is letting you look "behind the curtain" and see the mechanics that brought the wheels in motion, the driving factors and the dynamics of the process. There is a page-by-page commentary to the meeting notes. The Author shows [rather convincingly] that the aforementioned Conference (which lasted no longer than 1.5 hours) was hardly a pivotal point but resulted due to a complex political and bureaucratic play between different organizations and individuals vying for a more prominent role. It discusses the power play between Himmler and …
This is not your first choice if you are looking to learn about the Wannsee conference and its role in the Holocaust. Rather, this is an extremely valuable resource if you want to move beyond the basics. The Author conducted a monumental amount of research, which resulted in a book somewhat dry and pedantic but brimming with information and analysis.
What this book excels at is letting you look "behind the curtain" and see the mechanics that brought the wheels in motion, the driving factors and the dynamics of the process. There is a page-by-page commentary to the meeting notes. The Author shows [rather convincingly] that the aforementioned Conference (which lasted no longer than 1.5 hours) was hardly a pivotal point but resulted due to a complex political and bureaucratic play between different organizations and individuals vying for a more prominent role. It discusses the power play between Himmler and Heydrich, each one promoting their own plan. By analyzing further developments, it shows how the means (war) and the end (annihilation of European Jews) have gradually exchanged their roles. Most importantly, it shows the terrifyingly pragmatic, business-like attitude of all involved toward the task of murdering millions of men, women, and children alike.
This will not be your most satisfying reading (in every sense), but if you are interested in learning more about WWII and Holocaust, this book is highly recommended.
