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edit"Kritzinger was the only participant at this conference who was aghast at what was being proposed for dealing with 'The Jewish Question', as he had been assured earlier by Hitler that such a drastic option against the Jews would not happen (Conference chairperson Reinhard Heydrich replied that for reasons of political expediency, Hitler would continue to officially deny the policy, but that the decision to annhilate the Jews was taken in secret and that he was obliged to support this goal, despite there being no written order from Hitler)."
Is this actually historically accurate, or is it simply based on Conspiracy?
- In reading the minutes alleged to have come from the surviving transcript, Kritzinger is mentioned only as having been present for the meeting. I think the origin of the claim that he opposed the measures discussed is the statement he made at his trial where he said he was ashamed of what had been done. Stuckart is the only one whose "opposition" was evidently deemed sufficient enough to be entered into the record. Read the transcripts in German or in English.
Then this page should surely be edited, as the basis for Kritzinger's objection is historically non-existant.
- The specific exchange of "deniability" between Heydrich and Kritzinger is almost certainly based on Conspiracy, as nothing of that amount of detail survived, and neither Kritzinger's nor Eichmann's trial mentioned it specifically. It seems highly unlikely that something of that significance would not be mentioned under those circumstances. However, Dr Michael Berenbaum, who consulted on Conspiracy states on his website that:
- What happened at Wannsee has been reconstructed primarily from three admittedly problematic sources: The Wannsee Protocol - which Eichmann described at his trial as highly expurgated to hide its true meanings and the freewheeling, sometimes vulgar discussion that took place; Eichmann's trial testimony, which is, of course, suspect; and interviews with five participants in 1947 by U.S. Prosecutor Robert M.W. Kempner. At these interviews, four of the Nazis denied having been at Wannsee until confronted with the Protocol, which listed their attendance. The fifth, Dr. Wilhelm Kritzinger of the Reichs Chancellery, expressed shame and regret for what happened at Wannsee. (Indeed, Kritzinger tried to resign from his post not long after Wannsee, but his superior asked him to remain because it would be "even worse" without him.) http://www.berenbaumgroup.com/ber_documentaries/moreconspiracy.htm
- The specific exchange of "deniability" between Heydrich and Kritzinger is almost certainly based on Conspiracy, as nothing of that amount of detail survived, and neither Kritzinger's nor Eichmann's trial mentioned it specifically. It seems highly unlikely that something of that significance would not be mentioned under those circumstances. However, Dr Michael Berenbaum, who consulted on Conspiracy states on his website that:
- I would recommend that this position be adopted for this page.
I am removing the bit about "threatened with death" as it was based purley on Conspiracy which in itself over dramatised and exagerrated Heydrich's personality and behavior a bit based on his fearsome reputaion as part of trying to define a "villian" in the movie sense. In the earler, German made Wannseekonferenz, which in my opinion is probably the most accurate sendup of Wansee and of Heydrich, no such thing is mentioned. ~Eman007 2008, 02, December~