PRESS RELEASE

Saathoff: We need to adopt a multi-perspective approach in coming to terms with National Socialist injustice

Berlin, 19 January 2012 – To mark the 70th anniversary of the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” is supporting the conference entitled The War of Destruction against the Soviet Union and the Wannsee Conference of 20 January 1942. The event, which is being held on 20-21 January 2012, contributes to the debate on the historical interpretation and significance of the Wannsee Conference.

The blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union in 1942 was not the first step in the hostilities. The war of destruction against Slavic peoples and Jews had been ongoing since June 1941, and the deportation of the Jews from the greater German empire to Eastern Europe had begun months previously. Against this background, the participating historians will address the historical significance of the “discussion on the final solution to the Jewish question” that took place on 20 January 1942.

“In coming to terms with National Socialist injustice, it is not enough to take a single-perspective approach. At the Foundation EVZ, the suffering of the victims is one of our prime concerns. In order to understand National Socialist injustice, we need to conduct more research into the racist system, examine the motives of the perpetrators and consider the various victim groups. We are therefore very pleased to have the opportunity to support this conference, whose task is to reach a deeper understanding of this injustice,” says Günter Saathoff, Co-Director of the Foundation EVZ.

The two-day conference at the Clara Sahlberg educational and encounter centre is being organised by the House of the Wannsee Conference Foundation.