The Banality of Evil: Conspiracy & Downfall

 Students watch excerpts from two movies, Conspiracy 2001, (a reconstruction, in English, of the Wannsee Conference, 21 January 1942) and Downfall (Der Untergang, 2004, about the last days of Hitler and the Nazi leadership in the Berlin bunker, April-May 1945). I use original DVDs that I bought in Germany, both with English subtitles (even though Conspiracy is in English).

I tell the students to focus on the tiny details, minutiae, anything that catches their eye, that they find interesting, etc., and show them scenes that depict aspects of the perpetrators' side of the Holocaust that most of us never think of, for example:

• While Berlin was being destroyed above their heads, Hitler and his staff still had meals together
• Hitler, when he marries Eva Braun, is asked whether his background is Aryan
• Towards the end of his life, Hitler was very frail, his hands were shaking, his behavior was erratic
• The Jews remained the focus of his hatred and of his worldview
• The Wannsee Conference was basically a meeting of officials, most of whom had never murdered or would never murder a human being with their own hands
• Just like at a regular professional meeting, there were name cards, catering was provided, the participants smoked and drank alcohol, listened to beautiful music, enjoyed the venue and its environment. The big difference, of course, was the subject they discussed: the murder of 11 million Jews
• The conference was fairly short
• A number of men and women facilitated the meeting, by serving the participants as waiters, telephone operators, stenographers, etc. As we can see in one or two scenes, these men were ordinary Germans, who played around, were in love etc. 
• Everything was conducted in a very civilized, quiet and pleasant way.

We discuss these aspects, none of which students usually ever have thought about before. And, based on the scenes that I show them, we compare and contrast the way in which each of the movies tells its story, including choices of the directors and producers (language, casting, historical accuracy, etc.).