Parrish 1

Amanda Parrish
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1103-007
February 2, 2016
Inquiring Into The Wansee Conference
My inquiry proposal will discuss the meeting between German government officials that
implemented the Final Solution, the harsh plan that killed more than six million innocent souls.
Throughout my research, I want to focus on what exactly occurred at this top secret meeting, and
the significance it had on the World. I also want to inquire on why no one stopped the Final
Solution at the conference while they still had a chance. This topic caught my attention because it
astonishes me how a few group of men could initiate something so terrible into society,
ultimately deciding the fate of six million human beings.
Before reading about the Wansee Conference, I had never even heard of it. The only previous
knowledge I had acquired is about the Final Solution, which was ultimately the outcome of this
meeting. The Final Solution was the term the Nazis used for their plan for annihilation of all
Jews. I always assumed Hitler made all decisions without considering other government
officials. Looking at Hitlers dictatorship from the outside, one would assume he had all the
power, however upon looking further into his regime, one sees how much he relied on other
government officials. This will be an aspect that I want to gain more knowledge on just to see
how much Hitler needed the help of his colleagues. Hopefully by the end of my research I will
have gained an immense amount of knowledge surrounding the Wansee Conference.
Luckily there is a lot of resources containing information on the Wansee Conference and the
Final Solution. The internet will be my main source of information. Finding credible sources

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however will take some sifting through, so I can make sure I have the most accurate information
as possible. So far I have found two very informative websites ushmm.org and historyplace.com.
I hope to find an actual document from the Wansee Conference itself that will serve as my
primary source. I found a book detailing the events of the meeting, so I plan on looking into that
to see what information I can acquire, so this could possibly serve as one of my secondary
sources. Thankfully I have access to the internet and school library to guide me on my research.
Narrowing down all the questions I have so far is difficult. The first question I have is why
did all the officials involve agree on implementing the Final Solution? In the meeting there were
both Nazi officials and non Nazi official, of which Hitlers top advisor was to explain the plan to.
Of all the officials in attendance not one spoke up against the Final Solution. I do not understand
how all of their humanity was stripped away. The second question I have is what happened to
these government officials after the war ended? Were they all tried at the Nuremburg trials or did
most of them get away from persecution? This really interests me to see where these men ended
up and what affect it had on their lives. They should have all been held responsible for the deaths
of millions because they gave permission for the mass murder to be committed.
The first angle I want to take in my writing is through the eyes of the men in the conference. I
want to know their perspective on the Final Solution, and why they thought it was okay. To some
degree they had to have known what they were doing, and how it would affect society. Most
Holocaust research papers focus on the perspective from a prisoner, not what is going on in the
minds on the men who put them there. The second perspective I want to take is through the eyes
of a psychologist. Psychology contains many theories suggesting why people act certain ways in
groups, taking away their individuality in the process. This is an important factor to consider in
why the officials went along with Hitlers gruesome plan. There are many theories in psychology

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that explain how humans can lose their humanity and become a savage. Both of these
perspectives could give me insight into what was going on in the minds of the men at the
conference.
How could one meeting between top government officials affect the lives of millions across
the globe? Throughout my research and paper I want to delve into the many answers this
question could have. Of all the important meetings in history this has to be on the top of the list
primarily because it affected the entire world. I want to look at the affects it had on not only
Germans and Jews, but also every other country involved in World War II. This question will
hopefully help me to understand how much of a significance the Wansee Conference left on
society.
Reflection
I was a peer reader for Brandons paper which was inquiring into the Nazi medical
experiments. I found his topic very intriguing because it focused on the true horror of the Nazis.
My favorite part about his proposal was about the types of Nazi experiments particularly the one
on alien communication. This sparked my interest because it seems kind of bizarre. The only
problems I found in his writing was his lack of detail and elaboration. He really needs to go into
more detail about why he chose his questions and how the different perspectives will enhance his
paper. Overall I enjoyed reviewing his inquiry proposal about Nazi medical experiments and I
am interested to see where it takes him.