How realistic were the events in "Conspiracy"?

The 2001 film "Conspiracy" is about the so-called "Final Solution" to the problem of getting rid of Jews as efficiently, cheap, and fast as possible in Nazi Germany. Many hotshots of the evil regime had gathered in a landhouse owned by Heydrich, who coined the term.

The meeting, which actually took place, is portrayed as a jolly dinner and the men used this occasion to show others their rank or establish their own. There was not so much attention for the solution itself. Most were more interested in the wine, food, or waitresses.

One of them (I think it was Göring) arrived late in his plane.

Was this how things really went? Are there any notes of those who were actually there describing the event (Wannsee Konferenz)?

historical-accuracy conspiracy-2001

Best Answer

As far as they were concerned, it was a "committee meeting". They took minutes of the whole thing.

The entire transcript, translated to English, is here - Literature of the Holocaust: the Wannsee protocol
Note this was edited several times between the original notes taken at the time & this version, which is an expanded, corrected version of that prepared for the trials at Nuremberg.

There is an in-depth study of the historical accuracy of the movie itself at Speaking the unspeakable: the portrayal of the Wannsee Conference in the film Conspiracy which concludes

Given what we know about what took place during the Wannsee Conference and what we can only speculate on, it is true that, in most respects at least, Conspiracy does not stray very far from what is factually plausible. Its exaggeration of Stuckart’s dissatisfaction and Kritzinger’s dissent are to be explained – though not entirely excused – by the filmmakers’ pursuit of dramatic effect. In their defense, however, the filmmakers do cover themselves by inserting the following caption in the closing credits: ‘This film is based on a true story, with some scenes, events and characters created or changed for dramatic purposes.’ Returning to the quote that opened this article and addressed the atmosphere of the conference, one can conclude that Conspiracy does a very effective job of bringing the Protocol and, therefore, the conference itself to life. It provides a credible demonstration of the way in which the participants may have discussed the macabre subject at hand.