Topic: Film and History; Wannsee and Show Trials

Order Description

Among the most common ways we learn of history is through film. You have three sources for this assignment that deals with history through two different types of films. Two sources are at the hyperlinks section of the class CAMs site. All three sources are:

Conspiracy: the film you watched in class and that is available in the library and through most video services

The Moscow Show Trials: a 6 minute clip from the Moscow Show Trials during which Andrey Vyshinsky, the state’s prosecutor, denounces those who are enemies of the state

Protocol of the Wannsee Conference: This is the official transcript from the conference of Nazi officials in the winter of 1942 at the estate of Wannsee.

Your assignment is two-fold:

First: explain what each film depicts, paying particular attention to the type of the film they are. Which one is a primary source and why? And which is a secondary source, and why?

Second, using the Wannsee Protocol, identify similarities and differences between what the protocol contains and what the movie contended. You should pick out those parts of the movie that most interested you and try to find out whether those parts were contained in the protocol. The protocol was the edited summary of the conference from Adolph Eichmann, and NOT a transcript of all that was said and discussed during the conference. The film obviously needed to build much of the dialogue you heard.

Third, after you read the protocol, assess how well the film reflects what is known about the conference. Did the film take too much license with its portrayal or was it about right?

Please write your answers in essay form, no fewer than four typed pages. Please cite your sources in the following way USING FOOTNOTES:

“Protocol of the Wannsee Conference,” 1942.

Conspiracy (2001)

“Moscow Show Trials,” 1938.

*******USE THE FOLLOWING LINKS BELOW AND A MOVIE CALLED CONSPIRACY 2001*******

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25JpnWlEfvE

http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/wansee-transcript.html