Mission Statement from the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site

The Place and the Act 

On 20 January 1942, a meeting of high-ranking representatives of the Nazi regime was held at the historic site where the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site is located today. During this meeting, the participants discussed the details of their plan to deport and systematically murder the European Jews. The implementation of this plan affected millions of people – far beyond Europe and long after 1945.

The place – the villa on the lake Großer Wannsee, once a guesthouse of the SS – draws attention to the crime without actually being a site of murder. 

As a perpetrator site, the villa represents German society’s participation in the Nazi crimes. At the same time, the villa serves as a symbolic location of the Shoah – the mass murder of European Jews that was organised and carried out at many different sites through a decentralised collaborative work process. The site is therefore closely linked to the experiences and memories of the victims. 

Reflection and Remembrance 

The Memorial and Educational Site is a place of remembrance, education and research about the persecution and murder of European Jews. 

At this site of transnational significance, we recognise the need for multiple perspectives of history. This means being aware of the different perceptions of the site and its historical role. Our memorial, therefore, is also a place for individuals to commemorate specific people and their lives. 

As employees, we are all different. We bring with us our different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences that we reflect on in our work. We combine our different areas of expertise and share a mutual appreciation for these differences, which we believe enrich the work that we do.  

Approaches and Dialogues

As a memorial and educational site, we advocate for an open, respectful coexistence and aim to raise awareness for responsible social action.

We want to create ways for everyone to have access to encounters with historical experiences. We want to bridge the temporal and biographical distance to historical events and show why this history is still relevant to us today. 

This includes reflecting on historical and current experiences of discrimination, disenfranchisement and violence and showing connections to the history of the Shoah.

We recognise the diversity of our society and work with many different kinds of groups and individuals, both locally and digitally.

We actively participate in sociopolitical and cultural debates and discussions related to the memorial’s core historical themes. We feel it is important that we introduce our perspective as a memorial and educational site into these discussions.

Using the historic site as a starting point and bearing in mind the perspectives and experiences of the victims, our work combines research, education and reflection on social structures and ideological foundations, as well as on the actions and decisions that made this genocide possible. We strongly value the use of cognitive-empathic methods to address the past, for example through encounters with personal stories and biographies.

Our research focuses on these core historical topics and their current social significance. It supports the diverse methods and content from all our departments. Research-based learning, in particular using documents, images and other forms of media, is a central component of our educational work. Our programs are built around our extensive collection of contemporary history sources, biographies, historical studies and various audiovisual and digital remembrance media.

Dealing with history is a dynamic process that requires constant dialogue. Dialogue and cooperation are therefore important building blocks that make up our work, both amongst our staff and between our staff, visitors and the public. We network locally and internationally and have a transcultural focus. 

We engage with partners in Germany and abroad through a wide range of collaborative projects. This cooperative and interdisciplinary approach helps us continue to broaden the perspectives of our work. 

Berlin-Wannsee, in August 2022