Presentation of the artwork
On 20 January 1942, fifteen high-ranking representatives of the SS, the Nazi Party and various ministries gathered in a villa on Wannsee Lake to discuss and coordinate the deportation and murder of the Jews of Europe. Today, the house is a memorial known as the House of the Wannsee Conference (Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz). This particular memorial site offers a variety of opportunities to learn more about the Nazis who participated in the Wannsee Conference.
Anchored in this specific environment of the "perpetrators of the crime", we have proposed to each participant of our historical and artistic workshop to present - in a creative, dynamic and interactive way - the personality and the biography of the Nazis who participated in the conference of 1942. Bruno Delaunoit chose to present W. Stuckart * through a role-playing game where he speaks in terms of "Ich bin".
Referring to the banality of evil described by Hannah Arendt, this posture aims to make us understand how an ordinary bureaucrat - a normal human being and not an amoral monster - motivated by advancing his career in the Nazi bureaucracy could come to make inhuman and monstrous decisions. Focusing on the lived history of individuals, with their dilemmas and the choices they made, makes the history of the Shoah more closely and interestingly to young people, and makes them more aware of the links with their current lives.
PEDAGOGICAL PRECAUTION
It is not forbidden, but care should be taken when using simulations and role-playing with young people. Attempts to 'identify' can lead to false equivalence or trivialisation as students try to find parallels with their own lives. Some young people may over-identify with the events of the Shoah and feel admiration for the power or even the 'glamour' of the Nazis. Others may have a morbid fascination with the suffering of the victims. Be sure to involve students in debriefing sessions after each role-play, simulation or imagination exercise. It is essential to understand how the students reacted to and processed the material. It may also be recommended that only the adult educator takes on the role of a Nazi.
Source: IHRA (Alliance internationale pour la mémoire de l’Holocauste)
* Wilhelm Stuckart (1902-1953) war ein deutscher Verwaltungsjurist, Politiker (NSDAP) und SS-Obergruppenführer.
Photo: Wilhelm Stuckart (exhibition of the House of the Wannsee conference)
Bruno Delaunoit presents the concept of one of his land-art creation developed at the historical site of the House of Wannsee Conference.
