Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

ampaged across the Americas, laying waste to all those they encountered, killing innocents
by the tens and hundreds of thousands, and paving the road for subsequent conversion
and colonization. Along the way, they enriched Spain to unsurpassed levels at the
time, catapulting it into the first rank of European (and, through its overseas empire,
world) powers.
Conspiracy. A made-for-television film jointly produced by the BBC and HBO in 2001.
Conspiracy is a movie that dramatically brings to the screen the Wannsee Conference of
January 20, 1942, in which leading Nazi bureaucrats and department heads in the Third
Reich met to coordinate the details that put into practice the “Final Solution of the Jewish
Question” (Die Endlösung des Judenfrage). Chaired by SS General Reinhard Heydrich
(1904–1942), with minutes taken by SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann
(1906–1962) and with many senior Nazis in attendance (such as Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart
[1902–1952] and Dr. Roland Freisler [1893–1945], among others), the meeting revealed
a plan for the complete industrialized mass murder of every Jew in Europe. Conspiracy,
taking as its foundation the sole surviving record of the meeting, is an intimate movie in
which nearly every scene takes place in the meeting room itself. The movie provides a
psychological, cultural, and ideological profile of the Nazi thinking that contemplated the
mass extermination of millions of people, and this is clearly the film’s greatest strength.
The director, Frank Pierson (b. 1925), is positively clinical in permitting as little subjective
emotion as possible to show through. His preferred strategy is to allow the words of
the participants themselves to provoke the audience’s revulsion he seeks. As a penetrating
snapshot into this definitive moment in the Nazi annihilation of the Jews of Europe,
Conspiracy is an important work of cinematography. It won numerous awards, notably an
Emmy for Kenneth Branagh (b. 1960) as Best Actor for his portrayal of Heydrich and a
Golden Globe for Stanley Tucci (b. 1960) as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of
Eichmann.
Contact Group. The Contact Group, which is composed of representatives from
France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States, was formed in April
1994. It was created when both the United States and Russia became major actors in the
Bosnia peace-negotiating process, during which it was obvious that the previous efforts
(beginning in late 1991) of the European Union (EU) and United Nations had not been
effective.
The Contact Group met regularly in the 1990s, though informally (it had neither a secretariat
nor staff personnel), to discuss its concerns and progress in peace-building efforts.
It also addressed policies proffered by each nation regarding the Balkans and whether such
efforts could be politically coordinated.
On July 24, 2006, representatives of various nations of the Contact Group met with the
presidents of both Kosovo and Bosnia to discuss Kosovo’s future. A statement released on
September 20, 2006, through the U.S. State Department, read as follows: “Ministers urge
Kosovo’s provisional institutions of self-government and leaders of all of Kosovo’s communities
to accelerate efforts to implement UN-endorsed standards, promote reconciliation
and build trust among ethnic communities. . . . They renew their call on Belgrade to
cease its obstruction of Kosovo Serb participation in the Kosovo’s instructions.” Continuing,
the ministers stated that they “welcome efforts to prepare for the implementation of
a settlement, including through a continued military presence to provide a safe and secure
environment, and an international civilian presence to supervise implementation of and
CONTACT GROUP
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