January 20th, 1942, high ranking Nazi officials gathered in the Wannsee Villa to discuss the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question.”

On the anniversary I look back to my visit to the Villa this past June. 

I felt chilled and victorious when I visited the Wannsee Conference house. Having watched the dramatization from the notes that were taken on that day, seventy-five years ago, where the attendees wrestled with what to do about the Mischlinge, I felt a real sense of personal victory. My father, being a Mischlinge Grade A, could have been killed according to their plan. Thankfully, he survived the war. I am living proof. It was visceral! I walked in rooms that echoed with voices that planned for me not to be here. I am and they are not!

Below is a clip from Sir Martin Gilbert’s film The Rescuers. His description of the events while walking within the walls of the conference room is haunting.