On January 20, 1942, details about the extermination of Europe’s Jews were discussed. Even 80 years later, the minutes of the Wannsee Conference send chills down the spine.

In March of 1947 as officials from the German Foreign Ministry tried to justify their actions at the Nuremberg Trials, Robert Kempner made a coincidental discovery. Amid the masses of documents left behind by the Nazis, a cover page piqued the curiosity of the assistant US chief counsel. A stamp in red ink is clearly legible on the page: “Secret Reich Matter.”

Under the nondescript title “Minutes of Meeting,” 15 pages serve as evidence of the systematic execution of European Jews. It is a record of the Wannsee Conference, which took place on January 20, 1942. It is the 16th set of minutes–the only one remaining of a set of 30.

At noon on that day, 15 men who had accepted an invitation from Reinhard Heydrich, head of the dreaded Reich Main Security Office, arrived to a lavish villa in the posh Berlin suburb of Wannsee. The temperature outside was -12 degrees Celsius (10 F), and the frigidness behind what was discussed within the walls of that villa still sends chills down one’s spine today.

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