Character Relationship Map: Conspiracy

Characters

• Reinhard Heydrich (played by Kenneth Branagh) — protagonist

  Chairs the Wannsee conference and leads the discussion on the complete solution of the Jewish question. He outlines government policy, dismisses alternative proposals, reveals the plan for mass exterm...

• Adolf Eichmann (played by Stanley Tucci) — protagonist

  Serves as Heydrich's key assistant at the conference. He helps manage the discussion, dismisses other officials' proposed solutions, and reveals the SS's secret preparations for extermination camps in...

• Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart (played by Colin Firth) — supporting

  A lawyer in the Reich Ministry for the Interior and co-author of the Nuremberg Laws. He expresses anger over the administrative and legal chaos the killings would cause. Heydrich takes him aside to wa...

• Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger (played by David Threlfall) — minor
• Josef Bühler (played by Ben Daniels) — supporting

  An attendee who insists that Jews in the overpopulated ghettos under his control in occupied Poland should be dealt with first.

• Rudolf Lange (played by Barnaby Kay) — supporting

  Causes an outburst during the meeting, which forces Heydrich to explicitly clarify that the policy of evacuation actually means extermination.

• Martin Luther (played by Kevin McNally) — supporting

  German Foreign Office secretary. His copy of the Wannsee conference minutes is noted as the only surviving record of the meeting, recovered by the US Army in 1947.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Reinhard Heydrich → Martin Luther (Professional Conference Associate) — Luther is connected to the conference through the official record preserved in his copy.

  Martin Luther is identified as the German Foreign Office secretary whose copy of the Wannsee minutes later survives.

• Reinhard Heydrich → Adolf Eichmann (Professional Key Assistant) — Eichmann functions as Heydrich's principal administrative and operational assistant.

  The plot states that Adolf Eichmann assists Reinhard Heydrich in managing the conference and dismissing proposed solutions.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Adolf Eichmann → Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger (Social Compliance Witness) — Eichmann observes and supports the rejection of Kritzinger's warning.

  Eichmann is present when Heydrich recounts Kritzinger's warning after the meeting and dismisses its concern.

• Josef Bühler → Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart (Conflict Competing Interest) — Their priorities reflect competing bureaucratic interests within the conference.

  The plot describes tensions among attendees arising from competing interests, including Stuckart's legal concerns and Bühler's demand concerning occup...

• Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger → Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart (Social Competing Dissenter) — They share reservations but articulate different objections.

  Both officials express reservations during the conference: Kritzinger questions its purpose, while Stuckart objects to the legal consequences of the k...

• Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart → Adolf Eichmann (Conflict Administrative Opponent) — Their positions represent legal resistance versus operational implementation.

  Stuckart objects to the legal and administrative chaos caused by the killings, while Eichmann assists Heydrich in dismissing competing proposals.

• Josef Bühler → Adolf Eichmann (Conflict Policy Counterpart) — Bühler's regional demand conflicts with Eichmann's support for the centrally selected method.

  Bühler proposes dealing with the ghettos in occupied Poland first, while Eichmann helps dismiss the attendees' alternative solutions.

• Reinhard Heydrich → Josef Bühler (Conflict Competing Administrator) — Bühler presses a regional priority within Heydrich's centralized extermination plan.

  Bühler insists that the Jews in the ghettos under his control in occupied Poland should be dealt with first, while Heydrich directs the broader policy...

• Rudolf Lange → Adolf Eichmann (Conflict Policy Opponent) — Lange's challenge disrupts the controlled presentation supported by Eichmann.

  Lange's outburst interrupts the discussion that Eichmann is helping Heydrich manage and forces a direct explanation of the policy.

• Reinhard Heydrich → Rudolf Lange (Conflict Confrontational Colleague) — Lange publicly challenges the ambiguity of Heydrich's policy language.

  Lange's outburst forces Heydrich to clarify that evacuation means extermination.

• Reinhard Heydrich → Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger (Conflict Coercive Negotiator) — Heydrich overcomes Kritzinger's reservations through intimidation.

  Heydrich takes Kritzinger aside and intimidates him into giving explicit support to the policy.

• Reinhard Heydrich → Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart (Conflict Political Opponent) — Their disagreement pits Heydrich's extermination plan against Stuckart's legal concerns.

  Stuckart objects that the killings would create administrative and legal chaos, and Heydrich warns him about the consequences of his stubbornness.

Story Analysis

A bureaucratic conference transforms mass murder into an organized state policy while exposing the moral collapse of its participants.

Plot Progression

1. A Mandate at Wannsee — Heydrich convenes officials at the Wannsee villa under Göring's mandate. He frames the meeting around removing Jews from Germany and occupied territories.
2. The Word Evacuation — Heydrich replaces forced emigration with the deliberately vague term evacuation. Lange's outburst forces him to reveal that the policy means extermination.
3. Bureaucratic Resistance — The officials debate sterilization, racial exemptions, legal consequences, and regional priorities. Stuckart and Kritzinger expose tensions within the bureaucracy.
4. The Machinery Revealed — After the break, Heydrich and Eichmann reject alternative methods and disclose the gas-chamber plan. Eichmann reveals that the SS has already prepared extermination camps.
5. Consent and the Record — Heydrich intimidates Kritzinger, secures explicit assent, and imposes secrecy. The officials depart, while Luther's surviving copy preserves the conference's record.