Adolf Hitler stayed at the Führer Headquarters (FHQ) “Tannenberg” on the Kniebis in the Northern Black Forest only once, from 27 June to 5 July 1940. At the time, Central Europe, stretching from Narvik to the Pyrenees, was under Nazi control. Before the regime celebrated its victory over Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France with a triumphal event in Berlin, key figures of the Nazi power elite gathered at FHQ “Tannenberg.” Was this the setting where plans for world domination and the systematic persecution and murder of Europe’s Jews were advanced?

Robert Wagner and Josef Bürckel were appointed as Gauleiters and heads of civil administration for Alsace and Lorraine, respectively. From “Tannenberg,” Hitler and other senior Reich politicians undertook two day trips into the annexed Alsace region on 28 and 30 June.

The conference sought to address what other crimes may have been conceived or planned at this site. Discussions centred on the occupation of Alsace and the experiences of those who suffered under Nazi persecution, while also examining developments in Eastern Europe and Britain.