Elie Wiesel in West Berlin (1986) On January 20, 1986, the 44th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, the German-American Council of the United States Holocaust Committee gathered in West Berlin. It was the first time the group had ever met in Germany. The council consisted of six American and six German representatives and was chaired by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. It had been formed in the wake of the controversy over Ronald Reagan and Helmut Kohl’s joint visit to the Bitburg Military Cemetery. This picture shows Wiesel (left) and Heinz Galinski (right), head of Berlin’s Jewish community, at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Jewish Community Center.