The Auschwitz Foundation organized this international conference in collaboration with the Faculty of Social Sciences, Politics and Economics of the University Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the Higher Institute of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), the Faculty of Economic, Social and Political Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the Brussels Goethe Institute and the International Auschwitz Committee.

As its title indicates, it focused on three main subjects: totalitarian regimes, Nazi crimes and genocides, and the revision of history. Examination of the first subject made it possible in particular to test how far the theories on totalitarianism are able to interpret and explain it. The exploration of the second subject enabled the drawing up of an assessment of the various proposed interpretations of Nazi crimes and genocides, a review of their methods and their different stages, and an examination of the major question of their singularity. Finally, the third subject consisted essentially of a presentation of the Historikerstreit and an enquiry into the internal logic of that debate and its context.

There were 30 speakers, including not only lecturers and researches from European universities (Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands), but also survivors of Nazi concentration and extermination camps.