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ALF LÜDTKE Explaining Forced Migration
ALF LÜDTKE Explaining Forced Migration in RICHARD BESSEL AND CLAUDIA B. HAAKE (eds.), Removing Peoples. Forced Removal in the Modern World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009) pp. 13–32 ISBN: 978 0 199 56195 7 The following PDF is published under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND licence. Anyone may freely read, download, distribute, and make the work available to the public in printed or electronic form provided that appropriate credit is given. However, no commercial use is allowed and the work may not be altered or transformed, or serve as the basis for a derivative work. The publication rights for this volume have formally reverted from Oxford University Press to the German Historical Institute London. All reasonable effort has been made to contact any further copyright holders in this volume. Any objections to this material being published online under open access should be addressed to the German Historical Institute London. DOI: 2 Explaining Forced Migration ALF LODTKE Practices: 'How did (s)he do it?' The desire to find explanations for the 'doings' of historical actors apparently resonates with the 'extremes' that millions of people encountered during the twentieth century.' Such desire obviously sparks the continuous interest if not obsession both of the historical profession and the wider public in finding, for instance, 'the one and only' document that contains the order for exterminating European Jewry, signed by Hitler or one of his paladins. From here, so the internal logic seems to go, one could pursue the events down the 'line of command', not least the forced migration of the related deportations, and their fit to this man-made catastrophe. -
HBO and the HOLOCAUST: CONSPIRACY, the HISTORICAL FILM, and PUBLIC HISTORY at WANNSEE Nicholas K. Johnson Submitted to the Facul
HBO AND THE HOLOCAUST: CONSPIRACY, THE HISTORICAL FILM, AND PUBLIC HISTORY AT WANNSEE Nicholas K. Johnson Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the Department of History, Indiana University December 2016 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Master’s Thesis Committee __________________________________ Raymond J. Haberski, Ph.D., Chair __________________________________ Thorsten Carstensen, Ph.D. __________________________________ Kevin Cramer, Ph.D. ii Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank the members of my committee for supporting this project and offering indispensable feedback and criticism. I would especially like to thank my chair, Ray Haberski, for being one of the most encouraging advisers I have ever had the pleasure of working with and for sharing his passion for film and history with me. Thorsten Carstensen provided his fantastic editorial skills and for all the times we met for lunch during my last year at IUPUI. I would like to thank Kevin Cramer for awakening my interest in German history and for all of his support throughout my academic career. Furthermore, I would like to thank Jason M. Kelly, Claudia Grossmann, Anita Morgan, Rebecca K. Shrum, Stephanie Rowe, Modupe Labode, Nancy Robertson, and Philip V. Scarpino for all the ways in which they helped me during my graduate career at IUPUI. I also thank the IUPUI Public History Program for admitting a Germanist into the Program and seeing what would happen. I think the experiment paid off. -
The Germans: "An Antisemitic People” the Press Campaign After 9 November 1938 Herbert Obenhaus
The Germans: "An Antisemitic People” The Press Campaign After 9 November 1938 Herbert Obenhaus The pogrom of 9-10 November 1938 gave rise to a variety of tactical and strategic considerations by the German government and National Socialist party offices. The discussions that took place in the Ministry of Propaganda - which in some respects played a pivotal role in the events, due largely to its minister, Josef Goebbels - were of particular significance. On the one hand, the ministry was obliged to document the "wrath of the people" following the assassination of Ernst vom Rath; on the other hand, it was also responsible for manipulating the population by influencing the press and molding opinion. Concerning the events themselves, the main issue was what kind of picture the press was conveying to both a national and an international readership. In the ministry, this prompted several questions: Could it be satisfied with the reactions of the population to vom Rath's murder? What explanation could be given for the people's obvious distance to the events surrounding 9 November? Should the press make greater efforts to influence the opinions prevalent among the population? Should special strategies for the press be developed and pursued after 9 November 1938? Moreover, since the pogrom proved to be a turning point in the regime's policies towards German Jews and marked the beginning of a qualitative change, how should the press react to these changes ? Press activity was also conducted on a second level, that of the NSDAP, which had its own press service, the Nationalsozialistische Partei- Korrespondenz (NSK).1 As was the case with Goebbels' ministry, the 1 It was published in 1938 with the publisher's information, "Commissioned by Wilhelm Weiss responsible for the reports from the Reichspressestelle: Dr. -
Crimes Uncovered. the First Generation of Holocaust Researchers
Crimes Uncovered. The First Generation of Holocaust Researchers An exhibition of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site and Touro College Berlin in cooperation with Wiener Library London. 30 January – 22 February 2019 Auswärtiges Amt, Lichthof, Werderscher Markt 1, 10117 Berlin De Jong organizing and cataloguing documents at the Institute for War Documentation in Amsterdam, 1950. Nationaal Archief/Collection Spaarnestad Photo Between 1939 and 1945, the Germans murdered six million Jews. The Holocaust was aimed at the destruction of Jewish life and Jewish culture. The perpetrators sought to erase all traces of the crime. Jewish citizens joined in their efforts to counteract this “final solution”. From the onset of the atrocities, they explicated the events in order to bring to light the dimensions of mass murder. In exile, but also under hostile conditions in the ghettos and camps, they documented the deeds, collected facts and secured traces. They founded archives and research groups and formed commissions. These continued their work after the end of the war. They wanted to remember the murdered, explore the Shoah, bring the perpetrators to justice, and at the same time make another genocide impossible. Driven by different motives, these women and men devoted themselves to researching and commemorating the Holocaust. They denied the criminals an ultimate triumph: The million-fold murder defied oblivion. Instead, it bore consequences: books, memorials, research institutes, court cases and last but not least the UN Genocide Convention of 1948. These were the formidable result of their passionate commitment. Their efforts shaped the foundation of our current knowledge of the Holocaust. -
Appendix 1: Sample Docum Ents
APPENDIX 1: SAMPLE DOCUMENTS Figure 1.1. Arrest warrant (Haftbefehl) for Georg von Sauberzweig, signed by Morgen. Courtesy of Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde 129 130 Appendix 1 Figure 1.2. Judgment against Sauberzweig. Courtesy of Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde Appendix 1 131 Figure 1.3. Hitler’s rejection of Sauberzweig’s appeal. Courtesy of Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde 132 Appendix 1 Figure 1.4. Confi rmation of Sauberzweig’s execution. Courtesy of Bundesarchiv Berlin- Lichterfelde Appendix 1 133 Figure 1.5. Letter from Morgen to Maria Wachter. Estate of Konrad Morgen, courtesy of the Fritz Bauer Institut APPENDIX 2: PHOTOS Figure 2.1. Konrad Morgen 1938. Estate of Konrad Morgen, courtesy of the Fritz Bauer Institut 134 Appendix 2 135 Figure 2.2. Konrad Morgen in his SS uniform. Estate of Konrad Morgen, courtesy of the Fritz Bauer Institut 136 Appendix 2 Figure 2.3. Karl Otto Koch. Courtesy of the US National Archives Appendix 2 137 Figure 2.4. Karl and Ilse Koch with their son, at Buchwald. Corbis Images Figure 2.5. Odilo Globocnik 138 Appendix 2 Figure 2.6. Hermann Fegelein. Courtesy of Yad Vashem Figure 2.7. Ilse Koch. Courtesy of Yad Vashem Appendix 2 139 Figure 2.8. Waldemar Hoven. Courtesy of Yad Vashem Figure 2.9. Christian Wirth. Courtesy of Yad Vashem 140 Appendix 2 Figure 2.10. Jaroslawa Mirowska. Private collection NOTES Preface 1. The execution of Karl Otto Koch, former commandant of Buchenwald, is well documented. The execution of Hermann Florstedt, former commandant of Majdanek, is disputed by a member of his family (Lindner (1997)). -
Israeli Historiograhy's Treatment of The
Yechiam Weitz Dialectical versus Unequivocal Israeli Historiography’s Treatment of the Yishuv and Zionist Movement Attitudes toward the Holocaust In November 1994, I helped organize a conference called “Vision and Revision.” Its subject was to be “One Hundred Years of Zionist Histo- riography,”1 but in fact it focused on the stormy debate between Zionists and post-Zionists or Old and New Historians, a theme that pervaded Is- rael’s public and academic discourse at the time. The discussion revolved around a number of topics and issues, such as the birth of the Arab refugee question in the War of Independence and matters concerning the war itself. Another key element of the controversy involved the attitude of the Yishuv (the Jewish community in prestate Israel) and the Zionist move- ment toward the Holocaust. There were several parts to the question: what was the goal of the Yishuv and the Zionist leadership—to save the Jews who were perishing in smoldering Europe or to save Zionism? What was more important to Zionism—to add a new cowshed at Kib- butz ‘Ein Harod and purchase another dunam of land in the Negev or Galilee or the desperate attempt to douse the European inferno with a cup of water? What, in those bleak times, motivated the head of the or- ganized Yishuv, David Ben-Gurion: “Palestinocentrism,” and perhaps even loathing for diaspora Jewry, or the agonizing considerations of a leader in a period of crisis unprecedented in human history? These questions were not confined to World War II and the destruc- tion of European Jewry (1939–45) but extended back to the 1930s and forward to the postwar years. -
Rethinking Hannah Arendt's Representation of The
Understanding, Reconciliation, and Prevention – Rethinking Hannah Arendt’s Representation of the Holocaust by Lindsay Shirley Macumber A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department for the Study of Religion University of Toronto © Copyright by Lindsay Shirley Macumber 2016 Understanding, Reconciliation, and Prevention: Rethinking Hannah Arendt’s Representation of the Holocaust Lindsay Shirley Macumber Doctor of Philosophy Centre for the Study of Religion University of Toronto 2016 Abstract In an effort to identify and assess the practical effects and ethical implications of representations of the Holocaust, this dissertation is a rethinking and evaluation of Hannah Arendt’s representation of the Holocaust according to the goal that she herself set out to achieve in thinking and writing about the Holocaust, understanding, or, “the unmediated, attentive facing up to, and resisting of, reality- whatever it may be.”1 By examining Arendt’s confrontation with the Holocaust from within the context of systemic evil (which is how I argue she approached the Holocaust), and in light of her ultimate aim to “be at home in the world,” I conclude that understanding entails both reconciling human beings to the world after the unprecedented evil of the Holocaust, as well as working towards its prevention in the future. Following my introductory chapter, where I argue that Arendt provided an overall representation of the Holocaust, and delimit the criteria of reconciliation and prevention, each subsequent chapter is dedicated to an aspect I identify as central to her representation of the Holocaust: Her claim that totalitarianism was unprecedented; that the evil exemplified by Adolf Eichmann was “banal;” and that the Jewish Councils “cooperated” with the Nazis in the destruction of their communities. -
The Holocaust in Europe Research Trends, Pedagogical Approaches, and Political Challenges
Special Lessons & Legacies Conference Munich | November 4-7, 2019 The Holocaust in Europe Research Trends, Pedagogical Approaches, and Political Challenges CONFERENCE PROGRAM WELCOME TO MUNICH Since 1989, scholars from around the world are gathering biennially for the interdisciplinary conference "Lessons & Legacies of the Holocaust" to present their work and discuss new research trends and fresh pedagogical approaches to the history and memory of the Holocaust. This year, for the first time ever, a special Lessons & Legacies Conference takes place in Europe. The close proximity to historical sites and authentic places of Nazi rule and terror provides a unique opportunity not only to address the reverberations of the past in the present, but also to critically reflect upon the challenges for research and education posed by today’s growing nationalism and right-wing populism. What is more, our rich conference program includes a rare chance to visit relevant memorial sites, documentations centers, museums, and archives in the vicinity. We are especially pleased to collaborate with the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria to introduce conference delegates to a vibrant Jewish communal life in the heart of the city and the region. We are looking forward to a productive and most fruitful conference that will stimulate debate and foster a lasting scholarly exchange among a large community of experts working in the field of Holocaust Studies. Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) Leonrodstraße -
A Reply to Ian Lustick's Article
Cont Jewry (2017) 37:171–181 DOI 10.1007/s12397-017-9213-x A Reply to Ian Lustick’s Article Editor’s Note: This Comment is a Response to Ian Lustick’s Article in This Issue of Contemporary Jewry v37(1) 1 2 Dan Michman • Sergio DellaPergola • 3 1 Paul Burstein • Adam S. Ferziger Received: 4 March 2017 / Accepted: 15 March 2017 / Published online: 24 April 2017 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017 According to Ian Lustick, Israel has built and, in turn, is dominated by an overemphasized Holocaust ethos that he calls ‘‘Holocaustia.’’ To be sure, his extensive essay describes three other distinct Holocaust narratives that emerged in the course of Israel’s history. But the central focus of the article is on this fourth one, its assumed domination of contemporary Israeli discourse, and its implications for the Israel-Arab conflict. As Lustick argues: Contemporary Israel is marked unmistakably with ‘‘Holocaustia,’’ by which I mean a universe of discourse based on the centrality in Jewish life of the Holocaust, its effects, and memories of it. The result, opines Lustick, is distortions and severe limits placed on the ability of Israeli society and Israeli leaders to exploit or even perceive opportunities for moving toward mutually advantageous arrangements with their neighbors. & Sergio DellaPergola [email protected] Dan Michman [email protected] Paul Burstein [email protected] Adam S. Ferziger [email protected] 1 Ramat-Gan, Israel 2 Jerusalem, Israel 3 Seattle, Washington, USA 123 172 D. Michman et al. The ongoing dominance of Holocaustia, moreover, may eventuate the demise of the Jewish polity itself. -
Performing for the Nazis: Foreign Musicians in Germany, 1933-1939
University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2015-04-24 Performing for the Nazis: Foreign Musicians in Germany, 1933-1939 Bailey, Robert Warren Bailey, R. W. (2015). Performing for the Nazis: Foreign Musicians in Germany, 1933-1939 (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27304 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/2167 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Performing for the Nazis: Foreign Musicians in Germany, 1933-1939 by Robert Warren Bailey A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN THE SCHOOL OF CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS, MUSIC CALGARY, ALBERTA APRIL, 2015 © Robert Warren Bailey 2015 Abstract This thesis focuses on foreign musicians in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939. What place did foreign musical performers have in Germany’s increasingly xenophobic employment market during the 1930s? Likewise, how did the Nazis deal with those musicians, and what margin of manoeuvre were foreigners given to carry out their craft? These are the questions that form the basis of this thesis. To answer them, I examine a collection of primary Reichsmusikkammer (Reich Music Chamber) records that are now held on microfilm in the United States National Archives, grouped under the description “Auftrittsgenehmigungen für Ausländer” (Performance Permits for Foreigners; specifically musicians). -
The Strange and Curious History of the Law Used to Prosecute Adolf Eichmann
Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review Volume 34 Number 3 Spring 2012 Article 7 Spring 2012 The Strange and Curious History of the Law Used to Prosecute Adolf Eichmann Michael J. Bazyler Chapman University School of Law Julia Y. Scheppach UOP McGeorge School of Law, 2009 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ilr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Michael J. Bazyler and Julia Y. Scheppach, The Strange and Curious History of the Law Used to Prosecute Adolf Eichmann, 34 Loy. L.A. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 417 (2012). Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ilr/vol34/iss3/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Strange and Curious History of the Law Used to Prosecute Adolf Eichmann MICHAEL J. BAZYLER* AND JULIA Y. SCHEPPACH** I. INTRODUCTION The modern State of Israel was born of two powerful impulses. First was the dream of the Zionist pioneers, starting in the late nineteenth century, to return to the ancient Jewish homeland, cultivate the land, and create a new kind of Jew—strong and proud—in an independent state of their own.1 Second was the growing need for a place of refuge in the land of Zion for persecuted -
Theodore Silva “Six Million Accusers” Essay the Trial Address of Israeli
Theodore Silva “Six Million Accusers” essay The trial address of Israeli attorney-general Gideon Hausner against Nazi Bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann is a thorough description of the horrors of the Holocaust and a powerful condemnation of Eichmann’s role in it. Its language is bone-chilling, especially to those of us with Jewish ancestry and stories of family members permanently displaced in that terrible Shoah. The results of Adolf Eichmann’s trial, and the Nuremburg trials before his, should always be regarded as repudiations of deranged Nazi ideology and the systematic dehumanization and terror that it breeds. But this essay is not about the ancient evil of anti-Semitism before and after Dreyfus and Hitler, nor is it about the trial of history’s most murderous bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann. In this essay I will describe how “ordinary” people are capable of such inhumanity, explain the controversy around “the banality of evil” and present examples of the “just following orders” plea being used to justify inhumane acts in the present day. In October 1945, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) convened in Nuremberg, Germany to try 199 Nazis and their collaborators in the wake of history’s deadliest war. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “The defendants generally acknowledged that the crimes occurred but denied that they were responsible, as they were following orders from a higher authority.” This “Befehl ist Befehl” defense—literally “an order is an order,” was so widely used in these trials that it became known as the “Nuremberg defense.” This was fifteen years before the trial of Adolf Eichmann, where he used the same plea to the Jerusalem District Court in 1961.