International Conference: Wehrmacht Detention Sites and the Holocaust
For the first time in English, a new United States Holocaust Memorial Museum publication documents the mass murder of Soviet POWs by Nazi Germany's armed forces, the Wehrmacht. The latest volume of the Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945, which also describes the extent of the Wehrmacht camp system, contains testimony not previously published.
Further debunking the myth of the “clean Wehrmacht,” Volume IV: Camps and Other Detention Facilities under the German Armed Forces includes POW camps, military brothels, and military prisons, some never before detailed.
Join this international conference to learn more about the findings in the recently released volume. What new avenues for research does it open? How can the scholarship help teach about Holocaust history? Expert panels will discuss research on Soviet, Jewish, and French African POWs, military war crimes, sexual violence, and other topics.
The conference will be held digitally on Zoom. Attendance is open to the public.
Register for the conference at https://www.ushmm.org/online-calendar/event/mchwehrmconf0522
Thursday May 19, 2022, 9:00 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
Zoom (All Times are Eastern Daylight Time, EDT)
9:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Sara Bloomfield
Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
USHMM Welcome and Honoring Geoffrey P. Megargee
Dr. Lisa Leff
Director of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies (MCAHS)
Mandel Center Welcome
Dr. Dan Newman
Program Manager, International Academic Programs, MCAHS
Conference Format, Moderation, and Introduction of Speakers
9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
Camps and Other Detention Facilities Under the German Armed Forces
Dr. Jürgen Matthäus
Director of Applied Research Scholars, MCAHS
The Wehrmacht Volume and the Encyclopedia Series: The Story So Far
Dr. Alexandra Lohse
Applied Research Scholars Team Lead, MCAHS
Towards the Completion of the Encyclopedia Series: Upcoming Research and Publications
Dr. Dallas Michelbacher
Applied Researcher, MCAHS
Key Research Findings of Volume IV
10:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
BREAK
10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust
Dr. Edward Westermann
Professor of History, Texas A&M University-San Antonio
The "Hard East": (Re)framing Hitler's War of Annihilation
Dr. Rüdiger Overmans
Military Historian
The Wehrmacht and Jewish Prisoners of War
Dr. Jeff Rutherford
Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Xavier University
The Fusion of Ideological and Security Goals: The German Army and the Holocaust in the East
12:00 p.m.-12:30 p.m.
BREAK
12:30 p.m.-1:45 p.m.
Victims of Wehrmacht Violence
Dr. Regina Mühlhäuser
Senior Researcher at the Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Research and Culture
Silences of Sexual Violence and Wehrmacht Brothels
Dr. Raffael Scheck
Professor of History, Colby College
Violence Against French African Prisoners of War
Dr. Maris Rowe-McCulloch
Assistant Professor of History, Regina University
The German Military and Violence against Soviet Civilians: Invading and Controlling Rostov-on-Don as a Case Study
Conclusions and Going Forward by Dr. Jürgen Matthäus
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