By Dr Eamonn O’Keeffe
The Centre for Geopolitics convened a panel discussion on the Second World War and the Holocaust on 16 May 2023. Scholars from Western Galilee University in Israel visited Cambridge to share their research on these two traumatic and interlinked events and discuss the future of Holocaust education and commemoration. Dr Yaron Pasher explored the logistical constraints facing Nazi Germany during their invasion of the Soviet Union, arguing that Hitler’s commitment to the Holocaust diverted resources and transport capacity from the military efforts of his regime. Dr Daniela Ozacky Stern delivered a fascinating talk on the Jewish partisans who rallied in eastern European forests to continue resistance against the Nazis. Drawing on her own family history, Dr Stern paid particular attention to the involvement of female guerillas and the often-fraught relationship between partisans and local communities. Dr Boaz Cohen discussed Western Galilee College’s Holocaust Study program, exploring the challenges and opportunities of teaching this history to an ethnically and religiously diverse student body in the Middle East at a time when the last living links are slipping away.
Dr Gilly Carr, an Associate Professor in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, rounded out the panel with an engaging presentation on safeguarding Holocaust heritage in the twenty-first century. She noted that some forty-four thousand Holocaust sites have been identified across Europe, many of which have been altered significantly or remain under threat. Dr Carr outlined her work with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance to create guidelines for the preservation of at-risk sites and discussed challenges associated with their memorialisation, interpretation, and re-use.
The event, which was moderated by Professor Danny Orbach of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and organised by the Centre’s Dr Eamonn O’Keeffe, concluded with questions for the speakers and a reception for those in attendance.
