Deportations of the Jewish Population in Territories under Nazi Control. Comparative Perspectives on the Organisation of the Path to Annihilation
From Tuesday, 23. October 2018 - 08:00
To Sunday, 13. January 2019 - 23:59
Call for Papers: International Workshop, 11–13 June 2019 organised by the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI) and Institute of Culture Studies and Theatre History of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
The past years have witnessed the rediscovery of collection camps and deportation stations as central sites of the Shoah; memorials and commemorative sites recall the deportation of the Jewish population to ghettos, extermination camps, and sites of mass murder. Studies exist on the execution of deportations from Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Munich, Vienna, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Zagreb, Skopje, Salonika, Rome, Milan, as well as from transit camps and ghettos such as Drancy, Fossoli, Westerbork, Theresienstadt, and other places. However, other local and regional sites of deportation, particularly in Central and East-Central Europe, have hardly been examined to date.
A comprehensive, comparative, and analytical overview of deportations from the territories under Nazi control remains a desideratum. This workshop co-organised by the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences aims to systematically place existing research results in comparative perspective to one another and thereby to discern commonalities and differences in the organisation and execution of the deportations: How did the identification and internment of the Jewish population proceed? Which organisations were involved in this procedure and/or in the organisation of the transports? What shape did the relationship take between the central switch points of the “Final Solution” (especially the “Eichmann-Referat” in the RSHA) and local Nazi authorities as well as other agents with regard to authority and decision making? In what forms were Jewish organisations forced to collaborate? What role did the institutions in Berlin (1939), Prague (1939), and Amsterdam (1941) play, which were modelled on the “Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung” founded by Adolf Eichmann in Vienna?
The following questions are of special interest for discussion in the workshop:
- What commonalities and differences can be discerned in relation to the organisation and execution of deportations from different countries or localities (including within the Third Reich)? What import did local conditions have in a “microhistorical” sense?
- What function did the “Eichmann-Referat” and the “Zentralstellen” have and what role did the SS, SD, Gestapo, and other organisations play?
- What role was played by the “Eichmann men” in the organisation of the deportation? Can one speak of a “Viennese model” that was adopted in other cities?
- In what forms were Jewish organisations (religious community organisations, Council of Elders, and the Reichsvereinigung) forced to collaborate in the deportations?
- What parallels and differences can be discerned regarding the expulsion and deportation of “protected” groups (employees of the Reichsvereinigung and Council of Elders, Jews with foreign citizenship, and members of “mixed marriage” families) in different local contexts?
- How have post-war societies dealt with or come to terms with the deportations and/or the sites of deportation?
The workshop languages are German and English. Accommodation costs for three nights will be covered by the VWI. The VWI is moreover applying for additional funding to cover travel expenses for participants, but this is not currently guaranteed.
Applications in German or English including an abstract of the topic no longer than 600 words as well as a brief CV and a list of publications are to be submitted by 13 January 2019 with the subject header “Workshop 2019” .
With the kind support of the Austrian Federal Railways, the workshop will take place at the headquarters of the company,at 1100 Vienna, Am Hauptbahnhof 2.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.vwi.ac.at/index.php/en/veranstaltungen/icalrepeat.detail/2018/10/23/248/-/deportations-of-the-jewish-population-in-territories-under-nazi-control-comparative-perspectives-on-the-organisation-of-the-path-to-annihilation