"Only doing my duty". Defining perpetrators in relation to state-sanctioned violence

"Only doing my duty". Defining perpetrators in relation to state-sanctioned violence

Veranstalter
"Reverberations of War" research group at University College London; in cooperation with the German Historical Institute London
Veranstaltungsort
German Historical Institute London
Ort
London
Land
United Kingdom
Vom - Bis
09.10.2014 - 10.10.2014
Deadline
26.09.2014
Von
Christiane Wienand

This workshop is organized by the “Reverberations of the Second World War in Germany and Europe” research group at University College London (directed by Professor Mary Fulbrook and Dr Stephanie Bird) in co-operation with the German Historical Institute London.

The past two decades have seen a notable shift from focusing primarily on the experiences and the suffering of victims of Nazi violence towards a new interest in perpetrators. While most of the academic literature is primarily concerned with motives and circumstances in which violent acts were committed, this workshop comes to the complex subject of perpetration and its aftermath by addressing several distinct dimensions: 1) questions of ethics, morality and terminology, 2) Individual agency and social mobilization, 3) strategies/patterns of (self-) representation in literature, historiography and autobiography and 4) intergenerational transmission.

The first session questions our understanding of the term “perpetrator” and our interpretation of the circumstances and conditions of acts of extreme violence as they emerge in debates in various disciplines. Session two looks at the representation of perpetrators in literary accounts and self-narratives of individuals who were widely considered to be Nazi perpetrators. It also deals with the ways in which the legacy of perpetrators impacts on and is reflected by subsequent generations.

The final session brings together Jens-Jürgen Ventzki and Naomi Tadmor. They will speak about their family histories and about ways of coping with the past for members of the second generation of victims and perpetrators alike.

The workshop opens with a public film viewing of "Garage Olimpo" (Olympic Garage; Argentina, 1999), followed by a joint discussion. The film is introduced by Claire Lindsay (UCL). The film viewing takes place at UCL, Garwood Lecture Theatre, at 19:00.

Scholars working in the field are welcome to attend after registration with Dr Christiane Wienand (c.wienand@ucl.ac.uk) and Dr Julia Wagner (j.wagner@ucl.ac.uk). Please note that registration closes on Friday, 26th of September.

Programm

Friday, 10th October; venue: German Historical Institute London

09:30 Opening and welcome

Introduction
09:45 – 10:15
Mary Fulbrook (UCL)

Session 1:
What is a perpetrator? Interpretations and self-understandings

10:15 – 11:30

Tim Beasley-Murray (UCL): "'Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner': Reflections on the ethics of the representation of and research into perpetrators"
Nicolas Berg (Leipzig): "'Bureaucratic Imagination' – Raul Hilberg's key concept in the historical discourse after 1945"

11:30 – 12:00 tea break

12:00 – 1:15

Iris Wachsmuth (Berlin): "Gender relations as crime alliances and their moral implications in narratives of female perpetrators"
Imke Hansen (Uppsala): "'And he was one of us' – Perceptions of local collaboration and complicity in Belarus and Ukraine"

1:15 – 2:15 lunch

2:15 – 3:30

Session 2: Representations and Transmissions

Felix Römer (German Historical Institute London): "Perpetrators among themselves: Perceptions of violence in conversations between German POWs, 1944-45"
Stephanie Bird (UCL): "Calling the mass murderer to account: Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones and the fantasy of justice"

3:45- 5:00
Ismee Tames (Amsterdam): "Dutch Nazi-collaborators and their families after the war"
Katharina von Kellenbach (Maryland): "The father’s house: prodigal sons, obedient sons, lost sons"

5:00 – 5:30 tea break

5:30- 7:30

Session 3: Family Histories

Jens-Jürgen Ventzki (Zell am See): "'We called it Litzmannstadt'" – A German family story"
Naomi Tadmor (Lancaster): "Family memorialisation: 1939-2014"

Kontakt

Christiane Wienand

University College London, School of European Languages and Cultures, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT

c.wienand@ucl.ac.uk

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