Kristallnacht and its International Aftermath

A commemorative stamp issued by the East German government in 1963.

10.30am - 7.30pm, Monday, 8 December 2008
The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1

A British Academy workshop convened by Professor Edward Timms, OBE, FBA, Research Professor at the Centre for German-Jewish Studies, University of Sussex and Professor Christian Wiese, Professor of Jewish History at the University of Sussex, Director of the Centre for German-Jewish Studies and co-director of the Centre for Modern European Cultural History

For political historians, the anti-Jewish riots of Kristallnacht (November 1938) raise questions about the international response to violence that remain topical to this day. The looting of shops, burning of synagogues and killing of dozens of innocent civilians in Germany was on the front pages of daily newspapers all over the world. So why was the international response to the outrage, now seen as precursor to genocide, so half-hearted and ineffectual? And why was so little done to help the victims and refugees? These questions still haunt the international community, as it proves equally helpless to contain genocidal violence in Srebrenica, Rwanda and Dafur.

The issues raised by Kristallnacht will be reassessed by leading international historians attending a British Academy workshop on Monday 8 December that will focus on both causes and reactions. Were the anti-Jewish riots spontaneous or carefully orchestrated? How can we explain the silence the Christian Churches? How did the pogroms affect Zionist policies in Palestine? Why were British responses towards the desperate plight of the refugees so contradictory?  And given that Kristallnacht provoked such critical reactions in the United States, why did American policy towards Nazi Germany remain so ambivalent?   

Workshop speakers:
Professor , Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva
Professor Doris Bergen, University of Toronto
Professor Raphael Gross, Fritz Bauer Institute, Jewish Museum Frankfurt and The Leo Baeck Institute, London
Professor Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College
ProfessorMoshe Zimmermann, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Attendance is free but registration is required for this workshop. Further details and an online booking.

A poster for your notice board can be downloaded