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2019 Rosenthal Lecture

Mark Roseman is Distinguished Professor, Pat M Glazer Chair in Jewish Studies, Professor in history, and Adjunct Professor in Germanic studies at Indiana University. He is Director of the Borns Jewish Studies Program.

Mark's lecture focused on a relatively unknown group of Germans that assisted Jews during the Third Reich.  He  analyzed what factors positioned the group to want and be able to help their Jewish compatriots, and he presented extensive materials that shed light on the group, its shared values, and how its members understood the world around them. He also discussed how we can rethink the more typical hero narrative of the righteous, one that tends to single out specific individuals, and better understand the collaborative networks that often constituted a sine qua non of intervention and protection.

In addition to his lecture, Mark participated in the panel, "Anti-Semitism: Historical Perspectives" during his visit. The panel began with presentations by Peter Fritzsche (History) and Mark, both of whom talked about their research on early-mid 20th Century Germany and how that relates to some of the anti-Semitism, nationalism, and xenophobia we are witnessing today. In particular, Mark spoke quite thoughtfully about the limitations of using the Holocaust as a lens to understand contemporary incidents of anti-Semitism and/or political questions surrounding Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There were over 80 people in attendance, many of whom were students, and there were several really thoughtful and interesting questions (all of which engaged specifically with the material that had been presented). 

This public event was presented by the Program in Jewish Culture and Society and was made possible by the Lorelei Rosenthal and Family Endowment Fund with additional support from the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities

Dates:

Wednesday, November 13, 2019 7:00 pm; Rosenthal Lecture: "The secret of solidarity: helping Jews in the Holocaust";  Lucy Ellis Lounge, 1080 Foreign Languages Building

Thursday, November 14, 2019 4:00 pm; Anti-Semitism panel discussion; Levis Faculty Center, 3rd floor