Prof. Michael Marrus, ‘Lessons of the Holocaust’
Mon 15 and Tue 16 February 2016
We are delighted to announce that the second series of Bogdanow Lectures in Holocaust Studies will be given by Michael Marrus (Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies, University of Toronto). His new book Lessons of the Holocaust is due out Jan 2016. Among his previous publications are Vichy France and the Jews (1981), with Robert O. Paxton, The Unwanted: European Refugees in the Twentieth Century (1985), The Holocaust in History (1987) and The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial 1945-46: A Documentary History (1997).
Venue: Samuel Alexander Building (Building 67 on the Campus Map, seedirections). The event is open to the public; there is no need to book a place.
Abstract: These two lectures will examine the “lessons” that Jews and non-Jews are expected to draw from the catastrophe of modern Jewry in the twentieth century – what we have come to call the Holocaust. The issue of “lessons” is much more problematic than appears to the public at large. Contested territory even during the events themselves, claims about such lessons link with debates about Jewish collective memory, human rights, historical understanding, and the quest for justice. In these lectures, Michael Marrus will explore this issue, drawing on his new book The Lessons of the Holocaust(University of Toronto Press). Marrus challenges the popular expectation that Holocaust history can teach us formulaic lessons, examining difficult questions this field poses for those who claim to draw upon the past for direction in the present.
Mon 15 Feb. 5.15pm. Lecture 1. My Problem with Lessons A101 Samuel Alexander Building
Mon 15 Feb. 7.00pm. Kosher buffet. North Foyer, Samuel Alexander Building
Tue 16 Feb. 5.15pm. Lecture 2. Why I Prefer History A101 Samuel Alexander Building