Christoph Dieckmann

Fortunoff Research Fellow (09/2022 – 02/2023)

Shoah, Warfare and Occupation 1938-1945

Historians have long studied the complex, close relationship between the Holocaust and the German war effort. Using Lithuania as an example, Dieckmann takes a new look at this relationship that also includes German occupation policy. In doing so, he provides a more plausible explanation for the development of Germany's murderous policies in Lithuania. Through the intertwined analysis of warfare, occupation policy and the Shoah and the integration of central as well as local perspectives, his conceptual approach can possibly be transferred to other countries and regions. Using hitherto little-studied German sources, he shows how the inner logic of German policy led to mass crimes in 1941. Dieckmann plans to use his time as Fortunoff Senior Fellow at the VWI to expand his analysis of the Holocaust in Lithuania by integrating relevant testimonies from the Fortunoff Video Archive.

Christoph Dieckmannteaches at the University of Haifa in the Weiss-Livnat International Program of Holocaust Studies. His study ’German Occupation Policy in Lithuania 1941-1944’ was awarded the Yad Vashem International Book Prize for Holocaust Research in 2012. The English translation of this will be revised as part of the fellowship. He co-edited Der Dienstkalender Heinrich Himmler 1941/42 (1999).

E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.