On Tuesday, December 6, 2022 from 6 – 8 pm, we will address the topic of voluntariness in the context of participation in National Socialist crimes. We cordially invite you to a panel discussion at the “Topf & Sons – Builders of the Auschwitz Ovens Place of Rememberance” in Erfurt. On behalf of the DFG-Research Unit on Voluntariness Christiane Kuller and Elena M. E. Kiesel from the project “Voluntariness and Dictatorship” welcome three guests to the panel:
Hannah-Arendt-Institute for Totalitarism Studies | Technische Universität Dresden
Chief Curator of the Topf & Sons – Builders of the Auschwitz Ovens Place of Rememberance | Erfurt
Prof. Dr. Jens-Christian Wagner
Director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Momorials Foundation | FSU Jena
The discussion is inspired by questions that historians and politics of memory already critically address: What historical responsibility falls to employees whose everyday work made crimes against thousands of concentration camp prisoners possible? Were they or, for example, the craftsman building a camp at the same time participants in National Socialist crimes? Yet, questions like these also stimulate critical reflection on voluntariness as a historical category.
We expect an exciting debate and look forward to comments from the audience!
Please register for the event via fsj.topfundsoehne@erfurt.de
