Short Course: Liberation and the End of the Holocaust

Please join us for our four-week Liberation and the End of the Holocaust

From 1944, as the German army was retreating, Allied forces came inexorably closer to Germany. Along the way, they uncovered scenes of horrifying atrocities: mass graves, burned-out villages and camps populated by people who seemed more dead than alive. These settings became the backdrop for a new genre of Western and Soviet propaganda, justifying their war against Germany and calling for other countries to assist in the intake of new refugees. For some of those refugees, the situation was particularly dire. Survivors of genocide, they had no homes to return to nor knowledge of the whereabouts of their family. For many Jewish survivors in particular, Displaced Persons (DP) Camps were to become their homes for many years, and would serve as the sites of a cultural and spiritual renaissance. In this course, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camps, we look at the process by which camps were liberated, the nature of the DP camps that were then established, and the enduring impact of this period on our understanding of the Holocaust.

Week One: “The Literature of Liberation”: Dr Breann Fallon.

Week Two: “The End of the War”: Sue Hampel OAM.

Week Three: “Life in the Displaced Persons Camps”: Sue Hampel OAM.

Week Four: “What We Did Not See”: Dr Simon Holloway.

If you have any further questions about the course, please contact simon.holloway@mhm.org.au for further information.

Please register in advance and secure a place.

Image | Children from Adriatica DP Camp, Italy, travelling to Milan, c.1947. From the MHM Collection, Charles German Collection, Object ID 1691-17.