Wendy Lower at EHRI Summer School in Holocaust Studies Amsterdam
In the second week of the EHRI Summer School Amsterdam, Dr. Wendy Lower gave a lecture to the twelve trainees on “German Women and the Holocaust”. She also joined them for an excursion and stayed to listen to the trainees’ presentations about their own research.
Dr. Wendy Lower is the John K. Roth Professor of History at Claremont McKenna College, USA and director of the Center for Human Rights at the Claremont Colleges. Lower’s latest book Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields, was a finalist for the U.S. National Book Award and has been translated into many languages.
Hitler’s Furies
At the EHRI Summer School she mainly talked about her research for Hitler’s Furies. The trainees became actively involved in the lecture, when she presented an interrogation report from 1961 from one of the German women that she writes about in her book. These interrogation reports are important sources for her research. After reading the report out loud, several questions were raised and discussed by the trainees, such as what kind of information does a source like this give to you, and on what levels? What is missing?
Personal connection
Apart from her research, Wendy Lower also gave the trainees some insight into what it is like to be a successful researcher and publicist. While talking about the many sources she had to study that are often of an emotional and nature with gruesome details, she warned the trainees that you may expect many questions about why you would like to do this. People often assume that at least you have some personal connection with the history, for example that you are Jewish, but for her, this is not the case. She explained that of course while reading the material she at first gets emotional, even feels outrage. But after that she also has a strong sense that she should do something with what she has found, research it, make it public. This is when she becomes a scientist.
And then when you get to the stage of publication, and are successful at this, she confided that you may lose again some control over the outcome. Aspects like title and book cover are often decided by the publisher.
EHRI Summer School in Holocaust Studies
The fourth EHRI Summer Schools takes place from 5 to 25 July in Amsterdam. EHRI partner, NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies is host to the summer school. The twelve trainees that are from eleven different countries will be 
exposed to a full programme.
International experts on Holocaust research, like Wendy Lower, Alan Steinweis or Susanne Heim present and discuss their latest work. Topics range from Collaboration in the Holocaust (Dieter Pohl), to Geographies of the Holocaust (Tim Cole) or Sowjet Jewish Photographers and the Holocaust (David Shneer).
The EHRI Summer School in Holocaust Studies is a graduate-level seminar aimed at deepening the knowledge and comprehension of the extermination process of European Jews during World War II. It also provides a comprehensive overview on the most relevant methodologies and sources as well as an update on the current state of research in the field of Holocaust history.
Read the complete programme EHRI Summer School Amsterdam
Trainees’ research projects
A very important aspect is that the Summer School programme also allows time for presentation of the trainees’ research projects and for performing independent research at the NIOD or another nearby archive or institute. Several times the trainees will go on excursions to for example the Anne Frank House, Camp Vught National Memorial or the sites of Amsterdam’s Jewish history.
Eleven different countries
The twelve trainees that take part in the NIOD EHRI Summer School come from eleven different countries, including India, Lithuania, Ukraine and Canada. They are all involved in Holocaust research but come from different backgrounds with degrees in German Studies, Philosophy, History, Jewish Studies or Political Science. Some are Ph.D. candidates whilst others already work in a museum or as an associate professor.
See all the bio’s and photos of the trainees EHRI Summer School Amsterdam
It is precisely the diverse backgrounds and nationalities of the trainees that were cited at previous EHRI summer schools as part of a very positive experience. The exchange of ideas and knowledge, making comparisons and helping each other, proved to be a very successful part of the summer schools.