Conference: The “Bystander” in Holocaust History

International Conference
Probing the Limits of Categorization: The “Bystander” in Holocaust History

Among the three categories used to analyze the role of individuals in the Holocaust, the ‘bystander’ is the broadest and vaguest. According to, Raul Hilberg, who coined the term, it refers to all those who were ‘once a part of this history.’ Generations of Holocaust scholars have used Hilberg’s triangulation or variations thereof to analyze, systematize and narrate the wealth of historical experiences under Nazi rule. Whereas it seems relatively easy to define who belonged to the category of perpetrator and victim, analyzing the thoughts and actions of the other contemporaries remains a challenging task for international historiography.

The aim of the conference is thus to thoroughly review and to think beyond the existing scholarly approaches to the stereotypical ‘bystander’ in Holocaust history. It is intended to encourage the formulation of innovative concepts, which might enable historians to consider hitherto overlooked or marginalized aspects of historical reality or to view familiar processes from entirely new angles. The keynote will be given by Mary Fulbrook (London) and speakers will include Frank Bajohr (Munich), Jan Grabowski (Ottawa/Warsaw), Tatjana Tönsmeyer (Wuppertal/Essen), Ido de Haan (Utrecht) and Jacques Sémelin (Paris).

For more information and the conference program see: http://duitslandinstituut.nl/the-abystandera-in-holocaust-history