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3D model of the Nazi architectural plan for Krakow. Model created by Davide Contiero

Paul Jaskot Delivers 13th Annual Schleunes (Virtual) Lecture at Greensboro College

April 7, 2021

On Tuesday, April 7, lab director Paul Jaskot presented “The Intersecting History of Nazi Perpetrators and Jewish Victims in Occupied Krakow: Using the Built Environment to Analyze the Holocaust” at Greensboro College’s 13th Annual Schleunes Lecture, held virtually. The Schleunes Lecture, organized by Michael Sistrom, is presented annually through generous support of Richard and Jane Levy. The series honors Holocaust scholar Dr. Karl Schleunes and focuses on topics related to the Holocaust and genocide.

Abstract

This lecture will explore how architecture and urban planning help us to think through central aspects of the history of the Holocaust. Taking Nazi Occupied Krakow as a case study, we will look at how different kinds of spatial evidence raise questions about perpetrator policy as well as Jewish experience. In exploring the analog evidence on the built environment of photographs, plans, policy documents, testimonies, and diaries, we will also consider how digital approaches to this evidence may also allow us to open up new avenues of research. Ultimately, the goal is to argue that the current paradigm of thinking through an “integrated history” of perpetrators and victims in Holocaust Studies needs to be thought of more productively as an “intersecting history” when one considers spatial aspects of the genocide.