TAGUNG: 7.–8. JUNI 2006
THE LEGACY OF SIMON WIESENTHAL FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES


Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Studien
Institut für Zeitgeschichte der Universität Wien
IFK Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften

Veranstaltungsort: IFK, Reichsratsstraße 17, 1010 Wien

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Donnerstag, 8. Juni, 15:00 Uhr
 
Tom Segev

Simon Wiesenthal and the Holocaust Memory in Israel
 
What interests me most about Wiesenthal is the role he played in shaping the Holocaust memory, in Israel and the world; his role was quite significant and at least in regard to Israel - somewhat ironic.
In 1949 Wiesenthal had practically forced the Holocaust on Israeli national memory, long before most Israelis were ready for it. Over the years Israel sought to become the sole or at least the main moral authority on Holocaust lessons, and the Holocaust became a major component of the Israeli identity. Wiesenthal in the meantime worked hard to prevent the world from sinking the Holocaust into oblivion. The Holocaust became a universal code of ultimate evil, largely due to Wiesenthal's work. But as result of this development Israel lost its self-proclaimed monopoly on the Holocaust heritage, much to its dismay. Wiesenthal's approach to the Holocaust was often too universal for the Israelis. For instance there were differences of opinion between Yad Vashem and Wiesenthal concerning the proper way to remember the extermination of the Sinti and Roma.
 
 
Curriculum Vitae, Publikationen
 
Tom Segev, Ph.D., is an Israeli journalist and historian. Segev’s weekly column is being published in “Haaretz”, Israel’s leading daily newspaper. The column deals mainly with the politics of culture and with human rights. Occasional articles in major US newspapers, including “The New York Times” and the “LA Times”. Occasional talks and lectures at major US Universities, including Harvard, Berkeley, Yale and Princeton. MASUA Award for Holocaust studies; National Jewish Book Award 2001; JDC Katzky Award for archival excellence. Born in Jerusalem 1945, The Hebrew University B.A in History and Political Science, Boston University PhD in History; Fall 2001 - Senior Fellow, The Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers University, NJ; Winter 2002 - Fellow of the Humanities Council and the History Department, Princeton University; Spring 2003 - Visiting Professor, The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Northeastern University, with responsibilities at the School of Journalism and The Department of History; Spring 2007 - Diller Visiting Professor at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism, U.C. Berkeley.

Soldiers of Evil – The Commanders of Nazi Concentration Camps (Hebrew, English, German); 1949 The First Israelis (Hebrew, English, French, Arabic); The Seventh Million – The Israelis and the Holocaust (Hebrew, English, French, German, Italian); One Palestine, Complete - Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate (Hebrew, English, German; a New York Times editors' choice best book, 2000); Elvis in Jerusalem – Post-Zionism and the Americanization of Israel (Hebrew, English, German, Japanese); 1967 - Israel's Second Genesis (Working title) Hebrew (to be published in the USA, GB, Germany and France 2007).