European Summer-University
European
Summer School Ravensbrück 2009:
Under
German Occupation: Gender Politics and Racism during World War II-
Poland,
France, Italy (August
30 - September 4, 2009)
Outline
Seventy
years after the attack on Poland and the beginning of World War II, the fifth
European Summer School Ravensbrück will focus on the German occupation of
Europe. A comparative look at Poland, France and Italy will examine the
differences and similarities of German occupation policies and the daily life
under occupation during the Second World War. Lectures and workshops will
delineate the distinct forms of German occupation and examine the ways in which
the occupied countries reacted. Particular attention will be paid to the
functions and effects of racial policies and to the role of gender-specific
factors for the implementation and consequences of occupation policy.
The
introductory lectures in the morning will discuss occupation from the
perspectives of military history, social history and gender: What were the
specific goals and methods of National Socialist occupation policy in the three
selected countries? Which perceptions, expectations, and prejudices predominated
the occupiers? What were the consequences of German policies for the women, men,
and children in the occupied countries? And which strategies of action and
survival did they adopt in varying situations and, possibly, along gender lines?
Special emphasis will be placed on the exploitation of the conquered populations
for the National Socialist war industry: How did the National Socialists
implement their forced labor-program? How did the deportations proceed in
different regions? What was the role of concentration camps, especially the
Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp, within German occupation policy?
The
fifth Ravensbrück Summer School will pursue these questions in panel sessions
in the morning and workshops in the afternoon with one day each devoted to
Poland, France, and Italy. The workshops will deepen the insights of the panels
with regard to four main topics:
Gender
relations in everyday life under occupation
Racial
Policies and their enforcement/ exclusion and collaboration
Gender-specific
policies of deportation
Occupation,
collaboration and resistance within the culture of remembrance and
contemporary politics of remembrance
By
focusing on one country per day the Summer School wishes to grant all
participants the opportunity to thoroughly examine the different experiences of
occupation in each of the three nations. Moreover, the panel discussions and
workshops aim at developing the methodological and thematic presuppositions for
a comparative examination. The topics of the Ravensbrück Summer School will be
continually reconnected to the historical site of Ravensbrück.
Since
its inception in 2005, the Summer School at the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp
Memorial Site has been an interdisciplinary and cross-generational forum for
both young and established academics as well as educators and researches with an
interest in the historical and societal consequences of World War II. The annual
topics of the Summer School draw on three areas of research: National Socialism,
Women’s and Gender Studies, and European Studies. In order to ensure a high
ratio of student participants, especially from foreign countries, the Ravensbrück
Summer School endeavors to provide funding and grants.
The
Summer School is held under the auspices of the Minister for Science, Research
and Culture of Brandenburg, Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka, and it is organized in
cooperation with the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation and the Foundation Topography of
Terror.
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