25th Anniversary Holocaust Memorial Lecture in 2026
The University of Glasgow is honoured to welcome back Professor Bernard Wasserstein, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Chicago, to deliver the 25th Anniversary Holocaust Memorial Lecture: Jewish Resistance and Collaboration during World War II. Professor Wasserstein co-founded this lecture series alongside the late Professor Otto Hutter. This programme is supported by a grant from The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR).
What led some Jews in wartime Europe to become resisters to the Nazis, whether as undercover agents for the Allies, rebel fighters in Warsaw, or maquisards in rural France? And what led some others to become collaborators with the Nazis as informers for the SS, policemen in ghettos, or members of German-appointed Jewish Councils in Holland and Poland? Both resistance and collaboration were fringe phenomena involving only small numbers of Jews but they have aroused fierce controversy among historians. Raul Hilberg discounted Jewish resistance as feeble and insignificant. Hannah Arendt denounced the Jewish Councils as complicit in mass murder. Both those judgements aroused impassioned reactions. Has the time now arrived for a more measured appraisal?
Professor Bernard Wasserstein
Bernard Wasserstein is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Chicago. Earlier in his career he served as President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and as Professor of History at Glasgow University. His books include On the Eve: The Jews of Europe Before the Second World War (awarded the Yad Vashem International Book Prize) and, most recently, A Small Town in Ukraine: The Place We Came From, the Place We Went Back To.
Photo Credit: Håkan Lindgren
Please see below for the confirmed event details:
Date: Tuesday 27 January 2026
Venue: Sir Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre, University of Glasgow, and Live Stream
Doors Open: 5.30pm
Lecture Start time: 6.00pm
