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Even as the Holocaust was ongoing, some Jews dreamed of and sought revenge for Nazi attacks on them.  Ironically, the Nazis themselves believed in a particularly antisemitic myth of Jewish vengeance and many Germans after the war feared widespread retaliation by Holocaust survivors.  Indeed, there were some attempts to carry out revenge attacks on Nazis after the war.

In this episode, I talked with Laura Jockusch about what revenge meant in all these contexts and more, including in the popular imagination with media like Inglourious Basterds and The Hunters.  

Laura Jockusch is the Albert Abramson Associate Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University.

Jockusch, Laura. Jewish Revenge and the Holocaust: History, Memory, and Imagination (2026)

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There are lots of popular and sensationalist accounts of the Nazi obsession with the supernatural and occult, but what is the true history of this.  The truth is that various kinds of supernatural, occult, and border scientific beliefs influenced many of the leading Nazis.

In addition, these beliefs also ultimately provided a contextual background that influenced Nazi policy.  This is one of the reasons that these fringe and often outlandish beliefs are so important.  In this episode, I talk with Eric Kurlander about his detailed and scholarly exploration of the Nazi supernatural imaginary.

Eric Kurlander is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies program at Stetson University.

Kurlander, Eric.  Hitler’s Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich(2017)

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The Holocaust was a Nazi project, but it required the support, cooperation, complicity, and sometimes collaboration of a wide variety of non-Germans to carry out.  This complicity took a variety of forms and investigating it always generates strong emotional reaction.  

In this episode, I talk with Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe about his meticulous study of the role Polish mayors played under Nazi occupation and during the Holocaust.  It's a difficult but important conversation.

Grzegorz Rossoliński-Liebe is a Lecturer in History at the Frei Universität, Berlin.

Rossoliński-Liebe, Grzegorz.  Polnische Bürgermeister und der Holocaust. Besatzung, Verwaltung und Kollaboration (2024)

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The Nuremberg trials, though not perfect, represented in many ways an epic achievement in justice for crimes against humanity.  However, a darker and lesser-known element of the trials is what happened to the convicted Nazis after ward.

The overwhelming majority of sentences were never fully carried out and almost all those convicted at Nuremberg and in its subsequent trials especially were out of prison by 1958.

In this episode, I talk with Robert Hutchinson about his fascinating work on the US policy of releasing Nazi criminals from prison.

Robert W. Hutchinson is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies.

Hutchinson, Robert W. After Nuremberg: American Clemency for Nazi War Criminals (2022)

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The Janowska concentration camp may well be the most important Holocaust place most people have never heard of.  It was central to the Holocaust in eastern Poland, was the scene of unspeakable cruelty, but also witnessed a successful armed uprising.

In this episode hosted by the amazing Holocaust historian Doris Bergen, we talk about my work on the camp and what a study of Janowska tells us about the Holocaust.

Waitman Wade Beorn is an associate professor of history at Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK. He is also (most of the time) the host of the Holocaust History Podcast which you are now listening to.

Beorn, Waitman Wade. Between the Wires: The Janowska Camp and the Holocaust in Lviv (2024)

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How did Nazi war criminals engage with (or deny) their giult?  How was the prosecution and conviction of Nazi perpetrators dealt with in families?  What was the role of religion and faith assuaging guilt?

These are some fo the fascinating questions that we cover in this episode with Katherina von Kellenbach who has engaged with this topic using a unique set of really interesting sources.

Katharina von Kellenbach is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

von Kellenbach, Katharina. The Mark of Cain: Guilt and Denial in the Lives of Nazi Perpetrators (2013)

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What is a concentration camp?  What are the distinguishing features of these spaces?  Where did they come from?

In this episode, I talk with Andrea Pitzer about the long, global history of the concentration camp and its evolution over time.  We talk about what the definition is, what qualifies something as a concentration camp, and how different societies have learned from each other in their various iterations of "the camp."

Andrea Pitzer is a journalist and author.

Pitzer, Andrea. One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps (2018)

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It was the largest open shooting of the Holocaust (and perhaps in history).  Yet the murder in Babi Yar of 33,000+ Jews and other victims remained for much of its postwar life, unmarked and uncommemorated, at least officially.

In this episode, I talked with VIctoria Khiterer about the fascinating history of Jews in Kyiv, before, during, and after the Holocaust.  It's an insightful look into challenge of Holocaust memory from the Soviet period to modern-day Ukraine.

Victoria Khiterer is a Professor of History at Millersville University.

Khiterer, Victoria. Bitter War of Memory: The Babyn Yar Massacre, Aftermath, and Commemoration (2025) 

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How do we approach witnessing the Holocaust? Are there appropriate or inappropriate ways to do this? Does witnessing make us more empathetic or more indifferent?  These are just some of the questions we addressed in this episode with Carolyn Dean.

We also talked about the role of images in teaching about the Holocaust as well as the role of empathy in bystander behavior.

Carolyn Dean is the Charles J. Stille Professor of History and French at Yale University. 

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An important part of researching the Holocaust is recovering the stories of the diverse group of victims of the Nazi genocidal project.  For a very long time, queer victims have been marginalized or overlooked in this process.

In this episode, I talked with Anna Hájková about her work in queering the Holocaust, that is in writing the experience of these people into the history.  We talked about the queer Jewish experience but also about the value of this kind of work for teaching us about the doing of history.

Anna Hájková is an associate professor of history at the University of Warwick.

Hájková, Anna. People without History are Dust- Queer Desire in the Holocaust (2025)

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Email the podcast at [email protected]

The Holocaust History Podcast homepage is here

You can find a complete reading list with books by our guests and also their suggestions here.