Historical and Archaeological Research of the Alderney Labor Camps

Historical and Archaeological Research of the Alderney Labor Camps
Date
Fri February 21st 2020, 12:00 - 1:15pm
Event Sponsor
Taube Center for Jewish Studies, CREEES Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, Archaeology Center
Location
Encina Commons, Room 123

Between July 1940 and May 1945, the small island of Alderney in the British Channel Islands was under Nazi occupation. Around 6000 forced and slave labourers (most of whom were from Eastern Europe) were sent there and, under the control of Organisation Todt or the SS, they built vast concrete fortifications. Housed in a complex of concentration and labour camps, these labourers endured appalling conditions. In this seminar, Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls will discuss the findings of historical and archaeological research concerning the camps, fortifications and burial sites connected to the forced and slave labourers, as well as how the events connected to these sites remain “taboo” in contemporary society.

Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls’ pioneering research focuses on the application of interdisciplinary approaches to the investigation of Holocaust landscapes. As part of this research, she has examined more than 50 Holocaust sites and has completed the first archaeological surveys of the former extermination and labour camps in Treblinka (Poland), the sites pertaining to the slave labour programme in Alderney (the Channel Islands), the former Semlin Judenlager and Anhaltlager (Serbia) and many killing sites across Poland and Ukraine. She has published extensively in Holocaust and forensic archaeology - including a monograph entitled Holocaust Archaeologies: Approaches and Future Directions – and curated several exhibitions. In 2016, she was awarded the European Archaeological Heritage Prize for her contribution to modern conflict archaeology.

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