Digging Deeper: The Traces of the Past
The ground beneath former Nazi murder sites will forever contain traces of what happened. A panel of Holocaust scholars told an audience at the University of South Dakota during the Annual Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Lecture.
Some people may see the Holocaust as a moment in history that happened long ago. The reality is that this genocide is still being studied, and different fields of study are uncovering new evidence through various methods.
“I veer from the traditional views you might have of archeologists, in that I oftentimes am not necessarily digging … but rather using a combination of methods to help me understand the past,” Caroline Sturdy Colls, a professor of Holocaust archeology at the University of Huddersfield, said.
Archeologists, for example, rely not only on archives, but also use a variety of methods, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and archeological tools to study the landscapes of this genocide.
“The physical evidence that I find often tells me something about the experiences of those victims … how people lived and how they were confined to a particular building,” Sturdy Colls said.
The purpose of these studies and investigations is not only to prove that this genocide happened, but also to make sense of it and try to understand the victims. The research is dedicated to commemorating the lives lost and educating people on what the victims experienced.
“The Holocaust has happened everywhere, where you walk, where you go, where you sit,” Gerald. J Steinacher, professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said. “This is exemplified in the Stolperstein Project … which are memory plates for the displaced victims of the Holocaust.”
The project expands throughout all of Europe and provides information about the victims who were murdered and persecuted. These stones are placed in the last known place of residence of the victim.
Throughout the lecture, the scholars provided information and visually showed some of their research findings.
“[I take from this lecture] how dedicated everyone is to prevention,” Samantha Bambas, a junior student majoring in anthropology and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe said. “I also am a descendant of a population that was genocided and displaced. It’s important that we prevent genocide everywhere.”
Although the lecture was rooted in anthropological studies, people from different fields attended to continue learning about the Holocaust through various perspectives and investigations.
“History is important to our modern day,” Duer Tap, a sophomore student majoring in secondary education history said. “We’ve had a lot of teachings of what genocide looks like. Now we can identify it when we see it streamed in social media in multiple countries.”
The Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, which presented the event, emphasizes the importance of “openness, independence and free inquiry” for future scholars. For the students who attended, those words carried weight, proving that the questions raised by genocide are far from settled.
Photo Credit: Nadia Castillo
