Waitman W. Beorn
Ph.D. Student
beorn@email.unc.edu
Major Field: European History
Other Fields: Russian and East European History
Advisor: Christopher Browning
Research Interests: I am interested in exploring
German soldiers' participation and complicity in atrocities and the
Holocaust. Why and how did ordinary German soldiers decide to
participate in the Holocaust and crimes against civilians on the
Eastern Front during World War II? Why did some men choose to
participate or avoid participation in atrocities in the ways they
did? What was the impact of orders and guidance from higher
headquarters? How did unit climates contribute to the ways in
which German military units participated in the Holocaust? My master's
thesis focused on a case study (from archival sources) of one unit and
its participation in the murder of the Jewish population of a small
town in the Soviet Union. My dissertation work expands this
methodology to larger units involved in all manner of atrocities in the
rear of Army Group Center (modern day Belarus). Relying on both
contemporary military archival documents as well as post-war judicial
testimonies, I hope to present a detailed case study of several German
military units involved in various kinds of killing that will present a
more complicated picture of ways that men chose to participate or avoid
participation in Holocaust-related atrocities. I also hope to
explore the connection between the anti-partisan war and atrocities
against Jews and non-Jews in Belarus.