Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945

This conference discusses the atrocity films recorded by Soviet cameramen during the liberation of Nazi-occupied territories in Eastern Europe.

It addresses a large and diverse number of filmed atrocity sites identified by the CERCEC research team in the course of the Visual History of the Holocaust (VHH) project. This hitherto little-known corpus of Soviet film images will be contextualized and reflected in the light of other sources about the history of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe and in relation to other still and moving images of mass violence.

The conference will conclude two years of research seminars organized by the CERCEC team. It will consider recent research on the social and political contexts in which the filmmakers, journalists, and members of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission (ChGK) worked. The contributions aim for a multiplication of perspectives in the analysis of well-known sites of the Holocaust (Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, Babyn Yar) but will also present lesser-known sites (Donbass, Crimea, Soviet POWs camps in the Reich) through micro-historical approaches.

Finally, contributors will analyze and reflect the aesthetic techniques employed by the filmmakers, the instructions governing the filming, the circulation of the footage between different editions and territories of distribution, and the ethical challenges of sharing Holocaust images in the digital era.

The conference is jointly hosted by the Centre for Russian, Caucasian Studies and Central European Studies (CERCEC/CNRS) in cooperation with the Mémorial de la Shoah and organized within the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 project “Visual History of the Holocaust. Rethinking Curation in the Digital Age”.

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Abstracts Download

COVID-19 protective measures:
For now, there are no Covid-related restrictions in France. However, wearing a mask is strongly recommended. FFP2 masks and antigen tests will be provided for free to conference participants.

Registration:
Attendance is free of charge, but places are limited. For participation, please register by sending an email to: marie.moutier@ehess.fr

Fabian Schmidt, Anna Högner © Michael Loebenstein

Videos

Welcome to the Conference

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 09:30

Irina Tcherneva and Ingo Zechner: Welcome to the Conference: "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945"

Confronting the Images of War Crimes During the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 10:00

Valérie Pozner: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Roundtable: Contribution of Soviet Footage to the Archives on the Holocaust and Nazi Crimes 1/4).

Depicting Atrocities: Ethics of Sharing Holocaust Images

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 10:15

Fabian Schmidt and Anna Högner: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Roundtable: Contribution of Soviet Footage to the Archives on the Holocaust and Nazi Crimes 2/4).

Challenges to Creating Access to Soviet Footage I

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 10:30

Michael Loebenstein: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Roundtable: Contribution of Soviet Footage to the Archives on the Holocaust and Nazi Crimes 3/4).

Challenges to Creating Access to Soviet Footage II

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 10:45

Ophir Levy: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Roundtable: Contribution of Soviet Footage to the Archives on the Holocaust and Nazi Crimes 4/4).

The Constitution of the Film Records (Kinoletopis') and Their Subsequent Uses

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 11:15

Valérie Pozner: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 1: Making Images: Context, Practices and Authors 1/3).

Professional Skills for Filming Crimes. Shedding Light on the Soviet Footage Through Textual Archives

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 11:45

Irina Tcherneva: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 1: Making Images: Context, Practices and Authors 2/3).

Filming the Crimes of the Enemy: the Cameramen, Soviet Front

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 12:15

Vanessa Voisin: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 1: Making Images: Context, Practices and Authors 3/3).

American Press Coverage of Nazi Atrocities in Eastern Europe

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 14:00

Laurel Leff: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 2: War Correspondents: Insights Through Text, Photo and Drawing 1/3).

Through Evgenii Khaldei’s Lens: War Photography as a Tool of Revenge and Holocaust Documentation

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 14:30

Marilyn Campeau: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 2: War Correspondents: Insights Through Text, Photo and Drawing 2/3).

A Witness on Commission: Zinovii Tolkachev as a Holocaust Artist

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 15:00

Anastasiia Simferovska: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 2: War Correspondents: Insights Through Text, Photo and Drawing 3/3).

‘For a Complete Record’: Photography in Soviet Investigations of Nazi Crimes

Thursday, 24.11.2022, 16:30

Paula Chan: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 3: Visual Tools for the Investigation and Forensic Medicine 2/2).

The Influence of Humanitarian Film and the 1921–22 Famine Relief Campaign on WWII Soviet Films of Atrocity

Friday, 25.11.2022, 09:30

Jeremy Hicks: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 4: "Connections and Confrontations with other Filmic Corpuses" 1/2).

The Return of the Cameras. Liberation Footage as Palimpsest and Substitution of Perpetrator Imagery in Eastern Europe

Friday, 25.11.2022, 10:00

Alexander Zöller: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 4: "Connections and Confrontations with other Filmic Corpuses" 2/2).

The Geography of the Holocaust through Soviet Cameras: Research Perspectives

Friday, 25.11.2022, 11:10

Marie Moutier-Bitan: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 5: "Geographical and Social Environment in the Camera’s Field of Vision" 1/3).

Postwar Exhumations in Poland – Focus on Documenting Local Holocaust Sites

Friday, 25.11.2022, 11:40

Alicja Mroczkowska: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 5: "Geographical and Social Environment in the Camera’s Field of Vision" 2/3).

Soviet Footage, Witnesses and Yahad-In Unum's Investigation on the Holocaust in Eastern Territories

Friday, 25.11.2022, 12:10

Michal Chojak: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 5: "Geographical and Social Environment in the Camera’s Field of Vision" 3/3).

Images of Victims and Survivors and Gender Roles in Public Mourning

Friday, 25.11.2022, 14:30

Tanja Penter: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 6: "Historicizing the Footage. Case Studies of the Image in the Light of Other Types of Archives: Ukraine" 1/3).

Between Propaganda and Facts: Soviet Wartime Footage of Nazi Atrocities in the Crimea and the North Caucasus

Friday, 25.11.2022, 15:00

Kirill Feferman: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 6: "Historicizing the Footage. Case Studies of the Image in the Light of Other Types of Archives: Ukraine" 2/3).

What Does Soviet Footage From the 1940s Tell Us About the Holocaust in Kyiv and Its Soviet Aftermath?

Friday, 25.11.2022, 15:30

Karel Berkhoff: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 6: "Historicizing the Footage. Case Studies of the Image in the Light of Other Types of Archives: Ukraine" 3/3).

People With Disabilities as Nazi Victims in the Soviet Wartime Documentaries and Official Reports: A Close Reading of the Materials of the Open Trials in Krasnodar and Kharkiv

Saturday, 26.11.2022, 09:30

Irina Rebrova: Presentation at the conference "Documenting Nazi Crimes through Film: Soviet Union, 1942–1945" (Panel 7: "Historicizing the Footage: Categories of Victims" 1/2).