University of Colorado Professor Uncovers First Holocaust Liberation Photos, Highlights Overlapping Narratives
Soviet photojournalists working for the country's most important newspapers were among the first to document the unfolding Holocaust in their homeland, and they were also witnessing and recording the slaughter of Soviet citizens who, like the photographers themselves, were Jewish.
But the extent to which the Nazis targeted Jews was obscured in the dominant Soviet press during World War II and was suppressed in the Cold War era, during which the Soviets dwelled on the depravity of "fascist troops" murdering "peaceful Soviet citizens."
The Soviet Union's collapse allowed scholars to see a fuller picture of what happened, and to understand the overlapping narratives of Soviets and Jews.
David Shneer, associate professor of history and director of the Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, benefited from that openness. He began researching the issue in 2002, when he visited a photography gallery in Moscow....
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But the extent to which the Nazis targeted Jews was obscured in the dominant Soviet press during World War II and was suppressed in the Cold War era, during which the Soviets dwelled on the depravity of "fascist troops" murdering "peaceful Soviet citizens."
The Soviet Union's collapse allowed scholars to see a fuller picture of what happened, and to understand the overlapping narratives of Soviets and Jews.
David Shneer, associate professor of history and director of the Program in Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, benefited from that openness. He began researching the issue in 2002, when he visited a photography gallery in Moscow....