The well-known historian, Saul Friedländer, has completed the second volume of his work on the "Third Reich" and the Jews: After the "Jahre der Verfolgung 1933-1939" (Years of persecution, 1933-1939), the "Jahre der Vernichtung 1939-1945" (Years of annihilation, 1939-1945) has now been published. The Jewish Museum Berlin, the Literaturhandlung, and the publishers C. H. Beck invite you to a book presentation with the author on 10 October 2006. The evening will be hosted by Ulrich Herbert, a historian from Freiburg.

Saul Friedländer became known in the 1960s for his historical works on Pope Pius XII., the "Third Reich," and the SS officer Kurt Gerstein. Famed for his vivid descriptions, he made a name for himself in 1988 in particular through correspondence with the historian Martin Broszat on the “historialization” of National Socialism.

The unique quality of Saul Friedländer's historiography "sets new benchmarks" (Süddeutsche Zeitung). The explanation and analysis of the execution of the Holocaust are not sufficient for him. To avoid falling into the trap of "domesticated" memory, he gives many voices their say through their diary records, letters, and memories.

Saul Friedländer was born to a German-speaking Jewish family in Prague in 1932. He survived the Holocaust at a Catholic boarding school in exile in France. It was 1946 before he heard about the fate of his parents who were deported to Auschwitz and murdered there. He left France in 1948 and emigrated – dedicated to Zionism – to Israel where he fought in the War of Independence. Tel Aviv, Paris, and Geneva were the cities where he studied in the 1950s. He himself taught in Geneva and Tel Aviv from 1960 and is now a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Prof. Ulrich Herbert is director of the modern history department at the Albrecht Ludwigs University in Freiburg.

When: 10 October at 8 pm   
Where: Old Building, second level, Concert Hall
Admission: 7 euros, reduced rate 5 euros
Ticket reservation for non-journalists only on tel. +49 (0)30 88 24 250