Kimberly Allar, PhD Candidate, Holocaust Studies, Clark University, USA
Kimberly Allar’s dissertation examines the recruitment and training of concentration camp guards in Nazi Germany by analyzing three groups of trainees who differed along gender and ethnic lines: the Totenkopfverbände of Dachau, the Aufseherinnen of Ravensbrück, and the Wachmannschaften of Trawniki. “Training Nazi Camp Guards,” outlines the evolution of the training programs by considering the Nazi expectations and methods for molding guards and by recovering the actual experiences of individuals participating in the program. This study elucidates not only how regimes were able to procure and prime the human resources to carry out genocide, but also how various groups responded and participated in the violence and crimes of the camp. Ms. Allar’s study incorporates both contemporary and post-war documents, ranging from official SS records to private correspondence to Allied and German investigations, found in multiple archives throughout Germany, Israel, and the United States. Ms. Allar was a fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and has held research fellowships from the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure and the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst. Her dissertation committee includes Dr. Thomas Kühne, Dr. Wendy Lower, and Dr. Peter Black.