Dr. Jan Grabowski will speak on his book, Whitewash: Poland and the Jews.

Poland, the epicentre of the Holocaust, began denying responsibility as soon as the Nazi atrocities ended. The nation’s distortion of history continues today – with disturbing consequences. World-renowned Holocaust historian Jan Grabowski examines how the government, museums, schools and state never came to grips with the dark past. This tour de force reminds one of the power of historical research based on documents and historical reasoning.

Professor Grabowski’s research includes the issues surrounding the extermination of the Polish Jews as well as the history of the Jewish-Polish relations during the 1939-1945 period. He is the author of several monographs, including Hunt for the Jews and On Duty. Professor Grabowski has recently completed a project dealing with the involvement of the Polish “Blue” and criminal police in the Holocaust. His forthcoming research focuses on the open ghettos in the Generalgouvernement. A recipient of the 2014 Faculty of Arts Professor of the Year Award.

Dr. Samuel Kassow will serve as interlocutor. Professor Kassow was the Charles H. Northam Professor of History at Trinity College, and was recently celebrated for over 50 years of teaching. He is the author of the seminal study Who Will Write Our History?:Rediscovering a Hidden Archive From the Warsaw Ghetto and Rokhl Auerbach’s Warsaw Testament