Ofer Ashkenazi, “Navigating Profound Uncertainty: Jewish Photography in Nazi Germany”
This talk presents the key arguments of Still Lives: Jewish Photography in Nazi Germany (Ashkenazi, Grossmann, Miron and Wobick-Segev) and outlines potential directions for future research. The rise of National Socialism coincided with the unprecedented popularization of private photography, leading German Jews to avidly record their daily lives amid the regime’s escalating antisemitic measures. Drawing on a database of some 15,000 photographs taken by women and men of all ages, the talk examines how Jews documented their experiences within a rapidly changing German landscape. Using a methodology that emphasizes photographs’ roles within (private) historical narratives—conveying emotions, beliefs, and expectations—it shows how these images offer unique insight into German Jews’ self-perceptions and strategies for navigating a time of profound uncertainty.
Ofer Ashkenazi is Professor of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and current George Mosse Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research explores German-Jewish cultural history, Jewish experience under Nazism, migration and political activism, and the memory of Nazi violence. His recent books include the monographs Still Lives: Jewish Photography in Nazi Germany (2025, with Rebekka Grossmann, Shira Miron, and Sarah Wobick-Segev) and Anti-Heimat Cinema: The Jewish Invention of the German Landscape, 1918–1968 (2020), as well as the edited volume Rethinking Jewish History and Memory through Photography (2025, co-edited with Thomas Pegelow-Kaplan).
Cosponsors: Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center and UWM’s Departments of Anthropology, Art History, Communication, and History; and Programs in German; Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies; and Digital Arts and Culture
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