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Prof Nikolaus Wachsmann

Positions held:
  • Professor of Modern European History, School of Historical Studies
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  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    Professor Wachsmann joined the department in 2005, having previously been a research fellow at Downing College (University of Cambridge) and a lecturer at the University of Sheffield.

    Office hours

    Office hours by arrangement

    Administrative responsibilities

    • HCA PGT dissertation coordinator
    • HCA MA Research Skills (convenor)

    Visiting posts

    • Theodore Zev Weiss Holocaust Educational Foundation Visiting Professor of Holocaust Studies, Northwestern University, 01 March 2019 to 01 April 2019
    • Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study, Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin, 01 September 2024 to 01 July 2025
    • Senior Fellow, Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History , 01 September 2025 to 01 December 2025

    Professional memberships

    •  Royal Historical Society

    Honours and awards

    • Wolfson History Prize , November 2016
    • Mark Lynton History Prize , November 2016
    • JQ Wingate Literary Prize , November 2016
    • Book of the Year Award , November 2005
    • Gladstone History Book Prize Royal Historical Society, November 2004
    • Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History The Wiener Holocaust Library , November 2001
  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • Concentration camps in Germany and beyond
    • Auschwitz and the history of the Holocaust
    • Law, prisons and policing in modern Germany
    • Deviance and discipline in modern Germany
    • Holocaust Memory

    Research overview

    I am currently researching the history of Nazi terror and the Holocaust, with a particular focus on the Auschwitz concentration camp.

    Research clusters and groups

    Research projects

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    Supervisions within ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú:
    6

    I have supervised numerous successful dissertations on German and European history, and welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students related to my research interests.

    Current doctoral researchers

    • BRIGITTA HORUP
      Nature of supervision:
      PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR,

    Doctoral alumni since 2013-14

    • JEFF PORTER
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor, to
      Awarded:
      2015
    • JENNIFER PUTNAM
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor, to
      Title of thesis:
      If Walls Could Talk: Prisoner Graffiti in Nazi Camps and Ghettos
      Awarded:
      2024
    • JENNIFER PUTNAM
      Nature of supervision:
      Joint Principal Supervisor,
      Title of thesis:
      If Walls Could Talk: Prisoner Graffiti in Nazi Camps and Ghettos
      Awarded:
      2024
    • MORWENNA BLEWETT
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor,
      Awarded:
      2023
    • CHARLES DICK
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor,
      Awarded:
      2019

    Teaching

    I have taught on a number of modules at BA and MA level, including:

    • The Modern World (BA)
    • The Contemporary World (BA)
    • The Birth of Modern Germany (BA)
    • The Third Reich (BA)
    • Exploring the Past (BA)
    • Mastering Historical Research (MA)
    • The Nazi Capture of Power (MA)
    • The Holocaust (MA)
    • Auschwitz in History and Memory (MA)

    Teaching modules

    • The Nazi Capture of Power
    • The Holocaust
    • Research Skills for Historians
  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2021) . Journal of the British Academy 9, pp. 27-58. ISSN 2052–7217.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2010) . Historia Social 66, pp. 119-139. ISSN 0214-2570.
    • Goeschel, Christian and Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2010) . Journal of Contemporary History 45 (3), pp. 515-534. ISSN 0022-0094.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2006) . European History Quarterly 36 (2), pp. 247-278. ISSN 0265-6914.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2002) . The Historical Journal 45, pp. 411-432. ISSN 0018-246X.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (1999) . Journal of Modern History 71 (3), pp. 624-659. ISSN 0022-2801.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (1999) . Journal of Contemporary History 34 (3), pp. 477-487. ISSN 0022-0094.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (1998) . Journal of Contemporary History 33 (4), pp. 573-589. ISSN 0022-0094.

    Book

    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2020) . Ożarów, Poland: Åšwiat Książki. ISBN 9788381395908.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2017) . Paris, France: Gallimard. ISBN 9782070773022.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2017) . Moscow, Russia: Центрполиграф. ISBN 9785227073013.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2017) . Mondadori. ISBN 9788804676652.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2016) . Munich, Germany: Siedler. ISBN 9783886808274.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2016) . Amsterdam, The Netherlands: De Bezige Bij. ISBN 9789023499787.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus and Steinbacher, S., eds. (2015) . Dachauer Symposien zur Zeitgeschichte (Dachau symposia on Contemporary History). 14, Göttingen, Germany: Wallstein Verlag. ISBN 9783835314948.
    • Rueger, Jan and Wachsmann, Nikolaus, eds. (2015) . Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137347787.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2015) . Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374535926.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2015) . Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Crítica. ISBN 9788498928723.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2015) . Lisbon, Portugal Publicações Dom Quixote: D. QUIXOTE. ISBN 9789722057998.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus and Goeschel, Christian, eds. (2012) . Lincoln, U.S.: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803227828.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus and Caplan, J. (2010) . Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9780415426510.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus, ed. (2007) . Milan, Italy: Edizioni Mondadori. ISBN 9788804573159.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2007) . Milan, Italy: Mondadori. ISBN 9788804573159.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2006) . Munich, Germany: Siedler. ISBN 9783886808281.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2005) . Amsterdam, The Netherlands: De Bezige Bij. ISBN 9789076682334.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2004) . London: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300102505.

    Book section

    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2025) . In: Cushman, S. and Pettitt, J. and Williams, D. (eds.) The Routledge Handbook to Auschwitz-Birkenau. London, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9781032202440.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2015) . In: Wachsmann, Nikolaus and Steinbacher, S. (eds.) Die Linke im Visier: zur Errichtung der Konzentrationslager 1933. Dachauer Symposien zur Zeitgeschichte (Dachau symposia on Contemporary History). Göttingen, Germany: Wallstein Verlag. ISBN 9783835314948.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2015) . In: Wachsmann, Nikolaus and Rueger, Jan (eds.) Rewriting German History: New Perspectives on Modern Germany. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave. pp. 306-324. ISBN 9781137347787.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2015) . In: Hachtmann, R. and Reichardt, S. (eds.) Detlev Peukert und die NS-Forschung. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus. Wallstein Verlag. pp. 102-114. ISBN 9783835317314.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2010) . In: Wachsmann, Nikolaus and Caplan, J. (eds.) Concentration Camps in Nazi Germany: The New Histories. Oxon, UK: Routledge. pp. 17-43. ISBN 9780415426510.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2009) . In: Buber-Neumann, M. (ed.) Under Two Dictators: Prisoner of Stalin and Hitler. London, UK: Random House. pp. vii-xxii. ISBN 9781845951030.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2008) . In: Buber-Neumann, M. (ed.) Under Two Dictators: Prisoner of Stalin and Hitler. London, UK: Pimlico. pp. vii-xxii. ISBN 9781845951023.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2008) . In: Caplan, J. (ed.) Nazi Germany. Short Oxford History of Germany. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 122-145. ISBN 9780199276868.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2007) . In: Kramer, H. and Uhl, K. and Wagner, J.-C. (eds.) Zwangsarbeit im Nationalsozialismus und die Rolle der Justiz : Täterschaft, Nachkriegsprozesse und die Auseinandersetzung um Entschädigungsleistungen. Nordhäuser Hochschultexte. Allgemeine Schriftenreihe. Nordhausen, Germany: Fachhochschule Nordhausen, University of Applied Sciences. pp. 32-47. ISBN 9783980939195.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2006) . In: Kogon, E. (ed.) The Theory and Practice of Hell: The German Concentration Camps and the System Behind Them. New York, U.S.: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. pp. 11-23. ISBN 9780374529925.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2005) . In: Gregor, Neil (ed.) Nazism, war and genocide : essays in honour of Jeremy Noakes. Exeter: University of Exeter Press. pp. 75-93. ISBN 0 85989 745 1.
    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2001) . In: Gellately, Robert and Stoltzfus, Nathan (eds.) Social outsiders in Nazi Germany. Princeton, N. J. & Woodstock, Oxfordshire, UK: Princeton University Press. pp. 165-191. ISBN 0 691 00748 9.

    Other

    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2018) . US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

    Teaching resource

    • Wachsmann, Nikolaus (2016) .
  • Business and community

    Business and community

    Media

    I am happy to receive enquiries from the media on the following topics:

    • Nazi terror
    • Auschwitz and the Holocaust
    • Concentration camps

    Outreach

    (educational website)

    (video, public lecture, Gresham College, 2020)

    ', Times Literary Supplement, 24 January 2020

    (video, Pilecki Institute, 2020, discussion with Dr. P. Setkiewicz)

    (video, public lecture, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2018)

    , BBC World Histories, 2020

    (video, Curzon Cinema, Soho, 2016)

    Historians and educators discuss the (video, Senate House, London 2016, discussion with Prof. Richard J. Evans, Prof. David Feldman, Dr. Tom Haward, Yiftach Meiri and Dr. Kim Wünschmann)

    (podcast, 2016, with Prof. Lane Fox)

    (podcast, WNYC, interview with Leonard Lopate, 2016) 

    (podcast, lecture, 2015)