The Ackerman Center Podcast

Join us for a compelling journey through the ruins of the Nazi reign of terror. In this walking tour episode Dr. Roemer leads Dr. Katie Fisher through the memorial site at Auschwitz and then the Topography of Terror memorial site in Berlin. Beginning in Auschwitz, they confront the horrors of the Holocaust, standing where so many suffered and perished and then in Berlin, they trace this terror bac...

In this episode Dr. Nils Roemer hosts an engaging conversation with Mr. Marc Masurovsky. Mr. Masurovsky is the the co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project (HARP) in September 1997 and served as its Director of Research. He explores the challenges of ownership, the role of museums, and how institutions should handle disputed artworks. 

We are honored to have Dr. Stacy Gallin, a renowned expert in ethics, law, and human rights, as our guest. Dr. Gallin is the Director of the Center to Combat Antisemitism and Reinforce Multicultural Acceptance, or CARMA, which was launched in October 2024. The center’s mission is to combat antisemitism and other forms of identity-based hate through education, advocacy, and moral leadership.   In t...

In this episode, we introduce the newest member of the Ackerman Center faculty, Dr. Cuellar Cuellar, who hails from El Salvador. Dr. Cuellar Cuellar, an assistant professor of history, is not only an academic; she is also a passionate Salvadoran international human rights lawyer with a PhD in history major and a minor in human rights from the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the mo...

In this episode, Dr. Hanno Berger and Belofsky fellow Angie Simmons explore the Netflix series "Transatlantic," which follows an American journalist in France during 1940-41 as he assists over 2,000 refugees in escaping danger. They discuss the historical context of these events and examine the challenges faced during this tumultuous time.  Additionally, they consider how the series portrays histo...

In this immersive walking tour episode, step into the streets of Vienna and walk alongside Dr. Shilyh Warren, Associate Professor of Visual & Performing Arts at UT Dallas. Joined by this episode's host, Dr. Katie Fisher, and research assistant Rachel Cattlet, Dr. Warren takes us on a guided tour through the city’s entangled history of anti-semitism while unraveling the complex story of Sig...

In recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the broader UTD community—including faculty, staff, students, and community members—came together to read poetry, prose, and personal testimony in a variety of languages. This recording was produced in conjunction with the 2023 gathering and features readings and new translations of the poem "Cart Load of Shoes," a moving poem by Abraham Sutzk...

In this episode, Belofsky Fellow Katie Fisher sits down with Dr. Charlotte Schallié, an author and professor of German Studies at the University of Victoria, to discuss the importance of arts-based research. Dr. Schallié spoke at the Annual Scholar’s Conference about her collaborative research work with Holocaust survivors and graphic novelists which produced the novel "But I Live: Three Stor...

In this episode, Dr. Nils Roemer sits down with Father Patrick Desbois, the esteemed founder of Yahad – in Unum, and they discuss his presentation of the 2024, Einspruch Lectures on the Holocaust and the mission of his organization in identifying Holocaust mass execution sites. The conversation centers on his acclaimed book, The Holocaust by Bullets, which earned him the National Jewish Book Award...

In this episode, Dr. Nils Roemer hosts an an engaging conversation with our newest faculty member, Dr. Hanno Berger, an assistant professor in film studies at the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology. Dr. Berger delves into his research on postwar German films, sharing fascinating insights into revolutions and their multifaceted impact. He offers a deep exploration of Hanna...

Join us as we take a close look at the unique Bollywood film, "Bawaal." Our guest, Dr. Mehak Burza, is an expert in Holocaust studies who teaches in the Department of English at University of Delhi (New Delhi, India). Dr. Nils Roemer and Dr. Burza speak about this film and her recent article "The State of Holocaust Awareness in India is Abysmal" where she points out that many p...

In this episode, Dr. Nils Roemer and Angie Simmons have a meaningful conversation with Dr. Martin Dean, a respected scholar and the 2023 keynote speaker at the Annual Scholar’s Conference. Dr. Dean's book, "Collaboration in the Holocaust: Crimes of the Local Police in Belorussia and Ukraine" provides us an understanding how different groups collaborated in committing crimes during th...

In this episode of the Ackerman Center podcast, we speak with author and Annual Scholar’s Conference keynote speaker Glenn Kurtz about the adaptation of his book Three Minutes in Poland: Discovering a Lost World in a 1938 Family Film into a documentary film titled Three Minutes-A Lengthening. He discusses the path that led him to writing the book and discovering the film amongst his family’s home...

This interview with Susan Neiman—Philosopher, Author, and Director of the Einstein Forum—and Dr. Nils Roemer was recorded in April 2021. The two discuss her book "Learning from the Germans" which delivers an urgently needed perspective on how a country can come to terms with its historical wrongdoings. It has been edited to better fit a podcast format. -- In the wake of white nationalist...

Join Dr. Nils Roemer and Belofsky fellows Angie Simmons and Katie Fisher on a walking tour of a few memorials scattered around Berlin. This episode dives into the locations and historical context around 5 prominent local Holocaust memorials in Berlin with a focus on what happened after the end of WWII. Throughout the episode noise of the contemporary cityscape blends with historical references pro...

Join Dr. Nils Roemer and Belofsky fellow Katie Fisher on a walking tour of three memorials in Berlin—the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism, and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism. This auditory experience captures the sound of the present-day cityscape with its traffic and tourist chatter and is layered with h...

In this episode, Dr. Emily-Rose Baker, assistant professor of film studies at UT Dallas, interviews Sabina Vajrača an award-winning film director from  Bosnia and Herzegovina who immigrated to the US as a war refugee at the age of 14. Her work deals with representations of inter-ethnic conflict particularly pertaining to the Bosnian war and genocide—as well as the Holocaust. Watch Variables h...

On November 9, 1938, a day that has come to be known as Kristallnacht, the Nazis orchestrated an attack against Jews, their businesses, synagogues, and their homes. This was followed by mass arrests and deportations to camps. In this episode, Dr. Roemer and Angie Simmons discuss the events that lead up to the attack, as well as the significance of this day and what would follow.

Dr. Dina Porat, professor emerita of modern Jewish history at the Department of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University and the chief historian of Yad Vashem, presented the Einspruch Lecture Series at the Ackerman Center this year. Her recent work focuses on debates around the definitions of antisemitism. In this episode, she and Dr. David Patterson sit down for a conversation.

Join Dr. Nils Roemer and Belofsky fellow Katie Fisher on a walking tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site outside of Munich, Germany. This auditory experience captures the sound of the present-day landscape with its birdsong and tourist chatter and is layered with historical context and references provided by Dr. Nils Roemer.

The 2020 Dutch World War II film, The Forgotten Battle , follows the actions of three young characters: a Dutch Axis soldier, a British glider pilot, and a woman affiliated with the Dutch Resistance, as events unfold during the battle in which Allied forces attempted to regain control of German-occupied Zeeland. In this episode, Dr. Emily-Rose Baker and Angie Simmons discuss the film’s representat...

As it became increasingly clear the Nazis would not overcome the Allied forces and would lose WWII, the Nazis forced survivors of the death camps to march toward the heart of German territory with the idea that they would restart their efforts to exterminate Europe's Jews. In this episode, Dr. Nils Roemer and Belofsky Fellow Angie Simmons discuss the ways in which the death marches signed the end...

Near the end of 1944, Himmler ordered the halt of the Final Solution and the destruction of the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau. As Allied troops carried out Air Raids on Germany, citizens felt the effects of war on their daily lives forcing the Nazis to shift their focus. In this episode, Dr. Nils Roemer and Belofsky Fellow Angie Simmons discuss the Posen Speeches and the Nazis shifting their...

In 1943 expectations about the outcome of WWII began to point toward the defeat of the Third Reich. Despite growing awareness about the coming fall of the Nazis, they would still go on to kill another 3 million more Jews. In this episode, Dr. Nils Roemer and Belofsky Fellow Angie Simmons discuss pivotal events in 1943 and highlight the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The series, "A Year in the Third Reich...

In 1942 the events associated with the Holocaust began in earnest and grew in scale moving toward a continental genocide. This episode focuses on the building up of death camps, the mass deportations of Jews, and the start of gassing at killing centers. The series, "A Year in the Third Reich," explores significant events that took place throughout the years of Hitler's Third Reich. In each episode...