When Biology Became Destiny: Gender Interpretation in the Holocaust

Pesented by the UC San Diego Holocaust Living History Workshop

With support from Muir College and Sixth College

Please join the UC San Diego Jewish Studies Program and UC San Diego Library for a lecture by Marion Kaplan on Thursday, January 17, 2019 from 5-7 p.m. in the Seuss Room at Geisel Library. This event is free and open to the public.

Despite the explosive growth of Holocaust studies, scholars of Nazi Germany and the Shoah long neglected gender as an analytical category. It wasn’t until 1984 when the essay collection “When Biology Became Destiny: Women in Weimar and Nazi Germany” raised awareness of women’s experiences under fascism.

The publication edited by Renate Bridenthal, Atina Grossman and Marion Kaplan explored women’s “double jeopardy” as females and as Jews. In this lecture, Kaplan takes the audience on a historical tour of this research, from the first workshops raising questions to the first publications providing answers. Since then, the gender perspective has provided significant insight into our understanding of Jewish life in Nazi Germany and during the Holocaust. Kaplan concludes her talk with a forward look at new areas of research that highlight women’s and gender studies.

For directions and parking information for this event, click here.

All visitors to the UC San Diego campus are required to display a valid parking pass. The closest parking to Geisel Library is the Hopkins Parking Structure. For information about accessible parking on campus, click here.

For more information about the event or help with registration, contact UCSDLibrary@ucsd.edu.