7:00 pm, Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Church Chapel - Sanctuary

Beechy Lecture - "Reflections on the History of Mennonites and Nazism"

Reflections on the History of Mennonites and Nazism

Abstract:

Historians have revealed a substantial entanglement of Mennonite communities with National Socialism in the 1930s and 1940s. Recent conferences in Europe and the Americas have considered this past, and the findings have appeared in several books and many journal articles. In this talk, Ben Goossen reflects on the ongoing recovery of the historic Mennonite encounters with Nazism. He shows how new directions in Mennonite Studies extend longstanding research traditions by scholars working in Jewish Studies, German Studies, and related fields. At a time when the academic humanities have come under intense pressure, and when the far right is rising once again, the current development of knowledge about Mennonite involvement in fascism and genocide witnesses to the value promoting sustained and justice-oriented historical research.

Bio:

Ben Goossen is a historian at the Institute on the Formation of Knowledge at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Chosen Nation: Mennonites and Germany in a Global Era, publish with Princeton University Press.

The lecture will be Livestreamed. Click on the link below to view the livestream.

Contact: Kendra Yoder, email klyoder@goshen.edu

See also: For Livestream