"Military Justice: The U.S. Army’s Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals in Germany 1944-1948"
Professional Background
Ms. Elisabeth Yavnai received a J.D. from Northeastern University and a B.A. cum laude with High Honors in art history from Brandeis University. During her fellowship at the Museum, she was a Ph.D. candidate in history at the London School of Economics and Political Science in England. For her Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Fellowship, Ms. Elisabeth Yavnai conducted research for her project “Military Justice: The U.S. Army’s Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals in Germany 1944-1948.”
Ms. Yavnai has received many awards and honors, including a 2000-2001 Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Fellowship at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; a Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Travel Fellowship; and a Brandeis Undergraduate Research Award, a Remis Research Grant, and the Rosalind W. Levine Prize for Excellence in Art History from Brandeis University. She acted as president of the International Law Society at Northeastern University School of Law and served as sergeant in the Israeli Army. Ms. Yavnai mined the German records on the Nazi confiscation of Jewish cultural property held at the U.S. National Archives in College Park, Maryland as part of the research team for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets, and served as a law clerk at the Office of Special Investigations, Criminal Division at the United States Department of Justice where she assisted in the investigation and prosecution of alleged participants in Nazi-sponsored atrocities during World War II.
Fellowship Research
During her tenure at the Museum, Ms. Yavnai completed research for her dissertation on the U.S. Army’s investigation and prosecution of Nazi war criminals in Germany. She studied the U.S. Army’s court records for these trials, testimonies from concentration camp survivors who testified at the trials, and the biographical data of the defendants.
Ms. Yavnai was in residence at the Mandel Center from April 1, 2002 to August 1, 2002.