"The Occupation of Southern France, 1940-1944"
Professional Background
Mr. Florian Rohdenburg received an M.A. in history from the Université de Perpignan in France, and has also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During his fellowship at the Museum, he was a Ph.D. candidate in history at Royal Holloway University London, United Kingdom, and was writing his dissertation under the supervision of the 2003-2004 J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Senior Scholar-in-Residence Professor Peter Longerich. For his Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellowship for Archival Research, Mr. Rohdenburg conducted research on “The Occupation of Southern France, 1940-1944.”
Mr. Rohdenburg is well known for his work on the award winning documentary film Martin. The film, which won the Jack Wolgin Best Documentary film prize at the 1999 Jerusalem Film Festival, closely examines the life of Holocaust survivor Martin Zaidenstadt and explores the issue of the representation of the Holocaust sixty years later. Mr. Rohdenburg is the author of the chapter “Der Gute Mann von Horodenka” in Retter in Uniform: Handlungsspielräume im Vernichtungskrieg der Wehrmacht, Wolfram Wette, ed. (Fisher, 2002) wherein he conducted research on Dr. Fritz Fiedler, a Lieutenant Colonel who rescued over 200 Jews. He has also conducted extensive archival research in Freiburg, Germany, in cooperation with Yad Vashem.
Fellowship Research
During his tenure at the Museum, Mr. Rohdenburg continued research on his dissertation project by examining the role of the German army in the destruction of European Jewry. He studied the lower echelons of the Wehrmacht and their interaction with the French population. He explored the way in which the Wehrmacht gained information about French public opinion and the extent to which French attitudes informed regional occupational policies.
Mr. Rohdenburg was in residence at the Mandel Center from August 1, 2004 to March 1, 2005.