"Rehabilitation, Democracy and Security: U.S. Internment Policy in Germany, 1945-1952"
Professional Background
Dr. Kathrin Meyer received a Ph.D. at the Center for Anti-Semitism Research, Department of History, Technical University in Berlin and an M.A. and a B.A. in educational science from the same university. During her fellowship at the Museum, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Anti-Semitism Research, Technical University. For her Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Fellowship, Dr. Meyer conducted research for her project “Rehabilitation, Democracy and Security: U.S. Internment Policy in Germany, 1945-1952.”
Dr. Meyer is the recipient of several fellowships and grants including an Ernst-Strassman grant from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a doctoral fellowship from the Berlin Senate, and a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. Dr. Meyer has taught numerous courses in Jewish history and the Holocaust at the Technical University. In addition, she has served as a social worker at the Women Community Center in Berlin-Kreuzberg and coordinated programs for physically disabled children in Germany. For her Ph.D. dissertation she studied U.S. policy in occupied Germany and researched women’s internment camps in the U.S occupation zone from 1945 to1952. In her study she charted the change in the American treatment of German internees as part of the stages in the “denazification” effort from policies of enforced detention to democratization.
Fellowship Research
During her tenure at the Museum, Dr. Meyer expanded her doctoral research into a general study of U.S. internment policy in Germany, 1945-1952. She explored U.S. occupation officials’ perceptions and treatment of Nazi war criminals especially the American process of releasing prisoners to the German authorities. She examined the Museum’s archival collections of the records of U.S. Army liberators, the Counter Intelligence Corps, eyewitness testimonies and war crimes related material. She also conducted research at the U.S. National Archives in College Park.
In May 2008 Dr. Meyer was interviewed as part of the Museum’s podcast series “Voices on Antisemitism.” She spoke about her role as advisor on antisemitism for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and her work to increase antisemitism awareness by creating educational programs for students and by promoting Holocaust remembrance. Listen to her interview.
Dr. Meyer was in residence at the Mandel Center from January 6 to April 29, 2003.