"Pre-Stages of the Holocaust: The Interrelation between National and Local Policies against Jews in Germany, 1933-1941"
Professional Background
Dr. Wolf Gruner received a Ph.D. in history from the Technical University of Berlin, an M.A. in history from Humboldt University of Berlin, and a B.A. from Vocational College in Berlin. During his fellowship at the Museum, he was a researcher at the Center for the Research of Anti-Semitism, Technical University of Berlin. For his Pearl Resnick Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Gruner conducted research on “Pre-Stages of the Holocaust: The Interrelation between National and Local Policies against Jews in Germany, 1933-1941.”
Dr. Gruner is the recipient of many academic awards including a research fellowship from the International Institute for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem, a postdoctoral fellowship of the Fritz-Thyssen Foundation in Germany; a dissertation scholarship from the Center for the Research of anti-Semitism, Technical University of Berlin; a Felix Posen Fellowship of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and a Fritz Halbers Fellowship at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. Dr. Gruner is co-editor with Armin Nolzen of Beiträge zur Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus, Bd. 17: Bürokratien: Initiative und Effizienz [Essays on the History of National Socialism, Vol. 17: Bureaucrats: Initiative and Efficiency] (Berlin, 2001) and author of Zwangsarbeit und Verfolgung: österreichische Juden im NS-Staat 1938-45 [Forced Labor and the Persecution of Austrian Jews 1938-1945] (Studien Verlag, 2000) and Der geschlossene Arbeitseinsatz deutscher Juden: zur Zwangsarbeit als Element der Verfolgung 1938-1943 [The Confined Work Project for German Jews: Forced Labor as an Element of Persecution 1938-1943] (Berlin: Metropol Verlag, 1997). He is also the author of several scholarly articles in German, English, Spanish, and other languages.
Fellowship Research
During his tenure at the Museum, Dr. Gruner conducted research and writing for his book project on the persecution of Jews in Germany. He studied the local initiative to persecute Jews which was tolerated by the Nazi leadership and backed by regional governments. By studying the persecution of Jews from both the top and bottom, Dr. Gruner showed that the various forms of anti-Jewish policy reflected a steady interaction among local, regional, and national administrations on all levels of policy-making.
Dr. Gruner was in residence at the Mandel Center from September 1, 2002 to January 31, 2003.