Peter Longerich (born 1955) is a German professor of history and German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

. He is regarded by fellow historians, including

Ian Kershaw Sir Ian Kershaw (born 29 April 1943) is an English historian whose work has chiefly focused on the social history of 20th-century Germany. He is regarded by many as one of the world's leading experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and is pa ...

, Richard Evans, Timothy Snyder, Mark Roseman and

Richard Overy Richard James Overy (born 23 December 1947) is a British historian who has published on the history of World War II and Nazi Germany. In 2007, as ''The Times'' editor of ''Complete History of the World'', he chose the 50 key dates of world his ...

, as one of the leading German authorities on the Holocaust.

Career

Longerich studied at the University of Munich and received a Ph.D. in history and an M.A. in history and sociology. In 2002–03, Longerich was the third holder of the Visiting Chair at the Fritz Bauer Institute in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. In 2003–04, he was J.B. and Maurice Shapiro Senior Scholar in Residence at the Centre for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust h ...

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he worked on a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

. In 2005–06, he was a Fellow at the Wissenschaftszentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen. Longerich was director of the Research Centre for the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

and Twentieth-Century History at

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic depa ...

(RHUL), where he worked alongside the late David Cesarani. In 2015, he left his position at Royal Holloway and returned to Germany. His major research interests include the history of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

, the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...

, Heinrich Himmler, and

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...

. He has appeared in the media to comment upon the links between

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

and the Holocaust, as well as on related topics, and has published, in 2001, a book documenting Hitler's pivotal role in the Holocaust entitled ''The Unwritten Order''. The book arose from his expert testimony at the David Irving trial. Reviewing Longerich's work, Timothy Snyder declared ''Holocaust'' "profound" and ''Heinrich Himmler: A Life'' "magnificent".

Published works

English * * * * * * German * ''(1989). Die braunen Bataillone. Geschichte der SA''. Beck, Múnich. . * (1992). ''Hitlers Stellvertreter. Führung der NSDAP und Kontrolle des Staatsapparates durch den Stab Heß und Bormanns Partei-Kanzlei.'' K.G. Saur. . * (1998). ''Politik der Vernichtung. Eine Gesamtdarstellung der nationalsozialistischen Judenverfolgung''. Piper: Munich. . * (1998). ''Die Wannsee-Konferenz vom 20. Januar 1942. Planung und Beginn des Genozid an den Europäischen Juden''. Hentrich: Berlín. . * (2001). ''Der ungeschriebene Befehl. Hitler und der Weg zur „Endlösung“.'' Piper: Munich. . * (2006). ''„Davon haben wir nichts gewusst!“ Die Deutschen und die Judenverfolgung 1933–1945''. Siedler: Múnich. . * (2008). ''Heinrich Himmler: Eine Biographie''. Siedler: Munich. . * (2010). ''Goebbels. Biographie''. Siedler: Múnich. . * (2015). ''Hitler. Biographie''. Siedler: Múnich. . * (2016). ''Wannseekonferenz. Der Weg zur „Endlösung“''. Pantheon: Munich. . * (2021). ''Antisemitismus: Eine deutsche Geschichte. Von der Aufklärung bis heute''. Siedler: Munich. . * (2022). ''Außer Kontrolle. Deutschland 1923''. Molden, Wien 2022, .

References

External links

Page on Professor Peter Longerich at RHUL German Department website
* Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Historians of the Holocaust Historians of Nazism People from Krefeld 1955 births Living people Scholars of antisemitism {{Germany-historian-stub