The Allied occupation of Western Germany after the Second World War has recently seen a revival of interest among historians. This two-day international conference will showcase new research from scholars based across the globe and provide a forum for the presentation of innovative approaches to the history of the three western zones of occupation. It also aims to stimulate dialogue between historians of the different zones of occupation and so bring together hitherto almost entirely segregated historiographies.

Argument

The Allied occupation of Western Germany after the Second World War has recently seen a revival of interest among historians. This two-day international conference will showcase new research from scholars based across the globe and provide a forum for the presentation of innovative approaches to the history of the three western zones of occupation. It also aims to stimulate dialogue between historians of the different zones of occupation and so bring together hitherto almost entirely segregated historiographies.

The conference will cover a broad range of themes, including panels on ruling strategies and occupation plans, the management of cooperation and conflict under occupation, and the handling of crime, punishment, and restitution. Other panels will examine the experience of occupation in daily life, the role of intermediaries, and the legacies of occupation. All three western zones will be represented by several papers and a final roundtable will discuss the development of a future research agenda. Professor Rebecca Boehling (Maryland) will deliver a key-note presentation on Transitional Justice? A Comparative Approach to Denazification in the Western Zones of Occupied Germany.

The conference is open for registrations. Places, however, are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. All registrations need to be made in advance through an on-line booking system and we are sorry to say that we cannot accept registrations made in person on the day of the conference. If you wish to attend, please register by following this link: https://alliedoccupation.wordpress.com/registration/

The conference is supported by the Institute of Contemporary British History at Kings College London, the German Historical Institute London, the German History Society, the Royal Historical Society, the Society for the Study of French History, and the Beyond Enemy Lines project at Kings College London, funded by the European Research Council.

The conference organisers are happy to respond to any enquiries via e-mail. Please contact Dr Christopher Knowles (christopher.knowles[at]kcl.ac.uk) or Dr Camilo Erlichman (c.erlichman[at]sms.ed.ac.uk).

Conference Programme

Day 1, 29 September 2016

9.15 Registration

9.40 Welcome

Andreas Gestrich (Director GHIL)

9.45 Introduction: Revisiting the Occupation Period

Camilo Erlichman (Edinburgh/Cologne) and Christopher Knowles (KCL)

10.15 Contextualising Occupation

Chair: Felix Römer (GHIL)

• Susan Carruthers (Rutgers): Preoccupied: Wartime Training for Postwar Occupation in the United States, 1940-45
• Peter Stirk (Durham): Benign Occupations? A Comparative Evaluation
• Karen Adler (Nottingham): Gender as a Lens for Studying the French Occupation of Germany

11.45 Coffee break

12.00 Managing Cooperation and Conflict

Chair: Christopher Knowles (King’s College London)

• Andrew Beattie (Sidney): The Allied Internment of German Civilians in Occupied Germany: Cooperation and Conflict in the Western Zones, 1945-1949
• Douglas Bell (Texas): “Demokratie ist ein Fremdwort”: German Hunters and the American Occupation, 1945-1952
• Trond Ove Tøllefsen (Florence): Building Up and Tearing Down: The Conflict Between Industrial Dismantling and Overall Goals in the British Occupation of Germany

13.30 Lunch

14.30 Handling Crime, Punishment, and Restitution

Chair: Bernd Weisbrod (Göttingen)

• Caroline Sharples (Central Lancashire): What do you do with a dead Nazi? Allied Policy on the Execution and Disposal of War Criminals, 1945-51
• Beth Healey (Northwestern): The Business of Murder: Tesch & Stabenow and the British Zyklon B Trial
• Kristen Dolan (Duke): Reconsidering Arrest and Detention in the Western Zones of Occupation: The Case of Hessen, 1946-1949
• Jeff Porter (Birkbeck): Restitution as a Prism for a Comparative Examination of some Aspects of the Western Occupation Zones in Germany

16.15 Coffee break

16.45 Keynote Presentation & Discussion

Chair: Camilo Erlichman (Edinburgh/Cologne)

• Rebecca Boehling (Maryland): Transitional Justice? A Comparative Approach to Denazification in the Western Zones of Occupied Germany

18.30 Conference reception

19.30 End of Day 1

Day 2, 30 September 2016

9.30 Doing Occupation: Contested Plans and Strategies

Chair: Susan Carruthers (Rutgers)

• Heather Dichter (Western Michigan): Game Plan for Democracy: Public Diplomacy Programs for Sport and Youth in Occupied Germany
• Charlie Hall (Kent): Dissolution, Exploitation, or Reconstruction? British Approaches to German Science during the Occupation Period
• Laure Humbert (Manchester): UNRRA in French Occupied Germany: A Comparative Perspective, 1945-1947

11.00 Coffee break

11.15 Experiencing Occupation in Daily Life

Chair: Karen Adler (Nottingham)

• Bettina Blum (Paderborn): „My home, your castle“: The Requisitioning of Houses and Urban Quarters by the British Military Government in Westphalia 1945-1955 - Interactions between the Occupiers and the Occupied
• Nadja Klopprogge (Berlin): Sex, Love, and Race: The Intimate Landscape of Postwar Germany
• Ann-Kristin Glöckner (Magdeburg): German-French Encounters in the City of Freiburg under French Occupation 1945-1949
• Daniel Cowling (Cambridge): Egodocuments and the History of the British Occupation of Germany

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Mediating Occupation: Complex Interactions and the Role of Intermediaries

Chair: Camilo Erlichman (Edinburgh/Cologne)

• Dominik Rigoll (Potsdam): The Original 45ers: Recruiting Trustworthy Staff in West Germany, 1945-1950
• Julia Wambach (Berkeley): Vichy in Baden-Baden: The Personnel of the French Occupation in Germany after 1945
• Johannes Kuber (Aachen): The Priests and the Occupation: The Catholic Clergy of Baden in its Early Post-War Interaction with the French and American Allies

15.30 Coffee break

16.00 The Legacy of Occupation

Chair: Peter Stirk (Durham)

• Jessica Reinisch (Birkbeck): Battleground Germany: The Occupiers and the Early Cold War
• Drew Flanagan (Brandeis): The Bridge Builders: The French Occupation in Germany from Conquest to Cooperation, 1945-55
• Michael Wala (Bochum): The Value of Knowledge. Western Intelligence Agencies and Former Members of SS, SD, and Gestapo During the Early Cold War

17.30 Discussion: Towards a Future Research Agenda

Chair: Christopher Knowles (King’s College London)

Panellists: Rebbeca Boehling (Maryland), Jessica Reinisch (Birkbeck), Bernd Weisbrod (Göttingen), Camilo Erlichman (Edinburgh/Cologne)

18.00 Conference ends