Overview

In the summer of 2016 acclaimed archaeologist Richard Freund and his team made news worldwide when they discovered an escape tunnel from the Ponar burial pits in Lithunia. This Holocaust site where more than 100,000 people perished is usually remembered for the terrible devastation that happened there. In the midst of this devastation, the discovery of an escape tunnel reminds us of the determination and tenacity of the people in the camp and the hope they continued to carry. The Archaeology of the Holocaust takes readers out to the field with Freund and his multi-disciplinary research group as they uncover the evidence of the Holocaust, focusing on sites in Lithuania, Poland, and Greece in the past decade. Using forensic detective work, Freund tells the micro- and macro-histories of sites from the Holocaust as his team covers excavations and geo-physical surveys done at four sites in Poland, four sites in Rhodes, and 15 different sites in Lithuania with comparisons of some of the work done at other sites in Eastern Europe. The book contains testimonies of survivors, photographs, information about a variety of complementary geo-science techniques, and information gleaned from pin-point excavations. It serves as an introduction to the Holocaust and explains aspects of the culture lost in the Holocaust through the lens of archaeology and geo-science.

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9781538102664

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Richard Freund has demonstrated the important contributions archaeology can make to our understanding of the Holocaust. He is a pioneer in the field of archaeology of genocide, and his work will resonate with all who seek to understand what happened. In their final days the Nazis sought to eradicate all evidence of their crime; Freund is unearthing what they sought to bury. Religious Jews will be particularly grateful that his geo-thermal techniques do not disturb remains. His work is not only to be admired but also emulated, and he endows his explorations with a sense of excitement without losing respect for the dignity and humanity of the deceased. I read this work with admiration and gratitude. -- Michael Berenbaum, American Jewish University; former director, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum â Research Institute

Richard Freund has demonstrated the important contributions archaeology can make to our understanding of the Holocaust. He is a pioneer in the field of archaeology of genocide, and his work will resonate with all who seek to understand what happened. In their final days the Nazis sought to eradicate all evidence of their crime; Freund is unearthing what they sought to bury. Religious Jews will be particularly grateful that his geo-thermal techniques do not disturb remains. His work is not only to be admired but also emulated, and he endows his explorations with a sense of excitement without losing respect for the dignity and humanity of the deceased. I read this work with admiration and gratitude. -- Michael Berenbaum, American Jewish University; former director, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Research Institute

Author Information

Dr. Richard A. Freund is the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Jewish History and Director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford. His most recent work in Lithuania has been chronicled in a recent NOVA science series episode: “Holocaust Escape Tunnel” on the new discoveries made in the Holocaust era Ponar Burial Pits and at the Great Synagogue of Vilna, Lithuania. He is the author of hundreds of scholarly articles and several books (written or co-edited) including Digging through the Bible and Digging through History.

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