Walke speaks at World War II conference

Historian Anika Walke, the Georgie W. Lewis Career Development Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, participated Nov. 15 in the Blavatnik Archive Foundation’s international virtual conference “Jewish Soldiers & Fighters in WWII.”

Anika Walke
Walke

Walke is an associate professor of history; of women, gender and sexuatlity studies; of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies; and of global studies, all in Arts & Sciences.

The two-day event featured nearly 40 historians from Europe, the U.S. and Israel, focused on the 1.5 million Jewish soldiers and civilians who participated in the Allied cause during World War II, fighting to stop the Holocaust. Panel discussions explored Jewish soldiers’ literature, music and history.

Walke was a speaker at a panel titled “Daily Life and Strategies of Survival in the Soviet Union during World War II.” Walke published the book “Pioneers and Partisans: An Oral History of Nazi Genocide in Belorussia” in 2015. She continues to research the aftermath of the Nazi genocide in Belarus and is a member of the Holocaust Geographies Collaborative.