Alexander Korb – författare

Arrested with her family in the Netherlands, deported by the Nazis to Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen, and orphaned – all by the age of seven – Emmie Arbel survived the camps, only to face a new ordeal of suffering in what should have been a place of refuge. Traumatized as a child by violence, abuse, and isolation, she has transformed her survival into an inspirational lifelong mission both to bear witness to the Holocaust, and to celebrate the enduring resilience of the human spirit. Working closely with Emmie herself, the acclaimed German graphic artist Barbara Yelin has created an unforgettable “visual biography” of this remarkable woman: her rebellious independence, her indomitable humour, the wisdom of her contemplation.Emmie Arbel: The Colour of Memory is at once a haunting portrayal of a historical atrocity, an inspiring account of a modern friendship, a beautiful work of art, and a meditation on memory itself.This graphic novel was developed as part of the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives Project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Intertwined Genocides explores the patterns and the internal logic of the genocides carried out by Croatian fascists - the Ustasha - against Serbs, Jews, and Roma during the Second World War. Korb argues that the Croatian fascists were not German puppets, but strong-minded and largely independent agents, despite the German and Italian occupation of their country. They tried to transform their short-lived wartime Croatian state into a mono-ethnic nation-state by force. Whilst pursuing their violent agenda, they soon lost control over much of their territory owing to the armed resistance of their victims. What followed was an escalation of multiple layers of collective violence: local genocide, the German Holocaust, the occupiers' war against partisans, and an escalating civil war, all inextricably intertwined.Because of this mix of perpetrators and their competing agendas, and because of the dynamics of violence and counter-violence, resistance and revenge, aggression and fear, Croatia became one of the most violent venues during the Second World War. Intertwined Genocides shows that South-eastern European nationalists carried out genocide independently of the Germans. Moreover, Alexander Korb brings critically important insights to the histories of violence, genocide, and its perpetrators: in a multi-ethnic society, genocide cannot be studied as an isolated phenomenon. Its dynamic escalation had dramatic effects on every ethnic group, and the victims' responses had a significant impact on the course of events throughout the Second World War, and into the latter half of the twentieth-century.

Im Schatten des Zweiten Weltkriegs versuchte die kroatische Ustasa-Bewegung, gewaltsam einen ethnisch homogenen Nationalstaat zu schaffen. Die Zerschlagung Jugoslawiens durch die Wehrmacht versetzte die Ustasa in die Lage, ein Terrorregime zu etablieren, das sich vornehmlich gegen Serben, Juden und Roma richtete. Damit entfesselte die Ustasa einen Bürgerkrieg, dem etwa 500 000 Menschen zum Opfer fielen.Korb fragt nach den Motiven, Interessen und Handlungsspielräumen der Ustasa, nach dem Verlauf des Gewalteinsatzes und nach dem Zusammenspiel von Bürgerkriegsdynamiken und Brutalisierung. Dabei beschreibt er eine komplexe Spirale der Gewalt, an der kroatische, serbische, deutsche und italienische Akteure beteiligt waren. Seine Studie erschließt auf eindrückliche Weise die Vielschichtigkeit des Geschehens und gibt damit der Holocaust- wie Gewaltforschung eintscheidende neue Anstöße.