Ep. 30: Political Analysis & Debate: Prof. Dr. Omer Bartov (Brown University)

Guests: Prof. Dr. Omer Bartov – Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Brown University, Rhode Island, USA Hosts: Yusuf & Efe Bio: Prof. Dr. Omer Bartov, born in Israel in 1954, is a world-leading scholar of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He served in the Israeli army during the 1973 Yom Kippur War before studying history at Tel Aviv University and earning his doctorate from Oxford on Wehrmacht war crimes. His research examines how violence unfolds through armies, ideologies, neighbors, and communities. His landmark book Anatomy of a Genocide (Simon & Shuster, 2018) studies the town of Buczacz, his mother’s birthplace, as a case of local-level genocide; it won the National Jewish Book Award and the Yad Vashem International Book Prize. His most recent book, Genocide, the Holocaust, and Israel-Palestine (Yale University Press, 2023), is available in German translation. In this episode: Yusuf and Efe discuss with Prof. Bartov the personal and political dimensions of studying mass violence. They explore his family history and its influence on his scholarship, the evolution of the concept of genocide, and why he considers the events in Gaza to constitute genocide. He also addresses rising campus protests in the U.S., debates around antisemitism and authoritarianism, and broader challenges in public discourse. The conversation concludes with insights on Holocaust and genocide education. This episode was recorded on April 16, 2025. Links: Prof. Dr. Omer Bartov, Brown University: https://history.brown.edu/people/omer-bartov Anatomy of a Genocide: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Anatomy-of-a-Genocide/Omer-Bartov/9781451684544 Genozid, Holocaust und israel-Palästina https://www.suhrkamp.de/buch/omer-bartov-genozid-holocaust-und-israel-palaestina-t-9783633543359 Genocide, the Holocaust, and Israel-Palestine (English): https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/genocide-the-holocaust-and-israelpalestine-9781350332317 Bartov calling Oct 7 an “act of genocidal violence”: https://www.zeit.de/2025/25/omer-bartov-benjamin-netanjahu-nahostkonflikt-kritiker-instrumentalisierung-holocaust/seite-2 Bartov, NYT, July 15, 2025: I’m a Genocide Scholar. I know it when I see it: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/opinion/israel-gaza-holocaust-genocide-palestinians.html Disclaimer: Guest opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast team. Technical legal terms are explained in Episode 36 with Prof. Claus Kreß; contested histories are addressed by Prof. Gudrun Krämer in Episode 21.