SS personnel drink beer during a party at the Sobibor killing center in German-occupied Poland. IWM HU 74914
The Nazi war machine relied on the willingness of ordinary men to commit murder day after day. Though some were true believers who had no compunction about killing, others were lured into the brotherhood with alcohol, music, and bonding rituals that linked war with manhood. Women were also enticed by Nazi ideology to commit violence.
On and off the battlefield, some Nazis and their collaborators were intoxicated by alcohol—and their own power. Join us to learn about what fueled mass murder as the Nazis advanced through Europe and eastward into the Soviet Union.
Guest
Dr. Edward B. Westermann, Regents Professor of History, Texas A&M University-San Antonio and author of Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany
Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. You do not need a Facebook account to view our program. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube pages.
Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany is published by Cornell University Press in association with the Museum.