Finding Treblinka: Forensic and Archaeological Discoveries

2026 Ina Levine Annual Lecture

The Treblinka killing center is a site defined by erasure, firstly due to the murder of 800,000 to one million people by the Nazis and their collaborators, and then as a result of their efforts to remove the evidence of these crimes. However, new cutting-edge research has shown that physical evidence—found in the landscape, in the ground, and in the archives—can transform our knowledge of victims' experiences and perpetrator behavior. Join us to learn more about the spaces and traces the Nazis tried to hide and the new approaches and technologies that are being used to find them.

Opening Remarks 
Dr. Elizabeth Anthony, Director, Visiting Scholar Programs, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Speaker
Dr. Caroline Sturdy Colls, Director, Centre of Archaeology; Professor of Holocaust Archaeology and Genocide Investigation, University of Huddersfield; Museum’s 2025–26 Ina Levine Invitational Scholar 

Moderator
Dr. Robert Ehrenreich, Director, Academic Research and Dissemination, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. For more information, please contact vscholars@ushmm.org.

The Ina Levine Invitational Scholar Award is endowed by the William S. and Ina Levine Foundation of Phoenix, Arizona.

_{The mission of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center, part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, is to ensure the long-term growth and vitality of Holocaust Studies. To do that, it is essential to provide opportunities for new generations of scholars. The vitality and the integrity of Holocaust Studies require openness, independence, and free inquiry, so that new ideas are generated and tested through peer review and public debate. The opinions of scholars expressed before, during, or after their activities with the Mandel Center do not represent and are not endorsed by the Mandel Center or the Museum.}