Professional Background
Laurien Vastenhout is a senior researcher at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies and a lecturer in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies master’s program at the University of Amsterdam. She received her PhD in history from the University of Sheffield, and has held fellowships at institutions including the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (a Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Holocaust Studies), the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, and the University of Vienna.
Dr. Vastenhout’s research examines the persecution of Jews in Western Europe during World War II from a comparative viewpoint, with a particular focus on Jewish councils, “mixed” marriages, and questions of survival, identity, and agency under Nazi rule. Her work demonstrates how bureaucratic structures, legal ambiguities, and social dynamics shaped the experiences of individuals and communities targeted by persecution. Her monograph Between Community and Collaboration: “Jewish Councils” in Western Europe under Nazi Occupation (Cambridge University Press, 2022) was awarded the Yad Vashem International Book Prize for Holocaust Research in 2023.
Dr. Vastenhout has published widely in leading journals, contributed to exhibitions and public history projects, and received several awards, including the 2025 Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences’ Early Career Award.
Fellowship Research
While at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a Sosland Foundation Fellow, Laurien Vastenhout will conduct research on the experiences of Jewish/non-Jewish “mixed” couples and their families in Western Europe during the Holocaust. Her study explores how personal relationships, family networks, and local legal contexts shaped these couples’ strategies for coping with persecution and pursuing survival. Dr. Vastenhout will utilize the Museum’s rich oral history collections to engage with more universal themes such as love, resilience, and emotional life under extreme pressure, highlighting dynamics that resonate beyond this specific context and speak to other experiences of war and genocide.
Residency Period: January 1, 2027 – April 30, 2027