Mr. Emanuel-Marius Grec

Professional Background

Emanuel-Marius Grec is a PhD candidate in history at the University of Heidelberg. Mr Grec holds two master’s degrees: one in Jewish studies from the Hochschule für Judische Studien in Heidelberg, and one in history from Central European University. He also serves as the coordinator of the English-language book series “Holocaust: Genocide, Antisemitism, Collaboration” at Vasile Goldis University Press and is a member of the Center for Judaic Studies in Arad. Mr. Grec's book, I am Ashamed to be Sad: The Journal of Mihail Sebastian as Lived History, was published by Vasile Goldis University Press in 2024.

Mr. Grec has held several fellowships, including a Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Shoah Studies, a doctoral fellowship at the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, a fellowship from Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk (ELES) in Germany, and a Yad Vashem Scholarship for Doctoral Students from the Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. 

Mr. Grec uses official documents, witness testimonies, trial records, and ego documents in his research. He is fluent in Romanian, English, and Spanish, with German research proficiency. 

Fellowship Research

While at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a Fred and Maria Devinki Memorial Fellow, Emanuel Grec will conduct research on the portrayal of perpetrators and war criminals during Romanian war crimes trials held between 1944 and 1948. In particular, his work focuses on the clusters of defendants who were responsible for the Odessa Massacre of 1941, and examines how accusations against ordinary administrative staff differed from those leveled against military personnel and war criminals characterized as fascist ideologues.  Mr. Grec plans to utilize the Museum’s archival collections related to Romania, including a combination of wartime and postwar documentation.

Residency Period: September 1, 2025–April 30, 2026