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Dr. Gerald Steinacher

Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Fellow
"Nazi Loophole Italy: How the War Criminals could Flee from Europe"

Professional Background

Dr. Gerald Steinacher received a Ph.D. and an M.A. in history from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. During his fellowship at the Museum, he was Archivist and Historian at the Bolzano State Archives in Italy. For his Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies Fellowship, Dr. Steinacher conducted research on “Nazi Loophole Italy: How the War Criminals could Flee from Europe.”

Dr. Steinacher is the author of numerous scholarly articles including and has edited three books including Faschismen im Gedächtnis (Innsbruck Studien Verlag, 2005) and Südtirol im Dritten Reich : NS-Herrschaft im Norden Italiens, 1943-1945 (Innsbruck Studien Verlag, 2003). For his scholarly work, Dr. Steinacher has received the Ludwig Jedlicka Prize for Austrian History and prestigious scholarships from the Austrian Ministry of Science, the Italian Department of State, and the Austrian Historical Institute of Rome, Italy. He was a member of the International Intelligence History Association and the Working Group for Regional History at the time of his fellowship, and previously served as an expert consultant for the Italian Military in the persecution of war criminals.

Fellowship Research

While in residence at the Center, Dr. Steinacher conducted intensive research on the Italian-Austrian borderland known as South Tyrol. Immediately after the Holocaust prominent Nazi officials fled Europe through this region to South America, including Adolf Eichmann. Dr. Steinacher investigated how and why thousands of war criminals and collaborators managed to escape using this route.

Dr. Steinacher was in residence at the Mandel Center from January 1 to July 31, 2006.