May 5, 1996
On another note: There is an interesting conference shaping up I know some folks in the Toronto area will want to know about. I wish there had been more lead time - this could really have been advertised widely and built up properly. But maybe it will lead to bigger things and become a regular event.
Conference on The Allied Occupation of Central Europe: Justice or Revenge?
At Massey College, University of Toronto, May 17,18,19, 1996. Sponsored by the Historical Society of Mecklenburg/Upper Canada.
Organizers: Barber, de Zayas and Bacque (see below). President of the Mecklenburg Society: Prof. Dr. Hartmut Froeschle, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto.
The purpose of the conference is to assemble from many countries scholars to address specific aspects of the general theme. The list of countries to be represented includes Germany, the UK, the USA and Canada. The organizers hope to arrange publication of the papers in a book.
The controversy surrounding German history 1945-1950 has recently been enlivened by the debate over the fate of German prisoners since 1945. Both sides of the debate will be represented.
The list of speakers includes:
Alfred de Zayas, author of many books on postwar German history and the expellees, visiting professor of International Law, DePaul University, Chicago, and Senior Legal Counsel, UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva;
Otto Kimminich, professor of history and author of books on the Donauschwaben and other expellees, University of Regensburg, Germany;
Dr. Anthony B. Miller, Professor and Head, Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Toronto, and consultant to the WHO, Geneva;
Brian Villa, Professor, University of Ottawa, author and contributor to a book on prisoners in US hands;
Count Nikolai Tolstoy, Abingdon, England, author of several books about the British policies in Austria and Germany;
Prof. Ron Pruessen, Erindale College, University of Toronto; author of John Foster Dulles, The Road to Power;
Prof. Norman Davies, University of London; Prof. La Vern Rippley, Professor of German, St Olaf's College, Wisconsin;
Prof. Ed Peterson, Professor of German history, University of Wisconsin.
Prof. Peter Buitenhuis, UBC, author of many books including The Great War of Words on Allied wartime propaganda;
Richard Wiggers, Georgetown University;
James Bacque, author of several books on postwar German history;
The preceding have all accepted to speak. Dr Barber may preside, as well as help to organize. He is Professor of History, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago.
The list of topics to be covered will be refined in the near future, but will include, Statistics and History (Miller); The expulsion of Germans from the eastern territories, 1945-1955 (Kimminich); Nuremberg--Justice? or Revenge? (de Zayas); Conflicts in Allied policy planning (tent.--Pruessen); Problems of historical evidence: Other Losses and/or Verschwiegene Schuld; (Villa); The fate of German prisoners and civilians in 1945-50 (Bacque); Reaction of Two German ex-PoW to allegations of western mistreatment after 1945 (Rippley); The Soviet Occupation of Eastern Germany (Peterson); The Misunderstood Victory in Europe (Davies); British, Russians and Cossacks, 1945-1996 (Tolstoy); The influence of wartime propaganda on postwar policy (Buitenhuis); The Occupation Viewed from the Vatican (Wiggers).
The public will be invited to all sessions. Sessions will be plenary.
General chair-John Fraser, Master of Massey College. We have reserved the main common room and the upper library for the sessions. Capacity in the library is about 45 guests plus the speakers.
We also plan to have a banquet and big public session at noon on Sunday the 19th, with Kimminich, and/or de Zayas to speak.
James Bacque
Chair, Organizing Committee
Toronto March 12, 1996
Tickets will cost $15 per half-day session, or $25 for the full day. The banquet and speeches on Sunday afternoon, May 19 will cost $25. For further information about tickets etc, call Chris Klein at (416) 439 1546. For information about media arrangements for the participants, content of speeches, etc, send a fax to James Bacque at (416) 696 6360.
We recommend that you order your tickets very soon as demand is strong. Tickets ordered in advance must be paid for by cheque in advance. Make cheques out to the Schiller Foundation, Toronto. Tickets will NOT be mailed out: you will receive them at the door. Please arrive 15 minutes early to allow time for handing out tickets. Friday and Sunday sessions at Massey College, 4 Devonshire Place, just south of Varsity Stadium. Saturday session at the George Ignatieff Theater, opposite Massey College, directly adjacent to the south side of Varsity Stadium on Devonshire Place.
Please distribute this widely. It sounds like a most worthwhile conference.
Have a nice Sunday!
Ingrid
"Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry."
(Mark Twain)