The Archaeology of the Holocaust

May 6, 2019
Freund (Digging Through History: Archaeology and Religion from Atlantis to the Holocaust), a Jewish history professor at the University of Hartford who has led archaeological expeditions, explains how recently developed high-tech tools have facilitated discoveries about the Holocaust, in this fascinating volume based largely on his experiences in the field. As he notes, Jewish law condemns disturbing human remains; the use of “noninvasive geoscience” tools like ground-penetrating radar enables scientists to obtain images to identify potential excavation sites before any digging is planned. He describes his team’s work in Rhodes and in Lithuania, which included extensive research into what was known about the areas to be explored before any planning was undertaken, including interviews with survivors. In Lithuania, Freund’s team discovered both an escape tunnel dug from a concentration camp and burial pits suggesting that the Nazis began carrying out their “final solution” six months before it was formally discussed at the notorious Wannsee Conference of 1942. Not everything will be clear to the lay reader, who may, for instance, wonder why a standard principle of geology dictates that “the most ancient layer is below the most recent layer of construction.” Despite that, this is a valuable addition to the topic that makes good use of the author’s expertise.