My life has been a mix of English and German since I was a teenager. I grew up in Ontario, Canada, in an English/Scottish household, so English is my first language. I started learning German in high school at the age of 15 and haven’t stopped since. I have worked, studied and traveled extensively in Germany all my adult life.
I am a historian of German and Canadian history by profession and have taught history at both universities in Vancouver, where I live. I have also worked in university administration at the Open University of British Columbia, which offers degree programs to adults across Canada.
My current work as an historian focuses on German-Jewish communities in eastern Germany, particularly in the state of Thuringia.
I currently have two major research projects: the first is to reassemble the Jewish community of the Kleinstadt of Themar, Thüringia through a website. [See Their Voices Live On: The Jews of Themar — a bilingual website]. Launched in 2009, the stories of Themar’s Jewish families have led to numerous links to other communities in Thüringen, Bavaria, and elsewhere, from which Jewish families came to Themar in the late 1800s. Now there are links to Jewish communities throughout Germany and the world.
The second project focuses on the two deportations of Thüringen Jews in 1942. On 10 May 1942, the first deportation transported over 500 Jews from cities, towns, and villages in Thüringen to Belzyce Ghetto in the Lublin District; on 19/20 September 1942, the second deportation carried Thüringen Jews to Theresienstadt Ghetto. A website, “10.05.1942 to Belzyce Ghetto: The Fate of Thuringia Jews,” is dedicated to the May 1942 deportation.
Awards and recognitions
• Honorary doctorate, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, British Columbia
• Entry in Golden Book, Lich/Hesse
• Honorary citizen, Themar, Thuringia
Education
• PhD [History], University of British Columbia Fields: Canada, Germany and Latin America. Dissertation: “The Struggle for the Sabbath: The Sabbatarian Movement in Canada, 1888-1912”.
The postcard on the right is a reminder of both my hometown of Toronto and my dissertation, as the question of whether or not streetcars were allowed to run on the Christian Sabbath was one of the major debates in the 1890s.
• MA [History], University of Toronto
Dissertation: “The Role of Literature in the Nazi Seizure of Power.”
• DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship, Universities of Freiburg im Breisgau and Hamburg
• DAAD Summer Scholarship
• BA, University of Toronto [History & Modern Languages (German & Spanish)]
Professional experience:
• 2022-: Lead researcher/curator, “10.05.1942 to the Belzyce Ghetto: The Fate of Thuringian Jews.”.
• 2019: Historical consultant, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, Exhibit “Treasured Belongings,”
• 2012-: Lead researcher and administrator, Hahn Collection, UBC
• 2009-: Curator, “Their Voices Live On: the Jews of Themar”
• 2007-2010: Lecturer, History of the Holocaust, University of British Columbia,
• 2003-2012: Research volunteer and German-English translator, Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre.
• 2002-2011: Educational Consultant, Postsecondary System, Undergraduate Degree Program Development
• 1992-2002: Dean of Arts and Sciences at British Columbia Open University, a distance education university.
• 1978-1992: Assistant Professor in the Departments of History at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University.