Book Presentation with Dr. Johannes Spohr
A grandfather who worked as a camp doctor at a concentration camp. Mountains of files in federal and state archives. Conversations with relatives who would prefer to remain silent. *Present Past* brings together ten very different accounts from descendants who have set out to trace their families’ histories during the Nazi era – and shows just how varied the research, discoveries and ways of dealing with them can be.
Image gallery
Present Past. Wie Nachfahren ihre NS-Familiengeschichte erforschen
The volume was edited by Dr Johannes Spohr in collaboration with Claudia Krieg. Spohr not only conducts his own research into Nazi family histories in Berlin, but also carries out professional research on behalf of private individuals in archives through his service ‘Present Past’ – a field that is becoming increasingly professionalised. He will be presenting the volume at the Mitte Museum’s branch and will then discuss with the audience what this growing private remembrance work might mean for society’s engagement with the Nazi era.
Dr Johannes Spohr is a historian based in Berlin and runs the archive research service ‘Present Past’, which focuses on Nazi history within families and society. In 2020, he completed his PhD in Hamburg on the late German occupation of Central Ukraine; in 2022, his book *Phantastische Gesellschaft* was published, exploring false and imagined Nazi family histories. He is a board member of Kontakte-Kontakty e.V.
Claudia Krieg, born in Magdeburg in 1977, works as an editor, researcher and author.
Moderator: Luise Haubenreiser
The event will take place at the Mitte Museum’s branch on Mathilde-Jacob-Platz.
- Admission is free
- Register at info@mittemuseum.de
Additional information
Dates
September 2026
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