2024 Kristallnacht Commemorative Lecture: Profits and Persecution with Dr. Peter Hayes

Join celebrated Holocaust scholar Peter Hayes for the AHEC’s annual Kristallnacht Commemorative Lecture. Hosted in partnership with the UAB Department of History, this lecture will provide an exclusive preview of Hayes’ upcoming book, Profits and Persecution: German Big Business in the Nazi Economy and the Holocaust.

Were German businesses Nazi collaborators, or were they just doing business with the Nazis? Hayes will explore how German businesses during the Nazi regime became involved with and vital to the Nazi persecution, exploitation, and murder of the Jewish people. He will reveal how the Nazi regime used a corrupting combination of intimidation and temptation to win the support of the German corporate world and earn their participation in what he terms “the normalization of barbarism.” Shockingly, few of these businessmen were ever brought to justice for their actions, and Hayes will unravel the mystery of why and how these individuals escaped prosecution.

The event will be held at UAB’s Hulsey Auditorium on November 7th with a reception at 5:30pm. The lecture will then promptly begin at 6:00pm. Join us to learn more about how ordinary German businesses became Nazi collaborators and enjoy a sneak peek of Hayes’ new book!