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Mary Fulbrook grew up hearing about Udo Klausa, a family friend, good neighbor and civilian administrator in the small town of Bedzin, Poland. His wife, Alexandra, was Fulbrook’s godmother. As an adult living in England, Fulbrook discovered that Udo had been a Nazi functionary who had faithfully followed orders that led to the herding of 85,000 Jews to slave labor camps and gas chambers. She uncovered Udo’s past by chance, leafing through old letters that her mother had received from Alexandra, who wrote of dead Jews lying in the streets of their hometown. On March 28 at the Central Queens Y, Fulbrook, a professor of German history at London’s University College, will talk about her new book on the topic, A Small Town Near Auschwitz. Her story is scary because it was so commonplace. Udo is one of thousands of low- and middle-level government functionaries across the Third Reich who considered themselves to be decent humans, but also facilitated the Holocaust. Without their diligent cooperation, the Nazi leaders would not have been able to carry out their massive murderous plans.

Professor to Discuss Book on Family Friend Who Turned Out to be a Nazi Functionary
Central Queens Y
67-09 108th Street, Forest Hills
Thursday, March 28
1:30pm – 3pm | $6 suggested donation


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