Helmut Walser Smith

Martha Rivers Ingram Chair of History, Vanderbilt University

Helmut Walser Smith is the Martha Rivers Ingram Chair of History at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. His books include The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Antisemitism in a German Town (2002), The Continuities of German History: Nation, Religion, and Race across the Long 19th Century (2008) and Germany: A Nation in Its Time (2020).

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Written by Helmut Walser Smith

Four red candles on a snowy memorial with engraved words, including “Berlin” and “Auschwitz”, with a dark background and overcast sky.

essay

History

Those born later

How does a nation begin to take responsibility for its past wrongs? The German case suggests courage comes locally

Helmut Walser Smith

Black-and-white photo of a group of people in hats and coats in front of a German sign reading “Nochmal? Mit uns nicht!”

essay

Nations and empires

Exit the Fatherland

Shaking off Nazism was no simple matter: the work to create a plural and peacable Germany was prolonged and painful

Helmut Walser Smith