World War II and The Radicalization of Academic Antigypsyism in Sweden. A case of Uppsala University's Researchers with Dr. Andrej Kotliartchouk

Abstrakt
Like many other European countries, Sweden has a dark chapter of ignominious history involving discrimination targeting the Romani people. In October 1942, the government of Sweden announced a plan “to solve the Gypsy problem.” How strange were the ideas of racial Antigypsyism to the wartime academic community? What role did the researchers at Uppsala University play in the conceptualization and implementation of the 1942 governmental plan? Based on archival records and published sources, the presentation examines the radicalization of academic Antigypsyism in Sweden during World War II and the reaction of those scholars who took a critical position to pseudo-scientific racism.

Speaker Bio
Dr. Andrej Kotliartchouk is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of History, Uppsala University. His research focuses on ethnic minorities, the Nazi genocide of Roma, the role of experts, and memory politics. His most recent list of publications includes the articles “Babi Yar and the Nazi Genocide of Roma. Memory narratives and memory practices in Ukraine” (Nationalities Papers, 2022:50/3) and “State, experts and Roma. Allan Etzler and the pseudo-scientific racism in Sweden” (Scandinavian Journal of History, 2020: 45/6).

This event is hybrid, thus attendance is possible via Zoom.