The 2025-26 colloquium highlighted the resistance and creative works that emerged from the survival of those who fled Nazi Germany. Click here to watch the recorded events.

In 1933, as Hitler consolidated power, thousands of Jewish and dissident German artists and academics faced persecution, not only from Nazi antisemitism, but also from the regime’s totalitarian control over culture and society (known as Gleichschaltung). As Nazism spread, many painters, writers, filmmakers, and scholars sought refuge in Europe and the U.S., though restrictive and antisemitic immigration policies often blocked their escape. This series explored the history, contributions, and lasting impact of those who escaped, with help from various support networks, through lectures, poetry readings, and faculty development events each semester.  

The colloquium was organized by the 2025-26 KHC-NEH Faculty Fellows, Alison Cimino, Lecturer, Department of English, M.F.A.; Dr. Beth Counihan, Professor, Department of English; and Dr. Mark Zelcer, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Social Sciences.