The Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program, (HAPP) will host the international conference Escape From the Holocaust? The Fate of Jews in Finland and Other Scandinavian Countries on June 17, 2008. The conference will present the findings of recent studies of the exceptional status of Finnish Jews and discusses the rescue of Jews from the Holocaust in several European countries.

Click here to view the entire conference program

ESCAPE FROM THE HOLOCAUST?
THE FATE OF JEWS IN FINLAND AND OTHER SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES
June 17, 2008

Cosponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and
Thanks to Scandinavia (New York)
American-Scandinavian Foundation (New York)
National Archives of Finland
University of Tampere
Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University

09:00am-09:15am
Welcome and Opening Remarks

Walter Reich, Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center, Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Professor of International Affairs, Ethics and Human Behavior, George Washington University; former director, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Leslie D. Simon, former Senior Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center; member of the Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee

09:15am-10:00am
Keynote

Ambassador James E. Goodby, The Brookings Institution/Hoover Institution

10:00am-10:30am
Coffee Break

10:30am-12:30pm
Panel 1 – The Scandinavian Countries and the Holocaust

Chaired by Walter Reich, Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center

Scandinavian Countries: on the Sidelines of the Holocaust?
-Professor Henrik Meinander, University of Helsinki

The Fate of the Jews in the Other Scandinavian Counties: Sweden, Denmark, Norway
-Professor Emeritus Sune Persson, University of Gothenburg

The Holocaust in Bulgaria: Balkan Finland? Balkan Denmark? A Comparative Approach
-Steven F. Sage, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Commentator: Meredith Hindley, Adjunct Professor, American University

12:30pm-02:00pm
Lunch Break


02:00pm-04:00pm
Panel 2 – Finland and the Holocaust

Chaired by Samuel F. Wells, Associate Director, Woodrow Wilson Center

Why did Finland Escape from the Holocaust?
-Assoc. Professor Hannu Rautkallio, University of Tampere

The Position of the Jews of Finland in the War of 1939-1944
-Rony Smolar, Chairman, The Helsinki Jewish Congregation

Deportations and the Exchange of Jewish POW´s with Germany
-Jussi Nuorteva, Director General, National Archives of Finland

Commentator: Carl Modig, Program Coordinator, International Archival Programs Division, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

4:00pm-5:00pm
Closing Address

Chaired by Michael Haltzel, Senior Fellow, Center for Transatlantic
Relations, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

The Position of Finland Before, During and After WW II
-Ambassador Max Jakobson (ret.)


This conference was made possible with support from the following sponsors:
Finnair
Kalevatravel
Nokia
Rautaruukki
Riihi Foundation
Sampo
Stockmann
Varma
Uuden Päivän rahasto Foundation
WSOY Publishers