Biographical Logics in the Age of Extremes

Michael David-Fox, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies at Georgetown University, will discuss Crucibles of Power: Smolensk under Stalinist and Nazi Rule, as a work that cross-fertilizes three fields -- the study of Stalinism, Nazi German occupation on the Eastern Front during World War II, and the Holocaust. Aiming squarely at the place where local and regional history meet the grand narrative, the book examines the workings of power and the dilemma of choice in extreme conditions. In this talk, David-Fox will focus on three of the book's major figures and the choices they made in terms of what the book calls biographical logics. In particular, the book highlights a significant group that has not been given as much attention as it deserves: ordinary people, far from the halls of power, who in an hour of crisis reached out to grab a slice of power for themselves. --- Event Details: https://my.princeton.edu/rsvp?id=1961981