Conjugal Mixedness and Nazi Necropolitics in Occupied Poland Event

A sepia-toned historical photograph shows two people standing together on a city street, with buildings, pedestrians and a kiosk visible in the background. The image appears to be an archival snapshot taken in an urban setting.

Time:: 18:00 to 19:30
Date:: 2026-11-10 18:00:00
Venue:: Online via Zoom

Event details

Join the Parkes Institute for a lecture from their 2026/27 Visiting Fellow, Magdalena Dziaczkowska.

Using oral histories of Jewish-Catholic couples who survived the Holocaust in occupied Poland, this talk examines what conjugal mixedness reveals about Nazi necropolitics and how it can help us develop a more coherent framework for understanding the experiences of Jews and non-Jews under Nazi occupation.

It advances three main arguments:

(1) Viewed through the lived experiences of mixed couples, the persecution of Jews and non-Jews can be understood as part of as part of the same necropolitical power framework, determining differential exposure to death of its subjects.

(2) Conjugal mixedness illuminates the inconsistencies and contingencies of Nazi necropolitics and their implications for survival.

(3) The study of mixedness complicates the binary distinction between rescuer and rescued, while enriching our understanding of agency among victims of genocide.

These claims will be discussed in relation to the archival material from Visual History Archive and other collections.

Speaker Bio

Dr Magdalena Dziaczkowska is a researcher at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, and a Swedish Research Council International Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research lies at the intersection of Jewish-Christian relations, Holocaust studies, memory studies, and oral history. She currently leads the project Jewish-Catholic Intermarriage in Poland Before, During and After the Holocaust. Her work examines mixed identities, interreligious encounters, and the negotiation of political memory in post-conflict settings.