BOONE, N.C.—Dr. Edward B. Westermann, a professor of history at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, will lecture on his recent book “Hitler’s Ostkrieg and the Indian Wars: Comparing Genocide and Conquest” at 7 p.m. Feb. 2 in Room 114 of Belk Library and Information Commons on the campus of Appalachian State University.

The lecture – sponsored by Appalachian’s Humanities Council and Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies – is free and open to the public. Belk Library and Information Commons is located at 218 College St. For more information, call the center at 828-262-2311.

In “Hitler’s Ostkrieg and the Indian Wars,” published by the University of Oklahoma Press last year, Westermann examines the parallels that Hitler drew between the Nazi quest for Lebensraum in Eastern Europe and the westward expansion of the United States, known as Manifest Destiny. He shows how both projects linked national identity with racial stereotypes in order to justify a politics of exclusion and violence. He also identifies crucial differences between these projects of national expansion.

“Hitler’s Ostkrieg and the Indian Wars” has been described as “comparative history at its best.” In an editorial review on amazon.com, Robert Wooster, author of “The American Military Frontiers: The United States Army in the West, 1783–1900,” wrote: “This thoughtful, provocative book compares the Nazi occupation of Eastern Europe with the United States’ conquest of the American West. Its insights and conclusions are sure to stimulate new debates among a broad array of scholars.”

Westermann, who earned a Ph.D. in history from UNC Chapel Hill, also wrote “Hitler’s Police Battalions: Enforcing Racial War in the East” (University Press of Kansas, 2005) and “Flak: German Anti- Aircraft Defenses, 1914-1945” (University Press of Kansas, 2001). He serves as the distinguished scholar in residence at the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the Free University of Berlin, a German Academic Exchange Service fellow on three occasions, and a fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with 25 years of service.

About the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies

Appalachian State University’s Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies was founded in 2002 to develop new educational opportunities for students, teachers and the community. Located administratively within the College of Arts and Sciences, the center seeks to strengthen tolerance, understanding and remembrance by increasing the knowledge of Jewish culture and history, teaching the history and meaning of the Holocaust, and utilizing these experiences to explore peaceful avenues for human improvement and the prevention of further genocides. The Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies is an associate institutional member of the Association of Jewish Studies, a member of the Association of Holocaust Organizations and a member of the North Carolina Consortium of Jewish Studies.

About the Humanities Council

Appalachian State University’s Humanities Council provides interdisciplinary opportunities and events on campus throughout the year, promoting the importance of the humanities in relationship to other fields.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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