Jointly organized with the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation (Berlin) and the NS Documentation Center, the event will take place on November 6 and 7 focusing on the so-called disavowed
The fourth edition of the annual series Subaltern Memories, organized by the European Observatory on Memories (EUROM), will be held in Cologne on November 6 and 7. This year’s focus will be on the so-called “disavowed”: people labeled as asocials and professional criminals under Nazism and Fascism. The conference is jointly organized by EUROM, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation (Berlin), and the NS Documentation Center (Cologne), in collaboration with Catalunya Internacional and the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia in Germany.
Over two days, international experts and scholars will discuss the ideological, legal, and institutional frameworks that underpinned the persecution of individuals in Germany, the occupied territories, and allied fascist states such as Francoist Spain. Participants will also explore the personal experiences of those persecuted, their silenced voices, and the ongoing social exclusion that persisted after 1945.
Alongside the talks and roundtables, the exhibition The Disavowed. Victims of National Socialism 1933–1945–Today will be open to visitors in Cologne from October 8, 2025, to January 4, 2026.
Programme: The Disavowed. Subaltern Memories 2025
Beyond the main policies of extermination — robbery, forced labor, and racist mass murder — the Nazi regime also imposed “social-racist” concepts of order on traditionally marginalized groups. Despite the historical magnitude of these persecutions, research on the topic remains fragmented and insufficiently contextualized within the broader history of German occupation in Europe.
The conference begins with a guided tour of the exhibition The Disavowed. Victims of National Socialism 1933–1945–Today, led by curators Ulrich Baumann, Oliver Gaida, Laura López Mras, and Christa Schikorra, followed by opening remarks from Henning Borgräffe (Director, NS Documentation Center of Cologne), Marie Kapretz (Head of the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to Germany), Ulrich Baumann (Deputy Director, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation), and Jordi Guixé (Director, EUROM).
The first round table, Over a Decade of Struggle for the “Disavowed”: What’s Been Achieved?, brings together leading voices in the recognition and remembrance of these victims: Andreas Kranebitter (Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance, Vienna), Ines Eichmüller and Daniel Haberlah (Association for the Remembrance of the Disavowed Victims of National Socialism, Vevon), and Ulrike Winkler (Advisory Board, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation).
The second day opens with the panel Continuities and Changes of Exclusionary Politics – Experiences in Different Systems of Rule, featuring César Lorenzo Rubio (University of Barcelona), presenting Criminalization of Social Deviance in Franco’s Dictatorship: From Vagrancy to Dangerousness Law (1933–1978); Øystein Hetland (University of Oslo), exploring The Persecution of “Outsiders” in Occupied Norway; and Jens Jäger (University of Cologne), examining Interpol’s Activity During WWII.
The following session, Unknown Persecution in Occupied Territories – Untold Stories of Violence, includes Pavla Plachá (Prague) on Overlooked Fates of “Asocials” and “Career Criminals” Deported to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp; Jérôme Courtoy and Daniel Thilman (Esch-sur-Alzette / Luxembourg) on Denied, Forgotten, Rediscovered: Social-Racist Persecution in Occupied Luxembourg; and Rense Havinga (Groesbeek) on Researching Prisoners Labelled as “Asocial” in Concentration Camps in the Netherlands.
In the afternoon, the third panel — Memories, Memorials, Members of Subaltern Groups — explores the memory and representation of marginalized communities in postwar Europe. Speakers include Joanna Ostrowska (Warsaw) on The History of Marginalized Groups and Their Place in the Polish Politics of Memory; Núria Ricart Ulldemolins (University of Barcelona) on Memory as Process: Les Corts Women’s Prison – an Unfinished Place; and Pascal Luongo (Marseille) on Marseille 1943, a City and Its Inhabitants Targeted: Anatomy of a Crime Against Humanity.
The conference concludes with closing remarks by Stefanie Endlich (Berlin), who will reflect on the intersections of research, public memory, and contemporary practices of inclusion and justice.
Together, these sessions aim to weave new connections between historical research, cultural memory, and current social reflection — reaffirming the importance of acknowledging those whose suffering and exclusion have long remained outside the dominant narratives of remembrance.
The event will be live streamed at this link.
In previous editions, the Subaltern Memories series has addressed the struggles of the LGBTIQ+ community (2022), the case of the Roma people (2023), and the persecution of persons with disabilities (2024).