Holocaust Archaeologies: Approaches and Future Directions

Dr Caroline Sturdy Colls is an Associate Professor at Staffordshire University specialising in forensic and Holocaust archaeology. She is also the Research Lead and founder of the Centre of Archaeology at the same institution. Her research focuses on the application of interdisciplinary approaches to the investigation of Holocaust landscapes. As part of this research, she completed the first archaeological surveys of the former extermination camp at Treblinka (Poland), the sites pertaining to the slave labour programme in Alderney (the Channel Islands) and the former Semlin Judenlager and Anhaltlager (Serbia). She has published extensively in Holocaust and forensic archaeology. Her research has received international media attention via television documentaries and radio programmes aired in Europe and the US. She also acts as a Scientific Advisor for Kamp Westerbork and sits on the NWO Holocaust Archaeology Group. Caroline is also a Consultant for the Polish-German Reconciliation Foundation, searching for mass graves of the Holocaust across Poland. Caroline is also a member of the Forensic Archaeology Expert Panel and regularly undertakes forensic search and recovery work with UK Police forces. Her particular interests in this field include the application of forensic archaeological methods to the investigation of cold cases and socio-historic conflicts. She is also a Member of the Institute For Archaeologists (MIFA) and a Member and Assessor for the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences (MCSFS). As the Research Lead of the Centre of Archaeology, her interest in archaeology goes beyond the recent past and she has managed a number of large-scale research and consultancy projects across Europe.