In the network of Nazi camps that spanned wartime Europe, prisoners of war (POWs) were often detained within the vicinity of slave camps for Jews and Slavs. This meant that British POWs across the continent were witnesses to one of history’s greatest horrors, the Holocaust.

Debilitated and disenfranchised from the war effort, their powerlessness in the face of such massive injustice served to reinforce their sense of paralysis. Even the most heroic among them were stymied by the crushing relentlessness of Nazi policy in action.

In this talk, Russell Wallis will use first-hand accounts to highlight the experiences of POWs held in places now firmly associated with the Holocaust, such as Buchenwald, Theresienstadt and, of course, Auschwitz.

Russell Wallis is an independent historian. He is currently working on projects that explore the role of British military justice in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.

Russell is the author of two books - 'Britain, Germany and the Road to the Holocaust' and 'British POWs and the Holocaust' - and a number of published articles. He has worked for Hashava, the Holocaust Restitution Company of Israel, and acted as consultant for the Holocaust Educational Trust.