Edward Westermann: Thirst, Dehydration, and Water Sanitation in the Holocaust

Edward Westermann is the Theodore Zev and Alice R. Weiss HEF Chair in Holocaust Studies and Visiting Professor in the Department of History at Northwestern University. He is the author of Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany, which received the 2023 Yad Vashem International Book Prize for Holocaust Research.In this conversation, Professor Westermann discusses his research on thirst, water deprivation, sanitation, disease, and embodied suffering in the Holocaust. The interview considers how dehydration shaped prisoner experience in camps and transports, how water scarcity intersected with starvation and illness, and how control over water functioned within the broader system of domination and dehumanization.We previously spoke with Professor Westermann about Drunk on Genocide. That conversation is linked below.Previous interview: https://youtu.be/z0rLwBDWPXQ?si=nJuJTQld8plp5rdA00:00 Opening02:23 Introduction02:52 Why Study Thirst in the Holocaust?05:49 “Thirst is Dreadful, Worse Than Hunger”10:46 Reconstructing Thirst Through Historical and Medical Sources15:22 Water Sources in Camps and Killing Sites26:22 SS Access to Water and Prisoner Deprivation30:33 Latrines, Excrement, and the Lack of Water37:58 Dehumanization, Disease, and Misattributed Deaths44:44 Water Deprivation as Control49:57 Humiliation, Perpetrator Behavior, and the Boger Swing55:03 Why Has Thirst Been Marginalized in Holocaust Studies?1:02:37 Charlotte Delbo, Useless Knowledge, and Survivor Testimony1:03:09 Water, Genocide, and Other Historical Contexts1:08:04 The Ethical Challenges of Researching Thirst1:12:52 Book Recommendations1:14:15 Closing