Roni Mikel-Arieli: Jewish Detainees in Mauritius During WWII

In this episode, we speak with Roni Mikel Arieli, a cultural historian and Teaching and Research Fellow at the Rabb Center for Holocaust Studies, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Mikel Arieli specializes in modern Jewish history, African studies, Holocaust and genocide studies, and memory studies. We dive into her work on Jewish detainees exiled to Mauritius during World War II—a story of colonial entanglement, survival, and remembrance.Her book Remembering the Holocaust in a Racial State: Holocaust Memory in South Africa from Apartheid to Democracy (1948–1994) (De Gruyter, 2022) expands on themes of memory and power. You can read her recent articles on deportation, digital Holocaust memory, and anti-fascism in South Africa, down below!📖 Selected works:“The Jewish Question in the British Colonial Imagination” – Jewish Social Studies (2023): https://muse.jhu.edu/article/873285“What We Talk About When We Talk About Digital Holocaust Memory” – The Communication Review (2023): https://doi.org/10.1080/10714421.2023.2177489“The Great Trek Towards Nazism” – South African Historical Journal (2022): https://doi.org/10.1080/02582473.2021.2009014Book: Remembering the Holocaust in a Racial State (2022): https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110715545VIDEO TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 | Intro – Interview with Dr. Roni Mikel Arieli00:01:51 | Why were 1,581 Jewish detainees sent to Mauritius in 1940?00:31:48 | How did detainees respond to Shertok calling Beau Bassin a “British Dachau”?00:41:23 | What sources and testimonies informed your research?00:48:05 | How did Genevieve Pitot’s and Nathacha Appanah’s works relate to yours?00:57:33 | How have family, friends, and scholars responded to your research?01:06:34 | Were there any surprising moments during your research?