Why is the past so fascinating? Well, I’m curious about who we are, where we came from and how we got here. And it’s always amazing to find out what makes us the way we are; how people create their own history and how history moulds them.
To add knowledge and deepen our insight into the past, I investigate common developments and joint experiences, detecting patterns and exceptions. However, I don’t ignore actions taken by individuals – outstanding persons as well as people who operate in the background, every kind of people who all give shape to history.
Looking closely at individual and group circumstances and characteristics lays bare the normality and peculiarity of human nature, and the fragility and tenacity of life.
Research and publications
One of my areass of interest is integration of immigrants and their descendants into western European societies during the modern era. On this subject, I have published books in English about changes in attitudes to immigrants in Britain between 1841 and 2021, notably the language used to put these feelings into words. In these studies I apply a linguistic historical approach to throw new light on past events and developments.
I’m also interested in the subject of Jewish resistance to the Holocaust. My latest English book is an academic case study on individuals and small groups in Jewish resistance in the Netherlands. My latest Dutch book provides a general review of this subject based on personal portraits.
My work has been acknowledged through an appointment as Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Humanities of the University of Glasgow. I’m also a member of the forum Jews Saving Jews at the Faculty of Jewish Studies of Bar-Ilan University.
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Photos on this page by Norma Braber-McKinney.
Ben Braber 