American Scholar to Head Historical Archive on Victims of the Holocaust

Rebecca Boehling, professor of history and director of the Dresher Center for the Humanities at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has been named director of the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany. The International Tracing Service was established by the Allies in the closing days of World War II and was run by the Red Cross. Its mission was to track the victims of the Holocaust and others who were displaced by the Nazi regime.

In 2007, the records of the organization were opened to scholars and researchers and its archives have become an important resource for historical research. Professor Boehling will become director of ITS in January.

In announcing the appointment, Frédéric Baleine du Laurens, director of archives at the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs noted. “Strong academic and administrative leadership is required to ensure the continuing institutional transformation of the ITS into a center for documentation, information, and research of world importance.”

Professor Boehling is an affiliate professor both for Jewish studies and gender and women’s studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in central European history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She is the co-author of Life and Loss in the Shadow of the Holocaust: A Jewish Family’s Untold Story (Cambridge University Press, 2011).