The archaeology of the Holocaust : Vilna, Rhodes and the escape tunnels

In The Summer Of 2016 Acclaimed Archaeologist Richard Freund And His Team Made News Worldwide When They Discovered An Escape Tunnel From The Ponar Burial Pits In Lithuania. This Holocaust Site Where More Than 100,000 People Perished Is Usually Remembered For The Terrible Devastation That Happened There. In The Midst Of This Devastation, The Discovery Of An Escape Tunnel Reminds Us Of The Determination And Tenacity Of The People In The Camp And The Hope They Continued To Carry. The Archaeology Of The Holocaust Takes Readers Out To The Field With Freund And His Multi-disciplinary Research Group As They Uncover The Evidence Of The Holocaust, Focusing On Sites In Lithuania, Poland, And Greece In The Past Decade. Using Forensic Detective Work, Freund Tells The Micro- And Macro-histories Of Sites From The Holocaust As His Team Covers Excavations And Geo-physical Surveys Done At Four Sites In Poland, Four Sites In Rhodes, And 15 Different Sites In Lithuania With Comparisons Of Some Of The Work Done At Other Sites In Eastern Europe. The Book Contains Testimonies Of Survivors, Photographs, Information About A Variety Of Complementary Geo-science Techniques, And Information Gleaned From Pin-point Excavations. It Serves As An Introduction To The Holocaust And Explains Aspects Of The Culture Lost In The Holocaust Through The Lens Of Archaeology And Geo-science. -- What If: Geoscience And Archaeology -- Discoveries In The Archaeology Of The Holocaust -- An Archaeological Discovery Hidden In Plain Sight -- The Significance Of Tunnels: Geoscience And Archaeology From The Ancient World To The Holocaust -- Why I Came To Rhodes -- The Secret Of Jewish Rhodes -- The Origins Of The Final Solution In A Forest And A Fort In Lithuania -- The Road To Vilna -- An Altruistic Nazi And The Descendants Of Hope -- Why The Discovery Of The Holocaust Escape Tunnel Gives The World Hope. Richard A. Freund. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 251-258) And Index. "In the summer of 2016 acclaimed archaeologist Richard Freund and his team made news worldwide when they discovered an escape tunnel from the Ponar burial pits in Lithuania. This Holocaust site where more than 100,000 people perished is usually remembered for the terrible devastation that happened there. In the midst of this devastation, the discovery of an escape tunnel reminds us of the determination and tenacity of the people in the camp and the hope they continued to carry. The Archaeology of the Holocaust takes readers out to the field with Freund and his multi-disciplinary research group as they uncover the evidence of the Holocaust, focusing on sites in Lithuania, Poland, and Greece in the past decade. Using forensic detective work, Freund tells the micro- and macro-histories of sites from the Holocaust as his team covers excavations and geo-physical surveys done at four sites in Poland, four sites in Rhodes, and 15 different sites in Lithuania with comparisons of some of the work done at other sites in Eastern Europe. The book contains testimonies of survivors, photographs, information about a variety of complementary geo-science techniques, and information gleaned from pin-point excavations. It serves as an introduction to the Holocaust and explains aspects of the culture lost in the Holocaust through the lens of archaeology and geo-science." -- Publisher's website In summer 2016 acclaimed archaeologist Richard Freund and his team made news worldwide when they discovered an escape tunnel from the Ponar concentration camp. This Holocaust site where more than 100,000 people perished is usually remembered for the terrible devastation that happened there. In the midst of this devastation, the discovery of an escape tunnel reminds us of the determination and tenacity of the people in the camp, and the hope they continued to carry. Archaeology, Geo-Science, and the Holocaust tells the story of this escape from the Ponar camp-from survivor records to the search for evidence to confirm the story. Most of the Jews at Ponar came from the nearby city of Vilna, which Napoleon called "the Jerusalem of the North" for the rich Jewish culture that flourished there. This book introduces readers to life in this "other Jerusalem," tells of the awful destruction of the Holocaust, and describes the dramatic escape and what the remaining archaeological evidence tells us about this other Jerusalem and those who lived there. Archaeology, Geo-Science, and the Holocaust focuses on the people who built the other Jerusalem, why they came, how they built a successful city, and how they persevered in the face of brutality. Freund tells a powerful story of hope and what we can learn from the archaeological evidence left behind This book takes readers through some of the most powerful recent discoveries about the Holocaust, including an escape tunnel from the Ponar burial pits. Richard Freund explains non-invasive research techniques and highlights how the discovery of an escape tunnel reminds us of the tenacity of the people at the site and the hope they carried.