Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
researcher and author. After a career as the British major crimes' investigator who worked on criminal investigations for Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police Service, and London
Home Counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
Police, he obtained his Masters and Doctorate with the Hebrew and Jewish Department at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. He now specialises in researching Nazi war crimes and the destruction of the European Jewish communities (1933–1945).Steve Farrar (1 September 2000) "A detective who retraced steps on the road to hell" Times Higher Education. ''TES Global.'' Retrieved 13 May 2015.
Biography
Robin O'Neil has pursued his work to
the Baltic States
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
and
former USSR
The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...
. He has launched a number of investigations into the perpetrators of the Holocaust, particularly those active in Lithuania and occupied
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
during World War II. He has conducted research regarding the ''
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...
'' (SS) and
extermination camp
Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...
Sobibor
Sobibor (, Polish: ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland.
As an ...
, and
Treblinka
Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The cam ...
.
O'Neil has performed extensive source research into the
Oskar Schindler
Oskar Schindler (; 28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a German industrialist, humanitarian and a member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ...
story. A historical consultant to several TV documentaries and radio broadcasts in the UK and abroad, he is an honoured guest of Schindler's home town, Svitavy,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, and is a regular lecturer at universities in the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
. In his spare time he conducts research into the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
and
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's England. In 2013, after prolonged research, O'Neil completed his work on a new book about the Gustav Mahler family under the Third Reich.
''The Rabka Four''
O'Neil's work ''The Rabka Four - Instruments of Genocide and Grand Larceny. A Warning from History'' was first published completely online in 2011 by the Yizkor Book Project. It was made available by O'Neil to JewishGen for the purpose of fulfilling their mission of disseminating knowledge about the Holocaust. The monograph is devoted to the history of the German SS training facility
Sipo-SD Academy
The Sipo-SD Academy was an SS training school established by former Einstatzgruppen '' SS-Brigadeführer'' Bruno Streckenbach designed to train students in various torture and execution methods as well as to provide continuing education to the s ...
in
Rabka Rabka may refer to the following places:
* Rabka, Tibet, a village in China
* Rabka-Zdrój
Rabka-Zdrój (, in Goral dialects: ''Robka'', colloquially: ''Rabka'') is a spa town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is located between Kraków an ...
in
occupied Poland
' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
where, "under the cloak of war – personal vendetta, corruption, robbery and murder ecameendemic among the SS" functionaries. O'Neil reveals how the euphemistic language spoken within the Nazi State allowed for the sanitization of genocide and the creation of the complete illusion of 'plain speak' in phrases such as 'treatment', 'processing', and 'resettlement' which enabled the SS to turn mass murder into a "bureaucratic paper chase".
Publications
* 1998: ''East European Jewish Affairs'' Vol. 28, 49: "Belzec: The 'Forgotten' Death Camp"
* 1999: ''East European Jewish Affairs'' Vol. 29, 85: A Reassessment of the Number of Victims Belzec
* 2008: ''Oskar Schindler: Stepping Stone To Life''. Jewish Heritage Committee, New York
* 2009: ''Belzec: Stepping Stone to Genocide''. Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York
* 2010: ''The Rabka Four - Instruments of Genocide and Grand Larceny.'' Spiderwize, London
* 2013: ''The Mahler Family Legacy Under the Third Reich''
Kaunas Ghetto
The Kovno Ghetto was a ghetto established by Nazi Germany to hold the Lithuanian Jews of Kaunas during the Holocaust. At its peak, the Ghetto held 29,000 people, most of whom were later sent to concentration and extermination camps, or were sh ...
* Educational establishments and Synagogues, UK. Other Aspects 2000
* Belzec Archaeology lecture:
University of Leicester
, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type = public research university
, endowment = £20.0 million
, budget = £326 million
, chancellor = David Willetts
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
, head_lab ...
2006
* The Elchanan and Miriam Elkes Memorial Lecture "Stepping Stones to Genocide: Aktion Reinhardt and the Holocaust"
* Holocaust Education: Co-founder, Historical Consultant and contributor to www.holocaustresearchproject.org
* Consultant and participant on
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
and television projects in Israel, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom
* 1998–2000: Archaeology. Seconded to the