Raffael Scheck's Home Page

This page contains class materials as well as a curriculum vitae and information on my scholarship. I have published three books and many articles on German history at the time of the world wars. My third book Hitler's African Victims (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006 [hardcover] and 2008 [paperback]) has been translated into French and will appear in a German translation later in 2008. In October 2008, my fourth book, a concise history of Germany 1871-1945, will appear with Berg Publishers in Oxford. I am now working on French colonial prisoners of war in German POW camps, 1940-45, examining the conditions of their captivity, the struggle of the German and French authorities for the loyalty of these prisoners, and the influence of the prisoners' experiences on the postwar move toward independence in the colonies.

I was born in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) and grew up in Germany, Israel, and (mostly) in Switzerland (first in Geneva, later near Zürich). I started out as a cello student at the conservatory in Zürich but then decided to study History at the University of Zürich and Brandeis University (USA). I have a Habilitation Degree from the University of Basel. I am a German citizen. Since 1994, I have taught modern European and German history at Colby College, where I also served as chair of the History Department for two terms (2000-2003 and 2005-2008).