{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{short description|German historian (born 1966)}} thumb|upright|Wagner in 2015 '''Jens-Christian Wagner''' (born 1966) is a German historian who specializes in the Nazi era and the politics of memory.<ref name=news/> Wagner has published multiple academic books about Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp and its subcamps. He was the director of Mittelbau-Dora memorial from 2001, was the chairman of {{ill|Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation|de|Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten}}, and became the overseer of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation in 2020.
==Historical research== [[File:KZ Aussenlager Ellrich Juliushütte Appellplatz Gedenkstein Eingang.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The former Appellplatz of {{ill|Ellrich-Juliushütte|de|KZ-Außenlager Ellrich-Juliushütte| }}]] In 1999, Wagner received his doctorate from the University of Göttingen; his dissertation, supervised by {{ill|Bernd Weisbrod|de}}, focused on the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp and was later published as ''Produktion des Todes: Das KZ Mittelbau-Dora'' ("Production of Death: the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp").<ref>{{cite journal |title=WAGNER, Jens-Christian, Produktion des Todes. Das KZ Mittelbau-Dora |journal=Revue de l'IFHA. Revue de l'Institut français d'histoire en Allemagne |date=1 January 2002 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/ifha/1231 |language=fr |issn=2190-0078|last1=Laborde |first1=Denis |doi=10.4000/ifha.1231 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Grieb>{{cite journal |last1=Grieb |first1=Christiane |title=Jens-Christian Wagner, Produktion des Todes. Das KZ Mittelbau-Dora (Production of Death: The Concentration Camp Mittelbau-Dora), 2nd ed. (Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2004). |journal=Past Imperfect |date=8 October 2010 |volume=16 |doi=10.21971/P7N01K|doi-access=free }}</ref> {{As of |2010}}, it is the only book that covers the entire history of Mittelbau-Dora.<ref name=Grieb/> The book focuses on the collaboration between the SS and the armaments industry, the relationship between extermination and forced labor, and the position of the camp vis-a-vis its surroundings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Orth |first1=Karin |title=Jens-Christian Wagner, Produktion des Todes. Das KZ Mittelbau-Dora. Hrsg. im Auftrag der Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora. Göttingen, Wallstein 2015 |journal=Historische Zeitschrift |date=5 January 2017 |volume=304 |issue=1 |pages=275–277 |doi=10.1515/hzhz-2017-1062|s2cid=164750903 }}</ref> According to reviewer Christiane Grieb, the book, unlike other studies, focuses on the victims of the camp rather than on "wonder weapons" and correctly identifies death as the main "product" of the camp. She praised the book for its in-depth research and placing the camp in its historical and spatial context.<ref name=Grieb/> Historian {{ill|Manfred Grieger|de}} stated, "Anyone interested in the history of the Kohnsteiner camp complex and the relationship between work and extermination in the concentration camp system cannot ignore this book."<ref>{{cite journal |title=SEHEPUNKTE – Rezension von: Produktion des Todes – Ausgabe 2 (2002), Nr. 6 |website=www.sehepunkte.net |url=http://www.sehepunkte.net/2002/06/2133.html}}</ref>
In 2009, Wagner published a book, ''Ellrich 1944/45: Konzentrationslager und Zwangsarbeit in einer deutschen Kleinstadt'' ("Ellrich 1944/45: Concentration camp and forced labor in a small German town") about the Ellrich concentration camp complex, a subcamp of Mittlebau-Dora which operated in 1944 and 1945 in the Harz mountains around the town of Ellrich. Historian Panikos Panayi praised the book for its high quality and comprehensive coverage, stating that it was "a precise and detailed narrative of virtually all aspects of the camps".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Panayi |first1=P. |title=Ellrich 1944/45: Konzentrationslager und Zwangsarbeit in einer deutschen Kleinstadt |journal=German History |date=12 May 2010 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=386–387 |doi=10.1093/gerhis/ghq045}}</ref>
==Memorial work== thumb|upright=1.2|Entrance to the former Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp Wagner has served as the director of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp memorial since 2001. In 2014, he was appointed chairman of the {{ill|Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation|de|Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten}} whose purpose is to commemorate Nazi crimes committed in Lower Saxony, for a five-year term.<ref name=news>{{cite news |title=Neuer Geschäftsführer der "Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten" – Heiligenstadt: "Dr. Jens-Christian Wagner ist ein herausragender Experte deutscher Erinnerungskultur" {{!}} Nds. Kultusministerium |url=https://www.mk.niedersachsen.de/startseite/aktuelles/presseinformationen/neuer-geschaeftsfuehrer-der-stiftung-niedersaechsische-gedenkstaetten--heiligenstadt-dr-jens-christian-wagner-ist-ein-herausragender-experte-deutscher-erinnerungskultur-124498.html |access-date=14 July 2020 |work=www.mk.niedersachsen.de}}</ref> In May 2020, he succeeded {{ill|Volkhard Knigge|de}} as the director of Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jens-Christian Wagner |url=https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/autoren/jens-christian-wagner.html |access-date=14 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Zeitung |first1=Süddeutsche |title=Wagner: Täter und Zuschauer der NS-Verbrechen im Blick |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/gedenkstaetten-erfurt-wagner-taeter-und-zuschauer-der-ns-verbrechen-im-blick-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-201110-99-283540 |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Süddeutsche.de |language=de}}</ref>
Wagner stated that in the late 2010s, there was an increase in hecklers at Nazi concentration camp sites who questioned historical facts and tried to downplay Nazi crimes. Wagner stated that heckling incidents occurred "on a weekly basis from people of all ages and all backgrounds, although they are almost exclusively ethnically German" and blamed politicians from Alternative for Germany (AfD) for shifting the window of what it was publicly acceptable to say.<ref name=voa/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Berlin |first1=David Crossland |title=Far right AfD blamed for rise in Nazi death camp 'hecklers' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/far-right-afd-blamed-for-rise-in-nazi-death-camp-hecklers-nfc2xmdwg |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=The Times |date=January 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=January>{{cite news |title=Bergen-Belsen: Gedenkstättenleiter wird bedroht |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/lueneburg_heide_unterelbe/Bergen-Belsen-Gedenkstaettenleiter-wird-bedroht,bergenbelsen536.html |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=www.ndr.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nachgefragt – Provokationen in der KZ-Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/nachgefragt-provokationen-in-der-kz-gedenkstaette-bergen.2852.de.html?dram:article_id=467461 |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Deutschlandfunk |language=de-DE}}</ref> Wagner has stated that he receives threats for his work and reports them to the state prosecutor.<ref name=January/><ref name=artnewspaper/> Around the same time he made four reports to police within a week because he found right-wing extremist statements in the visitor guidebook contrary to the German constitution.<ref name=artnewspaper>{{cite news |title=Germany's Holocaust memorial sites fight against surge in far-right threats |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/holocaust-memorial-sites-seek-to-counter-far-right-threats |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=www.theartnewspaper.com}}</ref> In 2019, both Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora memorials banned AfD representatives from events "unless they credibly distance themselves from the anti-democratic, revisionist positions in their party".<ref name=artnewspaper/> Guests who wear Thor Steinar, a brand of clothing associated with neo-Nazism, are asked to cover it up and are denied entry if they refuse to comply.<ref name=artnewspaper/>
In 2020, he told different German media outlets that memorials should not just focus on victims, but also explain the role of perpetrators, bystanders, and profiteers of Nazi persecution.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gedenkstätte Buchenwald: Das sind die Pläne des neuen Stiftungsleiters Jens-Christian Wagner {{!}} MDR.DE |url=https://www.mdr.de/kultur/jens-christian-wagner-buchenwald-gedenkstaette-100.html |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=www.mdr.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Zeitung |first1=Süddeutsche |title=Wagner: Täter und Zuschauer der NS-Verbrechen im Blick |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/gedenkstaetten-erfurt-wagner-taeter-und-zuschauer-der-ns-verbrechen-im-blick-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-201110-99-283540 |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Süddeutsche.de |language=de}}</ref> Wagner criticized the use of Nazi comparisons in protests over COVID-19 policies in Germany, which he states are "an appalling mockery and a trivialization of the crimes committed by the Nazis." After a young corona-protestor compared herself to Nazi resistance activist Sophie Scholl, he suggested that German education focused too much on the victims of Nazi persecution without addressing the question of how these people became victims.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hasselbach |first1=Christoph |title=Coronavirus: How German protesters are trivializing Nazi-era persecution |url=https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-how-german-protesters-are-trivializing-nazi-era-persecution/a-55753236 |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=28 November 2020}}</ref>
In September 2020, there was a controversy over a speech co-written by Wagner and read by Bergen mayor Claudia Dettmar-Müller, which included the statement: "During the Second World War the SS and Wehrmacht committed unimaginable crimes on our doorstep." Local politicians from AfD as well as Social Democratic Party, Free Democratic Party and Christian Democratic Union distanced themselves from these words, despite the historical fact of war crimes of the Wehrmacht.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Paul |first1=Reimar |title="Unvorstellbare Verbrechen der Wehrmacht" (neues deutschland) |url=https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1144741.ns-gedenken-unvorstellbare-verbrechen-der-wehrmacht.html |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=www.neues-deutschland.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Crossland |first1=David |title=Historian Jens-Christian Wagner accused of defaming Nazi Germany's soldiers |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/historian-jens-christian-wagner-accused-of-defaming-nazi-germany-s-soldiers-6q237c2ds |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=The Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=News-Detailseite |url=https://www.stiftung-ng.de/en/news/news-detailseite/news/detail/News/gedenkstaette-bergen-belsen-wird-unterschrift-zu-einer-einseitig-geaenderten-erklaerung-zurueckziehen/ |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=www.stiftung-ng.de |language=en}}</ref> Later in the month, he filed a complaint against the AfD in Bergen for Volksverhetzung.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chef der Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen zeigt AfD wegen Volksverhetzung an |url=https://www.haz.de/Nachrichten/Politik/Niedersachsen/Chef-der-Gedenkstaette-Bergen-Belsen-zeigt-AfD-wegen-Volksverhetzung-an |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=HAZ – Hannoversche Allgemeine |language=de}}</ref>
In November 2020, Wagner received a call from Göttingen public prosecutor informing him that he was under investigation for publishing "defamatory facts to the detriment of Wehrmacht soldiers".<ref name=voa>{{cite news |last1=Dettmer |first1=Jamie |title=German Historians on Frontlines of Politics |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/europe_german-historians-frontlines-politics/6198479.html |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Voice of America |date=17 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Germany: Investigation launched over allegations author defamed Wehrmacht |url=https://scottishlegal.com/article/germany-investigation-launched-over-allegations-author-defamed-wehrmacht |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Scottish Legal News |language=en}}</ref> The complaint, filed by a retired Bundeswehr officer,<ref name=Reimar>{{cite news |last1=Paul |first1=Reimar |title=Wegen Text über Verbrechen der Wehrmacht: Ermittlungen gegen Historiker |url=https://taz.de/Wegen-Text-ueber-Verbrechen-der-Wehrmacht/!5723748/ |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |date=12 November 2020 |language=de}}</ref> focused on his book, ''Armament, War and Crimes: The Wehrmacht and the Bergen-Hohne Barracks'', a companion to a museum exhibition about crimes of the Wehrmacht.<ref>{{cite news |title=Anzeige gegen Gedenkstättenleiter – "Wir erleben eine Diskursverschiebung nach rechts" |url=https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/anzeige-gegen-gedenkstaettenleiter-wir-erleben-eine.1013.de.html?dram:article_id=487309 |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Deutschlandfunk Kultur |language=de-DE}}</ref> The proceedings were discontinued, but Wagner said he fears that "it has become socially acceptable again to talk about a clean Wehrmacht", a long-disproven myth.<ref name="voa" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Staatsanwaltschaft Göttingen: Ermittlungen gegen Historiker Wagner eingestellt |url=https://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Campus/Staatsanwaltschaft-Goettingen-Ermittlungen-gegen-Historiker-Jens-Christian-Wagner-eingestellt |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=GT – Göttinger Tageblatt |language=de}}</ref> The prosecution was criticized by ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' editor Ronen Steinke, who praised Wagner for "setting standards in the explanation of the German war of annihilation for many years".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Steinke |first1=Ronen |title=Revisionismus: Justiz, bitte dagegenhalten! |url=https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/meinung/revisionismus-justiz-bitte-dagegenhalten/ |access-date=30 November 2020 |work=Jüdische Allgemeine |date=15 November 2020 |language=de}}</ref> Green politician Jürgen Trittin called the investigation "scandalous".<ref name=Reimar/>
In 2024, Wagner expressed support for a ban of the AfD, saying, “It cannot be that liberal democracy allows a party to participate in elections and finances its campaign that seeks to abolish liberal democracy”.<ref name="JCW 2024" >{{cite news | first1 = Jens-Christian | last1 = Wagner | author1-link = Jens-Christian Wagner | title = Jens-Christian Wagner, Leiter der Stiftung der Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora in Thüringen, hat gefordert, ein AfD Verbotsverfahren vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht anzustoßen | trans-title = Jens-Christian Wagner, head of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation in Thuringia, has called for AfD ban proceedings to be initiated before the Federal Constitutional Court | url = https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/politik/jens-christian-wagner-leiter-der-stiftung-der-gedenkstaetten-buchenwald/65321631 | work = www.ad-hoc-news.de | date = 14 June 2024 |language=de}}</ref>
==Awards==
In 2012, Wagner was awarded the Ordre des Palmes académiques for his services to French-German relations and his work at the Mittelbau Dora memorial.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Allgemeine |first1=Thüringer |title=Hohe Auszeichnung für Nordhäuser Gedenkstätten-Leiter |url=https://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/kultur/hohe-auszeichnung-fuer-nordhaeuser-gedenkstaetten-leiter-id218242301.html |access-date=14 July 2020 |work=www.thueringer-allgemeine.de |date=11 March 2012 |language=de-DE}}</ref>
==Works== *{{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Jens-Christian |title=Produktion des Todes: Das KZ Mittelbau-Dora|trans-title=Production of Death: the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp |date=2015 |publisher=Wallstein Verlag |isbn=978-3-8353-2800-6 |language=de|orig-year=2001}} *{{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Jens-Christian |title=Ellrich 1944/45: Konzentrationslager und Zwangsarbeit in einer deutschen Kleinstadt |date=2009 |publisher=Wallstein |isbn=978-3-8353-0438-3 |language=de}} *{{cite book |editor-last=Wagner |editor-first=Jens-Christian |title=Zwischen Verfolgung und "Volksgemeinschaft": Kindheit und Jugend im Nationalsozialismus |date=2020 |publisher=Wallstein Verlag GmbH |isbn=978-3-8353-3517-2 |language=de}} *{{cite book |editor-last=Wagner |editor-first=Jens-Christian |title=Armament, War and Crimes: The Wehrmacht and the Bergen-Hohne Barracks |date=2020 |publisher=Wallstein Verlag GmbH |isbn=978-3-8353-3851-7 |language=en}} *{{cite book |title=Rechter Geschichtsrevisionismus in Deutschland: Formen, Felder, Ideologie |date=2025 |publisher=Wallstein Verlag |isbn=978-3-8353-8797-3 |url=https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/en/document/view/detail/uuid/3bd7e657-d232-3023-8878-ae9c7b8f4913}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Jens-Christian}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century German historians Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Category:University of Göttingen alumni Category:Directors of museums in Germany