Doris Bergen

Doris Bergen is Professor of History and Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Chair in Holocaust Studies at the University of Toronto, specializing in religion, gender, and ethnicity during the Holocaust and World War II. Her research examines extreme violence comparatively across historical contexts.

Her primary research areas include Holocaust Studies, Genocide Studies, German History, Religion and Violence, Military Chaplains, Gender Studies, Jewish Studies, and Ethnicity and Nationalism. Bergen's work critically analyzes Christian complicity in Nazi ideology, Jewish experiences under occupation, and religious dimensions of wartime violence through extensive archival research.

Analysis of her publications reveals sustained focus on religious institutions during the Third Reich, particularly the German Christian movement and military chaplaincy. Her scholarship bridges social history and religious studies, emphasizing how gender and ethnicity shaped victimization and collaboration. Recent works like Between God and Hitler (2023) demonstrate evolving methodologies in Holocaust historiography.

Bergen has secured major research funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, German Marshall Fund, DAAD, and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. These grants supported fieldwork at institutions including Universities of Warsaw, Pristina, and Tuzla, advancing transnational Holocaust research.