St Catharine’s is delighted that Professor Gilly Carr (2006) has been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to Holocaust research and education in the King’s New Year Honours list, which celebrates the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the UK.
Professor Carr, who is Director of Studies in Archaeology at St Catharine’s and was promoted by the University of Cambridge to Professor of Conflict Archaeology and Holocaust Heritage on 1 October, said:
“I am absolutely thrilled for my research and teaching to be recognised in this way. I've been working hard on behalf of victims of Nazism and the Holocaust for 15 years and for this to be seen as nationally important and worthwhile encourages me to continue my work with vigour.”
Prof. Gilly Carr (credit: IHRA)
Professor Carr is a member of both the UK delegation of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and the academic advisory board for the UK Holocaust Memorial Centre. The New Year Honour comes at the end of a year in which her Holocaust research and education activities have contributed to greater understanding of the Holocaust and its continued impact among communities across the world:
January: Professor Carr headed the launch of the IHRA’s ‘Charter for Safeguarding Sites’ (the world’s first expert-informed charter to protect sites of the Holocaust and genocide of the Roma) at a special event organised by the European Commission to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day. For the preceding five years, she led work to develop the Charter including visits to identify risks and how to respond to them so Holocaust heritage sites can be safeguarded.
May: Professor Carr joined Lord Eric Pickles, the UK’s Special Envoy on Post Holocaust Issues, at the Imperial War Museum in London to release a new report into the number of people killed during the Nazi Occupation of Alderney. She coordinated the work of an expert panel over many months to determine that more than 1,000 people were killed through starvation, disease and brutality on the Channel Island – a far greater figure than previously thought.
July: Professor Carr joined Dr Pavel Vařeka, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, to excavate and survey Holocaust heritage sites at Svatava and Kaštice in western Czechia.
In addition, Professor Carr has a particular research interest in wartime incarceration, internment and imprisonment. 2024 also saw the publication of her latest book entitled 'A Materiality of Internment' (Routledge), which drew on over 15 years of research and interviews with more than 65 former internees to examine how we can interpret their experiences through the amazing array of objects and artwork made in camps in WWII Germany by civilian internees.
Sir John Benger (1979, English), Master of St Catharine’s, commented:
“On behalf of everyone at St Catharine’s, I want to congratulate Professor Carr on her OBE and thank her for her years of service and dedication to Holocaust research and education. I am delighted that the King’s New Year Honour list recognises the public benefit of Professor Carr’s world-class research and educational activities, which have advanced our knowledge of the Holocaust and supported communities around the world to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.”
