Rate My Professor Jeffrey Koerber

Jeffrey Koerber is an Associate Professor of History at Chapman University in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, where he has been on the faculty since 2011. Holding a Ph.D. in Holocaust History from Clark University, with a dissertation advised by Debórah Dwork, as well as a Bachelor of Science and Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Koerber transitioned from a background in architecture to historical scholarship. Early in his career, he co-authored several articles on historic preservation, including "Menard: Development of a Nineteenth Century Prison" in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (2003, with Walter L. Brieschke), "Restoration of the San Jacinto Monument" in Structural Engineering International (2001, with Harry J. Hunderman and Conrad Paulson), "Surrealist Vision and Cold Reality: Restoration of Marc Chagall's 'Les Quatre Saisons'" in APT Bulletin (1998, with Deborah Slaton), and "The Pristine Plane: Plaza Paving Technology in Modern Architecture" in APT Bulletin (1997, with Larry R. Meyers and Lisa M. Puryear).

Koerber's research specializes in the experiences of young Jews in the Soviet-Polish borderlands during the Holocaust, exploring prewar identity formation and wartime survival strategies. His seminal book, Borderland Generation: Soviet and Polish Jews under Hitler (Syracuse University Press, 2020), derived from his dissertation “Born in the Borderlands: Jewish Youth and Their Response to Oppression and Genocide, 1933–1948,” was a finalist for the 2019 Wiener Holocaust Library Ernst Fraenkel Prize. Recent publications include “Purim Gifts from Russian Neighbors: Prewar Identity Formation and Wartime Survival among Young Jews from Soviet Vitebsk” in East European Politics & Societies and Cultures (2023) and contributions to edited volumes such as “Autobiographies of Jewish Youth in Prewar Poland as Holocaust Sources” in Agency in the Holocaust and Genocide (2020) and “What Did Soviet Jews Make of Kristallnacht? The Nazi Threat in the Soviet Press” in New Perspectives on Kristallnacht (2019). His scholarship has earned fellowships from the Claims Conference (Saul Kagan Fellowship), USC Shoah Foundation Institute, Holocaust Educational Foundation, Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, and Fulbright. Possessing reading proficiency in Yiddish, German, Russian, and Belorussian, Koerber teaches Holocaust history courses, supervises undergraduate theses, and participates in Chapman University’s War, Diplomacy, and Society MA program, contributing significantly to Holocaust studies and historical education.