Konrad Jarausch

Konrad Hugo Jarausch (14 August 1941 – 1 September 2026) was a German-American historian and the Lurcy Professor of European Civilization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The focus of his work was German history, with his earlier work being on Adolf Hitler's rise to power. Later works of Jarausch were more concerned with East Germany, German reunification, and cultural democratization. He was the son of a German soldier and considered a critic of the Third Reich (see Shattered Past).

Life and career Konrad Hugo Jarausch was born in Magdeburg, Germany, on 14 August 1941.

He served as a president of the German Studies Association (1985–1986) and as the editor of Zeithistorische Forschungen/Studies in Contemporary History.

Jarausch was a Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala, Sweden in the Fall of 1988.

Jarausch died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on 1 September 2026, at the age of 85. His body was recovered from a lake where he had been swimming earlier that day.

Selected publications Jarausch, Konrad H. The Burden of German History: A Transatlantic Life (2023) Jarausch, Konrad H. Embattled Europe: A Progressive Alternative (2021) Jarausch, Konrad H. Jarausch, Konrad H. Out of Ashes: A New History of Europe in the Twentieth Century. Princeton University Press (2015). Jarausch, Konrad H. "Contemporary History as Transatlantic Project: The German Problem, 1960-2010 [on the Occasion of Konrad H. Jarausch's 70th Birthday, this Supplement Presents a Retrospective of the Work Produced by this German-American Historian]." Zentrum für Historische Sozialforschung 2012. online Jarausch, Konrad H. Reluctant Accomplice: A Wehrmacht Soldier's Letters from the Eastern Front. Princeton University Press (2011). Jarausch, Konrad H. Gebrochene Wissenschaftskulturen : Universität und Politik im 20. Jahrhundert. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (2010). Jarausch, Konrad H. After Hitler: Recivilizing Germans, 1945-1995 (2008) Jarausch, Konrad H. “Das stille Sterben…”: Feldpostbriefe von Konrad Jarausch aus Polen und Russland. Paderborn: Schöningh (2008). Jarausch, Konrad H. Die Umkehr: Deutsche Wandlungen 1945-1995 (2004) Jarausch, Konrad H. and Michael Geyer. Shattered Past: Reconstructing German Histories. Princeton University Press (2002) Jarausch, Konrad H. Dictatorship as Experience: Towards a Socio-Cultural History of the GDR (1999) Jarausch, Konrad H. The Rush to German Unity (1994) Jarausch, Konrad H. and Kenneth A. Hardy. Quantitative Methods for Historians: A Guide to Research, Data, and Statistics (1991) Jarausch, Konrad H. and Geoffrey Cocks. German Professions, 1800-1950 (1990) Jarausch, Konrad H. Students, Society and Politics in Imperial Germany: The Rise of Academic Illiberalism (1982) Jarausch, Konrad H. The Enigmatic Chancellor: Bethmann Hollweg and the Hubris of Imperial Germany, 1856-1921 (1973)