Thursday 18 January 2024

6PM - 7PM

Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium

The UK parliament passed the War Crimes Act in 1991 to allow courts to prosecute the Nazi collaborators who had been living undisturbed in the UK for decades following WWII. Yet, despite the several hundreds of names brought under scrutiny, when the process came to an end in 2000 the Crown Prosecution Service had only managed to achieve one trial and conviction. Why?

Professor Jon Silverman (SE1968) will discuss his new book, ‘Safe Haven’, which seeks to answer that question. He will deliver a short lecture, followed by a conversation with the master of Selwyn College, Roger Mosey. We will be inviting questions from the audience both online and in-person.

‘Safe Haven’, by Professor Silverman and Robert Sherwood, situates the UK within the broader context of war crimes investigations in the USA, Germany, and Australia. Drawing on previously unavailable archival documents, transcripts of interviews with suspects, and disclosures by senior lawyers and police offers in the War Crimes Units in parallel with the history of bungled investigations immediately after the war, Safe Haven considers for the first time why and how convictions failed to follow investigations.

Jon Silverman is an emeritus Professor of Media & Criminal Justice at the University of Bedfordshire. Prior to this, he was the Home Affairs Correspondent at the BBC for 13 years. In 1996, he was named Sony 'Radio Journalist of the Year' for his reports for the 'Today' programme (Radio 4) on the UK's Nazi war crimes inquiries.

Please book your tickets using the form below

Livestream

You can set a reminder to watch the livestream here.

Location and timing details

The event takes place at the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium, Selwyn College, Grange Road, CB3 9DQ. It is pictured below, as seen from above from Grange Road.

The Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium is located on the corner of West Road and Grange Road and can be accessed via the gate to Ann’s Court on Grange Road. The Auditorium will be signposted —  but the Selwyn College Porters, located in the Lodge by the main entrance, will be more than happy to help direct you if you have trouble finding the auditorium.

Doors will open at 5:45pm. Please be seated by 5:55pm as the event will start promptly at 6:00pm. We expect to finish by 7:00pm at the latest. 

If you are arriving by bike, you may lock your bicycles on the railings by the Quarry Whitehouse Auditorium.

Please note that photographs will be taken during this event and the audience may be visible at certain points on the livestream.