Dr William Ross Jones

Congratulations to Anna Hájková and William Ross Jones (translator) for PEOPLE WITHOUT HISTORY ARE DUST: QUEER DESIRE IN THE HOLOCAUST, winner of the Holocaust Award! bit.ly/4bWYPgv

Sexual violence, queer practices, and heterosexual identity in the concentration camps: a survivor case study Norman Jaffé was born into a wealthy and assimilated German-Jewish family in 1924. His experience of the Holocaust as told to the Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive in 1998 is marred by contin...

My newest article has just published open access with @holocauststudies.bsky.social ! A case study in Queering the Holocaust, it explores experiences of sexual violence and consensual same-sex sex in the concentration camps in the testimony of a single survivor.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Very excited to read this in the coming weeks!

Royal Historical Society Book and Article Prizes, 2026: submissions now invited - RHS The Royal Historical Society invites applications for its First Book Prize, 2026 and Early Career Article Prize, 2026. The call for submissions opens on Monday 29 September 2025 and runs to Monday 15 ...

Now open: call for the Royal Historical Society's First Book and Early Career Article Prizes, 2026.

Eligible titles, published in 2025, may be submitted by the author before the closing date of 15 December. Further details and how to apply: bit.ly/3KnR47v

#Skystorians

If your institution does not have a copy or does not yet have access, let me know, and I will happily share a copy of the chapter. A much broader investigation of both of these phenomenon will feature across three chapters in my forthcoming monograph with OUP as well!

The chapter differentiates two forms of violence faced by men and boys in the camps that are often conflated: exploitative sexual relationships and one-time rape. In so doing, it makes space for a greater understanding of the ways men's sexualized bodies were attacked during the Holocaust.

If you have not already seen, this exciting new edited volume by Helga Amesberger, Helga Embacher, and Johannes-Dieter Steinert released in September. Filled with poignant new research on sexual(ized) violence during the Holocaust and Second World War, it includes my newest publication!

So pleased that I will get to discuss my new book with my brilliant colleagues @helencfinch.bsky.social and @williamrossjones.bsky.social in an event organized by @rhulholocaustri.bsky.social

In Oxford for the day as a guest panelist at a conference focused on the memory of the “Comfort Women.” I’ll be speaking later today with several other scholars of sexual violence on preserving voices of marginalized victim groups in the face of societal, political, and archival pressures!

Attendance is free but registration is required. You can sign-up here: forms.office.com/e/BX3CpFiGux

The day event will be followed by an author talk at the Wiener Holocaust Library @wienerlibrary.bsky.social. Sign-up to the evening event here: shorturl.at/ou5xR

There will be a workshop during the day with Anna, alongside Dr Will Jones, who translated the book from German to English. Anna and Will will also be joined by Professor Helen Finch. Anna's book will be used as a springboard for discussion on Queer Studies in the context of Holocaust Studies.

Queerness remains one of the most stigmatized and overlooked aspects of Holocaust history. Anna's book explores same-sex desire in the Holocaust, challenging this silence, weaving together compelling stories of German, Dutch, Czech, and Polish Jewish Holocaust victims and survivors.

On 10 December 2025, the Holocaust and Genocide Research Partnership (HGRP) @hgrporg.bsky.social will be hosting two events with Dr Anna Hájková on her latest book, 'People Without History Are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust'.

A massive congratulations to Anna for the English translation of her book! Anna's work queering Holocaust history is monumental and inspiring. As a scholar, I am continuously impressed by her boundary pushing research. Personally, I am honoured to have been a part of the process. BUY IT FOLKS!

The book is here! This morning the UPS delivered fresh off the press my second monograph, People Without History Are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust, published by @uoftpress.bsky.social translated by @williamrossjones.bsky.social and with a foreword by @jennifervevans.bsky.social

The book is a labor of love made possible thanks to the support of many wonderful people: @williamrossjones.bsky.social who wonderfully translated the harder part & pushed me to think, and @jennifervevans.bsky.social who authored a lovely introduction and in many ways inspired me to go this way.

flyer that tells more about my book which costs £14,99 and also gives the 30% discount code

Here the whole flyer

People Without History Are Dust Queerness remains one of the most stigmatized and overlooked aspects of Holocaust history, often erased due to the lingering homophobia of survivors. People ...

If you are in Europe and want to pre-order People without History are Dust, you can do that here:
there is also a 30% discount coupon: FFS25
mngbookshop.co.uk/978148755711...

Three more months until People without History are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust comes out @uoftpress.bsky.social and translated @williamrossjones.bsky.social
you can preorder below.
utppublishing.com/doi/book/10....

left to right: William Ross Jones, Jules Skotnes-Brown, Laura Flannigan, Lucy Noakes (President of the Royal Historical Society), and Michaela Kalcher, 2 July 2025

The Society is very pleased to announce the winners of its 2025 Early Career Article and First Book Prizes bit.ly/3GqSCfk

This year's recipients are Laura Flannigan, William Ross Jones, Michaela Kalcher, and Jules Skotnes-Brown for work published in 2024.

Our congratulations to all #Skystorians

Truly honored and delighted to share this post. Thank you very much to the Royal Historical Society and the judges panel for the kind words and support of my work!

William's article was praised by the judges as:

"A groundbreaking and sensitive study of sexual violence during the Holocaust ... In the extensive historiography of the Holocaust, William Jones has something new and important to say.”

bit.ly/3I4VdfB 2/2

Winner of the RHS Early Career Article Prize (2025):

William Ross Jones for '“You are going to be my Bettman”: Exploitative Sexual Relationships and the Lives of the Pipels in Nazi Concentration Camps', published in The Journal of Holocaust Research (2024)

bit.ly/4luFKDU 1/2 #Skystorians

So very excited and grateful to have been shortlisted!

I have happy news. The Manuscript Review Committee at the University of Toronto Press has approved my (short) book on queer Holocaust history. Coming out 2025, with a preface by Jennifer Evans and one part translated by William Jones.