Benjamin Hett (212) 772 4382 | bhett@hunter.cuny.edu

Home

CV

Media

Research

Teaching

 

Reichstag Fire Debate

Benjamin Hett

Professor of History

Hunter College
and the Graduate Center, CUNY
Hunter College Department of History
695 Park Avenue,
New York, NY 10065

---

 

 

Education

Harvard University
Ph.D., November 2001; concentration in modern German history

University of Toronto
M.A., November 1995; concentration in modern European history

University of Toronto
J.D., June 1990

University of Alberta
B.A., May 1987; concentration in political science and English literature

Honors and Awards

2015: Hans Rosenberg Book Prize from the Central European History Society, for the best book on German history by a North American Scholar to appear in 2014, for Burning the Reichstag (co-winner)

2014: Hunter College Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity

2009: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship

2009: American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship

2007: Ernst Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History from the Wiener Library, London, for Crossing Hitler.

2005: Hans Rosenberg Prize from the Conference Group on Central European History, for the best article on German history by a North American scholar to appear in 2003 or 2004.

2002: Harold K. Gross Prize from the Harvard University Department of History, for the best dissertation of the year.

2002: Finalist for the Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize from the German Historical Institute, for the best dissertation of the year from a North American graduate student.

1999-2000: DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Doctoral Stipendium

1999: Derek Bok Center Award for Teaching Excellence, Harvard University

1996-2000: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship

1996: Winner, Canadian Journal of History Graduate Student Essay Contest

Publications

Books:

Burning the Reichstag: An Investigation into the Third Reich's Enduring Mystery (Oxford University Press, January 2014)

Dutch: De Rijksdag staat in brand (Amersfort: BBNC, 2014)

German: Der Reichstagsbrand. Wiederaufnahme eines Verfahrens (Reinbek: Rowohlt, 2016)

Crossing Hitler: The Man Who Put the Nazis on the Witness Stand (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Spanish: El hombre que humillo a Hitler (Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2008)

Forthcoming in Greek and Chinese

Death in the Tiergarten: Murder and Criminal Justice in the Kaiser’s Berlin (Harvard University Press, 2004)

Articles and Book Chapters:

“'This Story Is about Something Fundamental': Nazi Criminals, History, Memory, and the Reichstag Fire”, Central European History 48(2) June 2015: 199-224

“Das Rätsel Reichstagbrand,” 5 page Sunday Feature, Die Welt am Sonntag, May 24, 2015

“Justice is Blind: Crowds, Irrationality and Criminal Law in the Late Kaiserreich,” in Richard F. Wetzell, ed. Crime and Criminal Justice in Modern Germany (New York/Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2014)

"Introduction" in The True German: The Diary of a World War II Military Judge (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)

“Berlin Sitzt zu Gericht: Die Berliner Öffentlichkeit und die Berliner Rechtspflege im Kaiserreich und in der Weimarer Republik,” in Rebekka Habermas und Gerd Schwerhoff, eds., Verbrechen im Blick: Perspektiven der neuzeitlichen Kriminalitätsgeschichte, (Campus Verlag, 2009)

“‘And Only Where There Are Graves Are There Resurrections’: Hans Litten Between East and West,” European Studies Forum 38 (2), 2008

“Hans Litten and the Politics of Criminal Law in the Weimar Republic,” in Markus Dirk Dubber and Lindsay Farmer, eds., Modern Histories of Crime and Punishment, (Stanford University Press, 2007)

“The ‘Captain of Köpenick’ and the Transformation of German Criminal Justice, 1891-1914,” Central European History 36 (1), 2003

“‘Goak Here’: A.J.P. Taylor and The Origins of the Second World War,” Canadian Journal of History 31(2), 1996

Film/Television


Interviewed extensively for program on the Reichstag Fire for Chanel 5, UK. July, 2015.

Interviewed extensively for After the Nazis, a 6-part documentary produced for the HIstory Channel, broadcast in May 2015.

Consultant for The Man Who Crossed Hitler and To Stop a Tyrant, a combined movie and documentary production by Hardy Pictures for the BBC, broadcast on BBC2 August 21 and 27, 2011, respectively. The programs deal with Hans Litten, the subject of my book Crossing Hitler.

Teaching Experience


Hunter College, CUNY, Department of History
(August 2012 – )
Professor

Hunter College, CUNY, Department of History
(January 2008 – 2012)
Associate Professor

CUNY Graduate Center Doctoral Faculty
(September 2006 – )
Named to the Doctoral Faculty in History to advise Ph.D. students on dissertations and teach doctoral courses in modern European history

Hunter College, CUNY, Department of History
(September 2003-January 2008)
Assistant Professor. Teaching survey courses on modern European history, and upper division courses on 20th century Germany, as well as urban and legal history

Harvard Law School
(October 2001-August 2003)
Advisor to S.J.D. students. Advised the Harvard Law School's doctoral (S.J.D.) students on academic programs, dissertation research, etc. Taught the "L.L.M. Writers' Workshop", a wide-ranging class on legal research and writing, 2002-03.

Harvard University, Committee on Degrees in History and Literature
(July 2001-July 2003)
Lecturer. Taught the Sophomore Tutorial on Germany, and my own class entitled “Law/Literature/History,” which explored the relationship between law and literature in a historical context

 

Related Professional Experience

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Toronto
(September 1991-June 1994)
Lawyer (Litigation Associate). Conducted trials and related pre-trial proceedings in a wide range of civil and criminal matters at Toronto’s largest corporate law firm.

Russell & DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver

Articled Student. Assisted associates and partners of the firm with the conduct of trials, legal research, and drafting, in a wide range of civil and criminal matters at Vancouver’s premier litigation firm.

 

College and University Service

Chair pro tem, Hunter College Department of History (2016)

Chair, Admissions Committee, Graduate Center HIstory Program (2016)

Member, Hunter College Senate (2012 – )

Chair, Modern Europe Search Committee (2011 - 2012)

Member, Department Priorities and Budget Committee (2011 – )

Member, Hunter College IRB (2006 – )

Member, PSC-CUNY Research Awards, History Panel (2005 – )

Dept. of History Undergraduate Advising (2004, 2006-2007)

Professional Service

Book Reviews for the Washington Post, H-German, Central European History, Shofar, European History Quarterly and German History

Manuscript Reviews for Oxford University Press, European History Quarterly and Law and History Review

Languages

English: native. German: fluent. French: reading. Russian: reading.

By Benjamin Hett

Burning The Reichstag
BUY NOW!

 

Crossing Hitler
BUY NOW!

Death in the Tiergarten
BUY NOW!

 

 

 

 

 

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*


 

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

(c) 2009-2014 Benjamin Carter Hett. Design and Layout by Graham Brice.