Philippe Burrin , born on March 16th, 1952 with Chamoson in Switzerland, is a Historien whose research relates to the ideologies, the movements and the political parties in Europe during the inter-war period. From its work on the Second world war, it tried to define the concepts of violence of mass and genocide.

University career

Laid off international relations (1975), it obtains its doctorate in political sciences (1985) with the Academic institute of high international studies (HEI) of Geneva under the direction of Saul Friedländer, specialist in Germany Nazi. Assistant of modern history (1982-1985) then lecturer (1985-1988) with the University of Geneva, Philippe Burrin finds the HEI as an assistant professor (1988-1993) then as professor of history of the international relations as from 1993. Since 2004 he is director of HEI and will occupy the same station of new the Institut of high international studies and of the development (IHEID) as from January 2008.

Supported in 1985 with the HEI, its thesis of doctorate entitled satellite Fascism attempts to recall the intellectual, political and ideological route of Jacques Doriot, Marcel Déat and Gaston Bergery, individualities busy of the fight antifascist within left parties with the foundation of movements of extreme-right-hand side then upon the engagement in collaboration under the mode of Vichy. Through these courses, Burrin points the pregnancy of the social crisis and policy in France during the inter-war period and attempts to show the process of dissemination of Fascism in France through this “nebula fascistoïde” like its limits. Indeed, if Déat, Doriot and Bergery borrow elements from the fascistic ideology, the integral pacifism which links them (by the experiment of the Great War) runs up against the adoption of the ideology of territorial expansion suitable for Fascism leading Burrin to speak about “overdrawn Fascisms”.

It will look further into this thesis in France at the German hour through the way in which French reacted and behaved vis-a-vis the occupation and with respect to the occupant. It is interested in the various forms of “compromises” - and its evolutions - with the occupant by analyzing the behaviors from notable and politicians, the clergy, employers, the intellectuals, the artists and the collaborators. With regard to the mode of Vichy, Burrin is placed in the continuity of the thesis of Robert O. Paxton affirming as well its collaboration with the occupant as preceding his orders. More largely, Philippe Burrin brought decisive explanations for the comprehension of Fascism, collaboration or the Shoah while allowing to improve knowledge and the analysis of these realities by meticulous research and the development of rigorous criteria to define these concepts.

In Hitler and the Jews , it analyzes the decision of the final solution taken by Hitler at the summer 1941 by the fact that this last with become aware of the failure of its project of fast victory. Thus, in the long war which is profiled, the führer decides that versed German blood must be avenged by that for the Jews. By doing this, the hope to overcome would not have guided this choice which on the contrary would have sought to lead to the destruction of Germany compensated by that of the Jews. Especially, it shows that the ideologies anti-semites and of biological racism have an important weight on the persecution of the Jews, this one not answering only needs practical according to the current historiographic called “functionalist”. The whole of its theories and its intellectual advance on these questions are condensed in Ressentiment and apocalypse which gathers three conferences pronounced with the Collège de France in April and May 2003 on the bases of the anti-semitism Nazi, i.e. on what in the German company opened the way with the extermination of the Jews. Burrin shows coherence and the implementation of this project which falls under the clean vision of Hitler which will guide this choice: action based on its clean “resentment” - feeling which it exploits within the German company to arrive at the capacity - and guided by its apocalyptic vision on the war and its own life (fascination of nothing and the confrontation with the evil).

Parallel to its research, Burrin is invested as a scientist with many projects animated by the concern of the “Duty to remember”. Thus, it will be consulting for the design of the information center of the Mémorial of the Holocaust Mahnmal in Berlin (2001); Member of the historical Commission of the Foundation for the memory of Shoah of Paris. Member of the Scientific advice of a International History of Shoah , it works since 2003 on this project which will gather in several volumes the scientific knowledge.

Like Jean-Pierre Azéma, Henri Amouroux, Marc-Olivier Baruch, Jean Lacouture, Robert O. Paxton and Rene Rémond, Philippe Burrin was one of the experts to the lawsuit of Maurice Papon in Bordeaux in 1997. At the time of its intervention, he insists on the knowledge of French before the war of the cruelty of the Nazi Germany towards the Jews in particular in Poland (by the means - inter alia - press of the time which made its “cuffs” on this topic) and on the possibility of margin of autonomy and “loopholes” within the administration of the mode of Vichy, this principle being according to him “the base of collaboration”.

More recently, it was named expert for the Minister of education Main road within the commission on racism and the anti-semitism at the University Lyon III chaired by Henry Rousso (2002-2004).

Philippe Burrin is member of the editorial board of the History , of Twentieth Century. Review of History and International relations .