An international conference to officially launch the massive website and digital database of Jewish cemeteries in Turkey, A World Beyond: Jewish Cemeteries in Turkey 1583-1990.
The database and web site are a project of the The Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center of Tel Aviv University. We wrote about it when it first went online last year as a beta version — though the site still says it’s in beta, the kinks that some users experienced appear to have been worked out, and we find it easy to search and use.
Dedicated to the memory of the oriental studies scholar Bernard Lewis, who died in 2018, the database is the culmination of decades of research by Prof. Minna Rozen (and others) and comprises digital images and detailed textual content of more than 61,000 Jewish gravestones from a variety of communities in Turkey from 1583 until 1990. Rozen’s onsite documentation of the cemeteries was carried out in 1988-1990. The material was digitized in the 1990s but until the web site was uploaded, it had not been publicly accessible.
A conference looking at the handling of Jewish cemeteries on both sides of the border between Germany and Poland — both in communist East Germany and Poland after WW2 and since 1989 in post-reunification Germany and post-communist Poland. Register by November 2.
Program
Welcome: Dr. Peter Bahl, State Historical Association for the Mark Brandenburg eV, and Dr. Magdalena Gebala, German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe eV
Introductory presentation On the situation of the Jewish cemeteries in the Soviet Zone and the GDR, Dr. Monika Schmidt, Berlin
Presentation of the project Jewish cemeteries in Poland in the areas of the former province of Brandenburg, Dr. Magdalena Abraham-Diefenbach and Dr. des. Anke Geißler-Grünberg, both Frankfurt (Oder)
Documentary film Jewish cemeteries in Poland , director: Dietmar Barsig, 2009, 4:05 min., Broadcast in Kulturzeit on November 18, 2009; with the kind permission of ZDF
Followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Magdalena Abraham-Diefenbach, Dr. des. Anke Geißler-Grünberg, Dr. Monika Schmidt and Andrzej Kirmiel, director of the Museum of the Meseritzer Land, Międzyrzecz / Meseritz
Moderation: Dr. Peter Bahl
The event will be held in German and Polish and will be interpreted.
Important NOTE
Limited places. To participate in the event, a confirmed registration up to and including Tuesday, November 2, 2021 by email to ger.wei@web.de (preferred) or on the telephone number (030) 413 82 19 (with AB) is necessary. Proof of COVID vaccination is required to enter. A minimum distance of 1.5 m must be maintained. Wearing an OP or FFP2 mask is mandatory for all participants.
A cooperative event between the Chair for Monument Studies at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), the Chair for Modern History (German-Jewish History) at the University of Potsdam , the State Historical Association for the Mark Brandenburg eV and the German Cultural Forum Eastern Europe eV
The picture shows: Broken tombstone in the Jewish cemetery in Drossen / Ośno Lubuskie, 2021, © Peggy Lohse
European Humanities University (EHU) and the Center for Belarusian Community and Culture in Vilnius will host a premiere presentation of “Extermination” — an audiovisual installation about the Great Synagogue of Grodno, which was constructed in the 16th century and was rebuilt many times after devastating fires.
Kseniya Shtalenkova (lecturer in the Academic Department of Humanities and Arts at EHU, Philosophy PhD candidate) is the project curator and Viktoryia Bahdanovich (fourth-year student of the BA program in Visual Design) is the project production designer and executive producer.
The “Extermination” audiovisual installation is a monologue on the history of the place as well as an individual experience of a person in time and space.
The installation has been created as a part of the project on “Preservation and Actualization of Former Synagogues in Belarus for the Benefit of Local Communities” by Stsiapan Stureika, Professor of Humanities and Arts at EHU. Project research conducted for the work on the installation was conducted with the participation of EHU students.
The presentation will be delivered in Russian with subtitles in English.
Register by November 26.
Click here to register on Zoom (or for in-person attendance)
The event will be also streamed online via EHU’s Facebook page.
NOTE: you can attend the event physically at the Belarusian House (Vilniaus g. 20) by pre-registration at the same link to register on Zoom
A gathering of Lithuanian Jews and descendants, which includes an academic conference, a cultural fest, guided tours to Jewish heritage in several towns and cities around the country — Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Šeduva, Pakruojis — and more.
Click here to see the full program
Pre-registration is required by filling out the following form:
Bridging Divides. Rupture and Continuity in Polish Jewish History
In Honor of the 80th anniversary of the “Aktion Reinhard” and the 75th anniversary of the Jewish Historical Institute
Watch the conference on YouTube:
Opening ceremony: https://youtu.be/J3Hx6eh6cng
Day 2: https://youtu.be/D29zQRijkqM
Day 3: https://youtu.be/Xyonp03JUfk
Closing discussion: https://youtu.be/Gk0pqyRJIo0
PROGRAM
MONDAY, May 23rd
Opening – 17:00 CET
Welcome – Glenn Dynner, Monika Krawczyk, Katarzyna Person
Opening keynote – Samuel Kassow
TUESDAY, May 24th
Session 1 – 9:00 – 10:30 CET
Evolving Traditions: Polish Jewish Spirituality Chair and Respondent: Glenn Dynner
Alison B. Curry (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
The Last Honor: Jewish Ritual and the Cemetery in the Warsaw Region Between the Interwar Period and the Second World War
Samuel Glauber-Zimra (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
The Séance in Polish Jewish Life: A Case Study of Rupture and Continuity
Gabriella Licskó (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
Alexander Hasidism before and after the Holocaust
Session 2 – 10:45 – 12:15 CET
Women in Polish Jewish Religious Life Chair and Respondent: Daniel Reiser
Tzipora Weinberg (New York University)
Still Small Voices: Female Prevalence in Polish Rabbinic Literature, 1900-1945
Elly Moseson (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research)
Mar’in bishin: The Sexual Nightmare of Eastern European Jewish Women
Glenn Dynner (Sarah Lawrence College)
The Polish Hasidah: Beyond Masculine Definitions of Hasidism Partners: Part of the program:
Session 3 – 13:15 – 14:45 CET
Polish Jewry in Literature and Film Chair and Respondent: Karolina Szymaniak
Daniel Bouskila (Yeshiva University)
Asonovski, Szibucz and Buczacz: SY Agnon’s Theological Meditations on the Plight of Eastern European Jewry
Sarah Ellen Zarrow (Western Washington University)
Jewish Life in Poland as Documented on Film: Continuities and Ruptures
Aleksandra Kremer (Harvard University)
Holocaust Poems in Polish-Language Journals before 1950
Session 4 – 15:00 – 16:00 CET
Panel on Archives and Museums Chair and Respondent: Stephen Naron
Jonathan Brent (Executive Director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research)
The oldest Jewish archival institution
Monika Krawczyk (Director of the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute)
Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw: ‘Mother’ of All Jewish Museums in Poland
Albert Stankowski (Director of the Warsaw Ghetto Museum)
Challenges for New Warsaw Ghetto Museum
Zygmunt Stępiński (Director of POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews)
POLIN Museum – Shrine for History of Polish Jews
16:15 CET – Guided tour of the Jewish Historical Institute’s permanent exhibition: What we were unable to shout out to the world
19:30 CET – Screening of Who Will Write Our History in Kino Muranów
WEDNESDAY, May 25th
Session 1 – 9:00 – 11:00 CET
Writing the Polish Jewish Self Chair and Respondent: Francois Guesnet
Maria Ferenc (Jewish Historical Institute) Partners: Part of the program:
Life and what comes after. Study of biography and memory of Mordechai Anielewicz as a challenge to historiographical divides
Yaron Nir Freisager (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Josef Zelkowicz and the Circle of Intellectuals in the Lodz Ghetto
Lidia Zessin-Jurek (Czech Academy of Sciences)
“Three times a refugee” – exile as a leading motif in the memoirs of Polish Jews
Ula Madej-Krupitski (McGill University)
Polish Jewish émigrés and the ‘old country’
Session 2 – 10:45 – 12:45 CET
Reframing Antisemitism and the Holocaust Chair and Respondent: Katarzyna Person
Ania Switzer (University of British Columbia)
Antisemitism as a cultural code in Poland
Jan Burzlaff (Harvard University)
Surviving as a Social Process
Alicja Podbielska (Yale University)
“Our feelings toward Jews have not changed”: Polish underground press on help and rescue
Lea Ganor (Bar-Ilan University)
Life Stories of Holocaust Survivors with Polish and European roots who served as Air Crew Members in the Israeli Air Force
Session 3 – 13:45 – 14:45 CET
Polish Jewish Philanthropic Networks Chair and Respondent: Anna Cichopek-Gajraj
Karolina Kołpak (Yale University)
The history of the Warsaw Kolonie Letnie Society, 1882-1939
Samir Saadi (University of Warsaw)
The HIAS in Poland in the II Republic and after the Holocaust (until 1949): comparative approach
Dikla Yogev (University of Toronto)
The Bais Yaakov Network – A Case Study of the Multiple Dimensions of Orthodox Community
Session 4 – 15:00 – 16:15 CET
Presentation on Jewish Historical Institute’s resources Chair and respondent: Andrzej Żbikowski Partners: Part of the program: Library – Marzena Zawanowska
Heritage Documentation Department – Alicja Mroczkowska
Archive – Michał Czajka
Art Department – Michał Krasicki
16:30 CET – Keynote by Naomi Seidman
19:00 CET – Zisl Slepovitch Ensemble outdoor concert in Krasiński Garden
The Songs from Testimonies project collects and records songs and poems discovered in the accounts found in the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. The musician-in-residence, Zisl Slepovitch, took the songs, conducted research about their origins, then arranged and recorded versions with his ensemble, featuring Sashe Lurje.
The performers:
Joshua Camp – accordion, piano, additional vocals
Dmitry Ishenko – contrabass, additional vocals
Craig Judelman – violin, additional vocals
Sasha Lurje – leading vocals
D. Zisl Slepovitch – composer, clarinet, vocals
THURSDAY, May 26th
Guided tour of Jewish Warsaw – 9:00 CET
The overwhelming presence of the Warsaw Ghetto
Guide: Olga Szymańska, Education Department
Closing of the Conference – 11:30 CET
Concluding Remarks and State of the Field discussion
BIAJS Conference 2022: “Unfolding Time: Texts – Practices – Politics”
There’s quite a bit of material on Jewish (built) heritage at this year’s conference of the British and Irish Association of Jewish Studies.
12 July 2022, 15.15-16.45 The state of Jewish tangible heritage in Ukraine: Buildings, monuments, museums and libraries
organised by: Eva Frojmovic (Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Leeds, clsef@leeds.ac.uk)
EUGENY KOTLYAR (Associate Professor at Department of Art History of Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, eugeny.kotlyar@gmail.com):
Jewish Heritage in Independent Ukraine: Discovery, Study, Preservation and Presentation. Thirty Years of Experience and Challenges
SOFIA DYAK (Director of the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe in Lviv, website:www.lvivcenter.org, E-mail: s.dyak@lvivcenter.org):
Jewish Urban Heritage and Diversity in Lviv
TETYANA BATANOVA (Research Fellow, Acting Head of the Judaica Department of Institute of Manuscripts, V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, taniabatanova@gmail.com )
The Judaica Department at V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine: Revival, Study, and Preservation
VITALY CHERNOIVANENKO (Senior research fellow, Judaica Department; Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine; President, Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies; Chief editor, Judaica Ukrainica; E-mail: chernoivanenko@gmail.com and president@uajs.org.ua; Website: uajs.org.ua):
Ukraine’s Hebraica collections in international perspective
NADIA UFIMTSEVA (Department of History at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy,nadia.ufimtseva@gmail.com)
Title: the Jewish printed books collection in the Kamianets-Podilskyi state museum and Judaica objects in Ukrainian museums.
MIA SPIRO (Glasgow) and EVA FROJMOVIC (Leeds)
Click here to see full conference program
To register securely, please visit: https://estore.kcl.ac.uk/conferences-and-events/academic-faculties/faculty-of-arts-humanities/department-of-theology-and-religious-studies/biajs-conference-unfolding-time-texts-practices-politics
The conference starts on the 12th of September at 18:00 at German Historical Institute and ends on the 14th of September at 16:30 in POLIN – Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
The synagogues that remained standing after World War II have facedan uncertain destiny. As abandoned buildings,they were susceptible to decay quickly and, as former buildings of worship, for legal, cultural and architectural reasons, posed a great challenge in terms of their reuse. Consequently, many synagogues simply fell into ruins, some were turned into secular buildings of various purposes, and few could have been used as houses of prayer again.
In postwar Europe, synagogue architecture was culturally categorized as an element of Jewish heritage that appeared to be isolated from the common heritage of a city or town – wherever a synagogue stood.
At first, synagogues were not considered a shared but a distinct patrimony of a place. A shift in such a state of affairs could have been observed in the last three decades that witnessed a ‘rediscovery’ of synagogues. Though one can still find abandoned synagogues in small towns, in most of the bigger municipalities, these buildings were ‘rediscovered’ as a part of local history and culture and thus became part of the common heritage. In many regions of Europe, the ‘rediscovery’ of the former synagogues led to their restoration and opening to the public, and in rare cases, to their reuse by Jewish communities.
The aim of the conference is a historicization of the processes of rediscovery in the recent past.
The Conference will focus on Sephardic Jews, between Messianism and Modernity
The conference gathers some 70 international researchers of Sephardic social, cultural, and art history, languages, and literature from before and after the Expulsion of 1492.
There will be papers on Jewish, Christian, and Muslim attitudes toward Jewish messianism as reflected in the scholars’ particular areas of interest. In addition, the Conference will focus on the overlooked Sephardic embracement of modernity and Virtual Sepharad’s gradual yet unwavering secularization, whether in the expanse’s south—the ex-Ottoman realms—or its northern extremities – Holland, England, and the Americas.
Conference on the role of Jewish culture and history in contemporary Europe.
The congress’ program consists of sessions, discussions and workshops aimed at exchanging good practices, discussing perspectives and challenges related to the protection and popularization of Jewish cultural heritage. Below we present the framework program of the main panel.
Click here to see details and program
On December 11-12, the Liberation Route Europe Foundation is organizing a memory project conference titled “When Memory Meets Dialogue – Role of Remembrance Sites and Contemporary Challenges” in Krakow, Poland. This event, in partnership with Oscar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, a branch of the Museum of Krakow, is part of the EU-funded European Days of Jewish Culture (EDJC) 2023, coordinated by the AEPJ.
The conference agenda encompasses sessions focusing on Jewish and WWII heritage. Discussions will revolve around memory transmission and the contemporary significance of remembrance sites. The primary goal is to offer a meaningful platform for idea exchange, nurture cross-cultural understanding, and stimulate international discourse on historical memory and contemporary challenges. As part of the programme, participants can also explore guided tours and historical city walks in Krakow.
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