30 May – 1 June 2016

Joint event organised by Max Mannheimer Studienzentrum (MMSZ), Dachau, the International Tracing Service (ITS), Bad Arolsen with consultance by the Holocaust Studies Program of the Western Galilee College, Akko, Israel

In the past few years, interest in the aftermath, social and individual consequences of the Shoah, forced labour and Nazi-persecution has increased. These topics include early testimonies, the immediate Allied care for the DP population, regional micro studies and the ongoing displacement in following generations.

This academic workshop on Displaced Persons, displaced children and child survivors as specific groups after 1945 is planned as the opening event for the Exhibition on Displaced Persons, curated by ITS (Bad Arolsen) and to be shown in the MMSZ, Dachau. The aim is to bring together scholars and educators from various disciplines who are engaged in education and research on Displaced Persons and child survivors. Opening lectures, a movie lecture and round-table discussions as well as visits of e.g. the Dachau memorial site and locations of former DP camps will be included in the finalised programme.

The workshop focuses in the first part on historical education regarding DPs and in the second part on research about child survivors and DP children as specific survivors’ groups with special emphasis on organizations working with them, such as the Child Search Branch of UNRRA and the IRO.

Of course, the topic of displacement is of special importance in times when the world is facing a tragedy of millions of refugees – the highest number of people forced to move since WW II. Although the historical and the present situation are different, we believe that examining history can provide some directions and insights that can be helpful today.

Section 1: Education

The organisers are interested in presentations on educational projects with methodological innovative approaches.

Papers should preferably include topics such as but are not limited to:

• Past and present: DPs as a topic in schools and extracurricular education e.g. in memorial sites, museums etc.)
• Various DP-groups (diversity)
• Transnational/ international perspectives
• Bricha and other forms of Jewish self-organisation
• Antisemitism towards DPs
• Connections to present forms of displacement and refugees
• Chances and possibilities of E-learning and web-based education

Section II: History and Research: DP children and child survivors

The papers should preferably include topics such as:

• Rehabilitation, Identity building
• Strategies of welfare organisations for DP children and child survivors after 1945 and conflicts between them and their political/national interests
• Absorption and integration of DP children and child survivors in immigration countries
• Gender issues

The workshop schedule allows only a limited number of presentations.

Please note, survivors and former DPs will be invited to the conference as a personal connection to biographical experiences (Section 3: Legacies). Therefore papers on biographical research should include innovative methodologies and transnational approaches.

Please send an abstract of 200-250 words, together with a biographical background of 50-100 words, by October 15, 2015.

All applications must be in English. English lectures are preferred, although in specific cases we can consider German presentations as simultaneous translation is possible, if somewhat limited.

All proposals are subject to a review process by an academic committee with experts also outside the ITS / MMSZ. The applicants will receive feedback by the end of November 2015 and the programme will be finalised.Selected Papers will be published in the ITS Year Book in 2017.

The opening of the DP-exhibition on June 30 and the round table discussion by children of DPs with view to trans-generational trauma, displacement and replacement, roots and re-rooting will be part of the workshop.

Send all application materials by E-mail to: historical-research@its-arolsen.org.

You will receive a confirmation that your application has arrived

ITS, Große Allee 5-9, 34454 Bad Arolsen

Max Mannheimer Studienzentrum, Roßwachtstraße 15, 85221 Dachau

Western Galilee College, Akko, Israel