Call For Papers
Research Workshop: Jewish Experiences and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union

August 5–16, 2019
Washington, DC

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem are pleased to invite applications for a research workshop entitled, Jewish Experiences and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. The workshop is scheduled for August 5-16, 2019 at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. This is a second research workshop co-organized by EHRI partners USHMM and Yad Vashem with a focus on the former Soviet Union.

The workshop will focus on the Holocaust and Jewish life in World War II in the countries of the former Soviet Union, including areas that were occupied by German and Romanian forces. Topics might include, but are not limited to the following themes: antisemitism, evacuation and Jewish life in the Soviet rear, ghettoization, collaboration, hiding, resistance, gender, sexual violence, Jewish children and families during the Holocaust, survival in camps and ghettoes, Jews in the Red Army, trauma, art and literature.

Participants will be expected to submit a paper (no more than 15 pages) a month prior to the start of the workshop for circulation among the participants. Daily sessions will include 30-minute presentations followed by discussion of research (up to 30 min), as well as an opportunity for participants to do research at the Museum's library and archives.

Applications will be accepted from doctoral candidates (aspirants) and scholars who obtained their Ph.D. (or candidate of science degree) within the last five years. Applications are welcome from scholars working in all relevant academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, geography, film studies, history, Jewish studies, law, literature, material culture, philosophy, political science, religion, sociology, and other fields.

HOW TO APPLY

All application materials must be received by March 15, 2019. Incomplete applications will not be considered after this date. Late applications will not be accepted. Selected participants will be notified by April 15, 2019. 

Please send all application materials via email to nlazar@ushmm.org:

• CV (no more than 2 pages)
• A short abstract of proposed paper (including title and discussion of methodological and theoretical issues; no more than 500 words).
• A letter of recommendation (for graduate students only) addressing the applicant’s scholarly potential. To preserve the confidentiality of recommendation letters, faculty recommenders must email their signed letters (on institutional letterhead) directly to nlazar@ushmm.org. 

The workshop organizers are Dr. Natalya Lazar, Program Manager, Initiative on Ukrainian-Jewish Shared History and the Holocaust in Ukraine, US Holocaust Memorial Museum (nlazar@ushmm.org) and Dr. Arkadi Zeltser, Director of the Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union at Yad Vashem (arkadi.zeltser@yadvashem.org.il).

Organizers will cover the cost of economy class travel to and from the participant’s home institution and Washington, DC; lodging for the seminar’s duration; and 600$ toward the cost of meals, local transit, luggage surcharges, and other incidental expenses, which will be distributed after the workshop’s conclusion via international wire. Participants are required to attend the full duration of the seminar to receive these financial benefits.

The workshop will be conducted in English.

This program is made possible by a generous gift of Michael and Laura Mirilashvili to Yad Vashem’s Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union of the International Institute for Holocaust Research and is supported by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum