Call For Proposals: Bridging Divides: Rupture and Continuity in Polish Jewish History

Archives and libraries—by spanning several time periods—tend to reinforce the continuities of Polish Jewish civilization, notwithstanding its significant ruptures and historiographical divides. Even the study of the Holocaust, as David Engel has recently argued, stands to benefit from removing the wall that has separated its study from the rest of Polish Jewish history.

In honor of its 75th anniversary, the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, together with the Fortunoff Archive and the Yeshiva University Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, will host an international meeting in Warsaw from May 23-26, 2022, dedicated to bridging historiographical and disciplinary divides. We invite emerging scholars to present their research and gain introduction to the rich holdings and projects of the Jewish Historical Institute. Presenters are asked to think about the continuities of Polish Jewish culture before, during, and after the Holocaust in areas like biography, geography, language, politics, gender, secularization and traditionalism, literary and artistic production, legal practices, documentation, memory studies, and Jewish-Christian relations.

Advanced doctoral candidates and recent Ph.D. recipients (past ten years) are invited to submit a 200-word abstract of their research and a brief bio by November 30, 2021, to secretary@jhi.pl, with the subject line "75th Anniversary Conference." Travel and accommodations in Warsaw will be covered for selected participants, whose presentations will be eligible for inclusion in a published volume.