After the Thaw

The JHI as an International Center of Holocaust Research and as a Jewish Institution in Poland (1956-1966). Study seminar by Stephan Stach from POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

In the mid 1950s Holocaust Research was still a marginal field of research not only in Poland but anywhere in the World. The Jewish Historical Institute (ŻIH) was one the few centers researching the German mass murder of European Jews in this period. Making use of the new freedom granted not only to researchers after the fall of Polish Stalinism the ŻIH quickly (re-)established its international network and be came an integral part of the academic community of Holocaust researchers. At the same time the ŻIH became an important (though mostly informal) partner for foreign Jewish institutions and individuals. The presentation will discuss the importance of the ŻIH for both aspects. /ŻIH/

Dr Stephan Stach is a historian at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. His research is concentrated on Polish and East Central European history in the 20th century, with a special focus on nationalities’ politics in interwar Poland, postwar Jewish History and Holocaust Memory during the Cold War. He co-edited the volume Religion in the Mirror of Law. Eastern European Perspectives from the Early Modern Period to 1939 (together with Yvonne Kleinmann and Tracie Wilson). He also co-edited a volume on how East Central European Dissidents’ commemorated the Second World War and the Holocaust. Together with Christhardt Henschel he was guest editor of a special issue on interwar Polish nationality politics and its practical implications of Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropaforschung. He is currently working on a monography on the Jewish Historical Institute and its role for the emergence of Holocaust Memory during the Cold War. /ŻIH/

The seminar will take place on 16 April 2019, 11 AM in a meeting room located in the Blue Tower (entrance from Tłomackie Street).