The Genizah

In November 1945, the eyes of the world turned to Nuremberg. Humanity was seeking not only the truth about Nazi crimes but also a vision of what justice might look like in their aftermath. The trials are traditionally associated with a roll call of famous men, but they were only part of the story. Not only were there women involved in the trial in every role―as journalists, researchers, lawyers, interpreters, court reporters, witnesses, artists, and even defendants―but they were pivotal in the trial’s outcome. The Nuremberg Women tells the story of eight women: a brilliant American lawyer, three pioneering journalists, two German, one British, an iconoclastic artist, a beautiful refugee aristocrat, a dauntless survivor of Auschwitz, and a young Russian translator. From the major stories about justice, gender, and politics at a pivotal moment in the twentieth century to the smaller, daily intimate tales of the women’s affairs and bar-room disputes, The Nuremberg Women shows the most famous trial of the twentieth century in a new light―making a brave new case for it having been a more diverse and democratic exercise than has often been recognized. They reveal a Nuremberg that is more intimate, human, and haphazard; one that was lower paid and less publicized. They demonstrate that the trial was remarkable not because it was perfect but because, against all odds, it happened. Thanks to these women and many others, justice was served.

Zionism in Translation concerns exchanges―primarily of letters but also drafts, reviews, and other ephemera―sent to or from Jerusalem in the decades after 1948. All were written in German and Hebrew by a fascinating range of literary figures, including Hannah Arendt, Gershom Scholem, Yehuda Amichai, Ludwig Strauss, Erich Auerbach, Walter Benjamin, Leah Goldberg, Peter Szondi, Paul Celan, and Tuvia Ruebner. Na’ama Rokem illuminates the complexities that emerge as the two languages mix in this extraordinary epistolary network. The writers that Rokem studies here contend with the genocidal violence that brought the rich historical relation between German and Hebrew to a seeming end. They also grapple, in different ways, with the new reality in Israel/Palestine in the wake of the founding of the State of Israel and the Palestinian Nakba. The bilingual conversation that crosses over between German and Hebrew in these letters thus centers around the question of Jewish fate in the twentieth century and is immersed in negotiations about Jewish nationalism, the Zionist movement, and the possibilities of Jewish poetry. In the space between German and Hebrew, Rokem argues, the protagonists of her story voice ambivalences and hesitancies not found elsewhere. Zionism in Translation joins a growing body of scholarship that uncovers the complex modes of belonging and resistance that unfold around the Zionist movement in the twentieth century. It will interest all readers concerned with modern Jewish intellectual, cultural, and literary history, the history of Zionism, and writers such as Arendt or Celan.

Holocaust literature for children and young adults reveals the ways we imagine, narrate, communicate, and alter the facts of war, genocide, and trauma. In order to understand the Holocaust and its representations, it is important not to overlook figurative tellings and retellings; this is uniquely apparent in literature for young people, in which such imaginative and metaphorical movements are essential. In Figures of Youth: Metaphor and Imagination in Children's Holocaust Literature, Joanna Krongold explores the depth and breadth of Holocaust literature for young people, from wartime writings to present-day imaginings. Spanning chronological time periods, cultures, and genres, Figures of Youth examines the representational muzzles and creative possibilities of children's and young adult Holocaust literature. The experimentation and inventiveness inherent in literature for young people make it fruitful ground for exploring the complexities of the Holocaust. Figures of Youth charts patterns of representation as time propels authors farther away from the event itself, demonstrating how and why children's literature makes important contributions to the field of Holocaust studies. By placing well-known texts like Anne Frank's diary in conversation with those that have been excluded or ignored in scholarly discourse surrounding Holocaust literature, the author offers a new and innovative understanding of metaphor and figurative dynamics in the representation of genocide.

After October 7th, which confronted children with unimaginable violence, the potential to apply post-WW II and Holocaust child rehabilitation approaches became clearly visible and urgent. After 1945, hundreds of thousands of children had to be brought back to everyday life against the background of harrowing experiences during the Holocaust years. This volume bridges historical insights with current challenges, offering strategies for rehabilitating conflict-affected youth. It synthesizes knowledge from diverse fields to support victims of war and displacement. The work transforms past experiences into actionable support, equipping professionals with insights to reshape child rehabilitation in conflict zones, underscoring the importance of historical lessons in addressing present-day crises.

Analysing the past two decades of literature on Holocaust memory and migration stories, Agnes Mueller engages with writers such as W. G. Sebald, Thomas Bernhard, Edgar Hilsenrath, Benjamin Stein, Mirna Funk, Fred Wander, Barbara Honigmann, Julia Franck, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Olga Grjasnowa, and Kat Kaufmann to explore current debates on Israel, the German Democratic Republic, gender, Jewish and Muslim identity, and antisemitism. Her new readings of German-language texts by younger authors present robust challenges to entrenched ideas concerning the singularity of the Holocaust, multidirectional memory, and a range of other memory debates. Jewish identity and Muslim identity are shown in direct conversation with other migrants' experiences, and literature is revealed to be a brave space where Holocaust memory is newly imagined. Mueller's study invites a radically new way to think about the Holocaust and sheds new and valuable light on adjacent contemporary discourses.

In the past decades, commemorative volumes with contributions from esteemed scholars have been published at each decade anniversary of the Hungarian Holocaust (the ghettoization and deportation of 1944). While these volumes have become milestones in Hungarian research, they rarely contained the research results of young academics who, in the past decades, have caught up with the trends in Western Holocaust research. Therefore, in this publication we not only aim to commemorate the Holocaust in Hungary but also to present new approaches and perspectives, such as the gendered aspect, microhistory, memory research, trauma studies, and so forth. This volume, for the first time, provides a synthesis of current Holocaust research in Hungary for international academics working in the fields of Holocaust studies, genocide studies, and Hungarian studies.

Though Paul Celan's poems are widely appreciated, the richness of his life has escaped scholarly attention. Anna Arno pens the definitive biography of one of the twentieth century's great writers, exploring Celan's Jewish upbringing at the crossroads of European cultures, the ravages of the Holocaust, exile, and his struggles with mental illness.

<p>This book explores the resilience of Jewish civil society organizing in Ukraine during the tumultuous early months of the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion. Developed in collaboration with Paideia - the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden, the research chronicles a project that involved Ukrainian Jewish communities during wartime through Paideia’s alumni network. Drawing on rich empirical data, the authors examine the multifaceted work of Jewish organizations and organizing efforts, from sustaining rituals to engaging in humanitarian work. The book examines single case studies and broader cross-organizational analyses, shedding light on the capacity of Jewish groups to repurpose activities, pivot from serving specific communities to addressing broader societal needs, and mobilize resources under extreme conditions. This resilience, the authors argue, is shaped by a complex interplay of factors: pre-existing organizational structures, transnational networks, and the fusion of symbolic and material elements rooted in the Ukrainian-Jewish experience. By situating these efforts within a wider context, the book uses different streams of organization studies to provide an in-depth analysis of resilient civil society organizing during wartime. Aimed at organization scholars, civil society researchers, activists, and those interested in Jewish culture and Ukrainian history, this book offers critical insights into the possibility of civil society resilience in the face of war.</p>

This volume sits at the crossroads between Holocaust studies and the history of migration and examines how different forms of migration, broadly understood, were part of the preparation, organization, and execution of the Holocaust. Such a comprehensive analysis of the intersection between the Holocaust and phenomena of migration during this period is currently missing from historiography. Therefore, larger questions are addressed such as: How can research on migration during and after the Holocaust illuminate the latter and vice-versa? How did displacement affect vulnerability and complicity of populations and their memory? Were there opportunities for escape and flight from the Holocaust and under what circumstances? What roles played citizenship, gender, and race in the intersection of migration and the Holocaust? Did the destruction by the Holocaust also destroy the memory of those who were uprooted?

This book presents a comprehensive introduction to the broad and developing field of women, gender, and sexuality in the Holocaust. Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach that incorporates global, gender fluid, and intersectional perspectives, it examines experiences of Nazi Germany, the Nazi-occupied territories, ghettos, camps, resistance and rescue, and partisan movements. Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Holocaust synthesizes fresh approaches and frameworks in Holocaust and gender studies research, addressing topics including female perpetrators, sexual violence, masculinity, and queer experiences. Rose introduces readers to interpretations from a wide range of fields, from film and photography to law and psychology. Recognizing the importance of understanding the events of the Holocaust in their historical context, the text begins with an examination of gender roles prior to the rise of the Nazis and expands to include the aftermath and the legacy of the Holocaust through the lens of gender and sexuality. With timelines and definitions of key terminology, this is an essential and accessible resource for students and scholars of the Holocaust, gender studies, and genocide studies as well as all those seeking a better understanding of this evolving discipline.

When the Second World War began, Theodor Meron was a Jewish-born boy of just 9. He survived ghettos, camps and unimaginable atrocities, but lost most of his family, finding sanctuary in British Palestine after the Holocaust. Now, more than eight decades later, Judge Meron is a recognized world leader in both the scholarship and practice of international criminal justice--having served as the president of three UN tribunals, delivering landmark decisions on genocide and war crimes.<br> <br> This extraordinary memoir revisits Meron's time as a legal adviser to governments, often swimming against the tide; as a restless diplomat, a boundary-pushing scholar and ultimately a ground-breaking international judge. Meron has given his life to the service of justice. He is famous for his 1967 opinion finding Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to be illegal under international law, an opinion he issued as a legal adviser to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More recently, he has advised the International Criminal Court on potential crimes in the Russia-Ukraine war, and in Israel and Gaza since 2023.<br> <br> The founding institutions of international justice today face unprecedented threats. Meron's life story could not be a better timed reminder of the importance of accountability.