book talk
Closing Borders: Immigration and World War I - In-person Event
The rise of the United States and Israel as centers of Jewish life is closely tied to immigration. Yet the success story of Jewish immigration obscures the experiences of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe who were displaced during and after the First World War. Wherever they turned they faced closed doors. The United States shifted to a restrictive immigration regime in 1921, implicitly targeting Eastern European Jews. Most other countries also restricted immigration. Many Jews who were stranded in permanent transit after 1918 perished in the Holocaust because they could not reach safe havens.
In his new book "Between Borders: The Great Jewish Migration from Eastern Europe" Tobias Brinkmann (Penn State Univ.) sheds light on the journeys of Jewish migrants and refugees before and after the First World War. He argues that the experience of permanently displaced Jews after 1918 deserves more attention and shows parallels to the situation of unwanted refugees and migrants today.
For this event Tobias Brinkmann will be joined by José C. Moya (Barnard College/Columbia University), a leading specialist of modern Latina America and global migration.
Ticket Info: Free; registration required
Presented by:
book talk
discussion
Person Place Thing with Zalmen Mlotek and Steven Skybell – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Join YIVO and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene for a recording of the public radio show, Person Place Thing, with actor Steven Skybell and Artistic Director of the NYTF Zalmen Mlotek. Hosted by humorist Randy Cohen, Person Place Thing is an interview show based on the idea that people are especially engaging when they speak, not directly about themselves, but something they care about. Guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing with particular meaning to them.
The conversation will consist of reflections on Skybell and Mlotek’s work, including their experiences with the North American production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish and Skybell’s current role as Herr Schultz in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Skybell and Mlotek will also perform live music throughout the event.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: In-person: $15; YIVO members & students: $10
Stream: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
discussion
lecture
“America – A New World for Jewish Children”: An Unknown Letter by Sholem Aleichem in the YIVO Archives – Live on Zoom
Within the Herman Bernstein collection at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research lies an unknown and previously unpublished letter by Sholem Aleichem (Shalom Rabinowitz, 1859–1916), one of Yiddish literature’s most renowned writers. Unidentified for over a century, it was first recognized in 2017, 101 years after the author’s death. In the letter, Sholem Aleichem addresses the theme of Jewish cultural assimilation in general, and Americanization in particular.
Apparently written not long after Sholem Aleichem first arrived in America in 1906, the letter is significant because it demonstrates his approach to the phenomenon of Jewish American children, a subject which he developed during the last decade of his life and which culminated in his final literary work, Motl, the Cantor’s Son. A close reading of the letter sheds new light on the his impressions of American Jewish immigrants and, in particular, of American Jewish children. The excitement and fascination generated by this topic would turn out to be one of his main literary subjects until his death 10 years later.
In this presentation, Yael Levi will explore the letter’s content, situating it within the historical and cultural context of Sholem Aleichem’s biography and epistolary legacy, with a particular focus on the pivotal period of Jewish migration and the experience of East European Jewish children in America.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
lecture
book talk
The Many Lives of Anne Frank – In-person program & live on Zoom
A revealing biography of Anne Frank, exploring both her life and the impact of her extraordinary diary.
In this innovative biography, Ruth Franklin explores the transformation of Anne Frank (1929–1945) from ordinary teenager to icon, shedding new light on the young woman whose diary of her years in hiding, now translated into more than seventy languages, is the most widely read work of literature to arise from the Holocaust.
Comprehensively researched but experimental in spirit, this book chronicles and interprets Anne’s life as a Jew in Amsterdam during World War II while also telling the story of the diary—its multiple drafts, its discovery, its reception, and its message for today’s world. Writing alongside Anne rather than over her, Franklin explores the day-to-day perils of the Holocaust in the Netherlands as well as Anne’s ultimate fate, restoring her humanity and agency in all their messiness, heroism, and complexity.
With antisemitism once again in the news, The Many Lives of Anne Frank takes a fresh and timely look at the debates around Anne’s life and work, including the controversial adaptations of the diary, Anne’s evolution as a fictional character, and the ways her story and image have been politically exploited. Franklin reveals how Anne has been understood and misunderstood, both as a person and as an idea, and opens up new avenues for interpreting her life and writing in today’s hyperpolarized world.
Ruth Franklin will be in conversation with author Jonathan Rosen. Book sales and signing will follow the program. Get a discount on the price of your ticket if you pre-order the book.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor for International Holocaust Remembrance Day programming.
Presented with Jewish Lives and Jewish Book Council
Part of the Center’s programming series Anne Frank in History and Memory in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Ruth Franklin is the author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction, a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Jonathan Rosen is the author, most recently, of The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions, which was named a top ten book of the year by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Slate and People Magazine, and was chosen by Barack Obama as one of his Favorite Books of 2023. The Best Minds was also a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. Rosen is also the author of the novels Eve’s Apple and Joy Comes in the Morning, and two additional non-fiction books: The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey Between Worlds and The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature. His essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He is a consulting editor at The Free Press.
Ticket Info:
In person: $10 general; $8 seniors/students; $6 CJH members; $37 general with book; $35 seniors/student with book; $33 CJH member with book;click here to register
Live on Zoom: Pay what you wish; click here to register
Presented by:
book talk
discussion
2025 Summer Program Information Session – Live on Zoom
Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at the YIVO-Bard Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of the Summer Program for a brief information session. This 30-minute session will cover the program’s structure, online and in-person formats, admissions process, and more, with time for questions from prospective Summer Program students. The session will be conducted in English and are entirely optional (prospective students are not required to attend).
Learn more about the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
discussion
film and discussion
UnBroken Film Screening with Beth Lane and Ginger Lane – In-person program
In the documentary filmUnBroken, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor embarks on an international quest to uncover answers about the plight of her mother and her six siblings who, as mere children, escaped Nazi Germany relying solely on their own youthful bravado and the kindness of German strangers.
UnBroken chronicles the seven Weber siblings who evaded certain capture and death, and ultimately escaped Nazi Germany following their mother’s incarceration and murder at Auschwitz. After being hidden in a laundry hut by a benevolent farmer, the children spent two years on their own in war-torn Germany. Emboldened by their father’s mandate that they ‘always stay together,’ the children used their own cunning and instincts to fight through hunger, loneliness, and fear, and survive bombings and attacks. Their journey culminates with a painful ultimatum, when, separated from their father, they are told that they must declare themselves orphans in order to escape to a new life in America. Unbeknownst to them, this salvation would become what would finally tear them apart, not to be reunited for another 40 years.
After the screening, join us for a panel discussion with the film’s director, producer, and writer Beth Lane and subject (Beth’s mother) Ginger Lane.
View the trailer here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor for International Holocaust Remembrance Day programming.
Presented with The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
Part of the Center’s programming series Anne Frank in History and Memory and film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
This screening is made possible by The Weber Family Arts Foundation.
Ticket Info: Pay what you wish; click here to register
Presented by:
film and discussion
book talk
Saints and Liars by Debórah Dwork - In-person Event
Saints and Liars is a moving history of American relief workers during the Hitler years who sought to save Jews and political opponents targeted by the Nazi regime. Praised by Publishers’ Weekly as “a gripping study of individuals’ operations in terrible extremis,” and selected by Apple Books as a Winter’s Most Anticipated Book, the story historian Debórah Dwork tells arcs through time, place, and situation. From negotiating with government representatives to doing direct (and sometimes secret) refugee relief, aid workers contended with moral questions and fast-changing historical circumstances in their mission to bring people to safety. Drawing on rich archival sources, Saints and Liarsoffers a glimpse into the lives of people who risked all to help those fleeing persecution.
Author Debórah Dwork, director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the Graduate Center – CUNY, will discuss her book with Marion Kaplan, Skirball Professor Emerita of Modern Jewish History, NYU.
Ticket Info: Free; registration required
Presented by:
book talk
discussion
2025 Summer Program Information Session – Live on Zoom
Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at the YIVO-Bard Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of the Summer Program for a brief information session. This 30-minute session will cover the program’s structure, online and in-person formats, admissions process, and more, with time for questions from prospective Summer Program students. The session will be conducted in English and are entirely optional (prospective students are not required to attend).
Learn more about the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
discussion
book talk
When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary – In-Person Book Talk
Bestselling author Alice Hoffman delivers a stunning novel, aimed at a young adult audience, about one of contemporary history's most acclaimed figures, exploring the little-known details of Anne Frank's life before she went into hiding.
Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne's journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.
With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family's life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.
In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious, creative, and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With wisdom far beyond her years, she will become a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.
Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life. When We Flew Away features archival content provided by the Anne Frank House, as well as information about Otto Frank's desperate bids to get his family to safety in America gathered from correspondence between Otto Frank and Nathan Straus, Jr. from the Straus Historical Society’s Archives. Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.
Alice Hoffman will be in conversation with her editor at Scholastic, Lisa Sandell. Book sales and signing will follow the program. Get a discount on the price of your ticket if you pre-order the book.
Part of the Center’s programming series Anne Frank in History and Memory in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Presented with Scholastic
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor.
About the Speakers:
Alice Hoffman is the highly acclaimed author of over 30 novels for readers of all ages, including The Dovekeepers, The World That We Knew -- winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, The Marriage of Opposites, Practical Magic, Incantation, The Foretelling, and most recently, The Invisible Hour. Her previous novels for Scholastic Press are Aquamarine, which was made into a major motion picture, Indigo, Green Witch, and Green Angel, which Publishers Weekly, in a boxed, starred review, called "achingly lovely." She lives outside of Boston.
Lisa Ann Sandell is an editorial director at Scholastic Inc., where she publishes literary and commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction, including critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman’s New York Times bestseller, When We Flew Away;the New York Times bestselling False Prince series by Jennifer A. Nielsen; and #1 New York Times bestseller Sharon Cameron’s The Light in Hidden Places, which was a Reese’s YA Book Club pick; among many other books. Lisa is also the author of four young adult novels. She lives in New York City with her family.
Ticket Info: $10 general; $8 seniors/students; $6 CJH members; $37 general with book; $35 seniors/student with book; $33 CJH member with book; click here to register
Presented by:
book talk
book talk
Yiddish Literature Under Surveillance in Soviet Ukraine – Live on Zoom
Yiddish Literature Under Surveillance: The Case of Soviet Ukraine gives a broad view on Soviet Jewish literary life, and on the repression suffered by Yiddish writers under Stalinist rule. It moves from the paradigm of writing almost exclusively about the most prominent authors, whose execution in Moscow on August 12, 1952 is tragically known as "The Night of Murdered Poets." Instead, the narrative is built as a group biography of five writers whose literary home was in Kyiv, the capital of Soviet Ukraine from 1934 to 1991. Those authors are as follows: Avrom Abchuk (arrested and executed in 1937), Chaim Gildin (arrested in 1940; died in a camp in 1943), Itsik Kipnis (arrested in 1949; released in 1955), Rive Balyasne (arrested in 1952; released in 1955), and Hirsh Bloshteyn, an enthusiastic agent of the secret police. In addition, this book is populated by other Yiddish, Ukrainian, and Russian literati. Kyiv was the primary fountainhead for Yiddish literary creativity in the early postrevolutionary period for seven decades and remained a leading Soviet Yiddish literary center, second in importance only to Moscow. Author Gennady Estraikh pays special attention to the victims’ rehabilitation, posthumous or otherwise, in the mid-1950s and onwards.
Join YIVO for a discussion with Estraikh about this book, led by Mikhail Krutikov.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
book talk
film screening
The City Without Jews: A Live Cine-Concert with Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin – In-person Program
The City Without Jews (Die Stadt ohne Juden), H. K. Breslauer’s 1924 silent masterpiece, is based on the bestselling dystopian novel by Hugo Bettauer. It was produced two years after the book’s publication and, tragically, shortly before the satirical events depicted in the fictional story transformed into all-too-horrific reality. All complete prints were thought to be destroyed, but thanks to the discovery of a nitrate print in a Parisian flea market in 2015, this “lost” film can once again be appreciated in its unfortunately ever-relevant entirety.
Set in the Austrian city of Utopia (a thinly-disguised stand-in for Vienna), the story follows the political and personal consequences of an antisemitic law passed by the National Assembly forcing all Jews to leave the country. At first, the decision is met with celebration, but when the citizens of Utopia eventually come to terms with the loss of the Jewish population – and the resulting economic and cultural decline—the National Assembly must decide whether to invite the Jews back. Though darkly comedic in tone and stylistically influenced by German Expressionism, the film nonetheless contains ominous and eerily realistic sequences, such as shots of freight trains transporting Jews out of the city. The film’s stinging critique of Nazism is part of the reason it was no longer screened in public after 1933.
Join the Jewish Music Forum and YIVO for a screening of The City Without Jews accompanied by live original music composed and performed by world-renowned klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and celebrated silent film pianist Donald Sosin. A Q&A session with the musicians will follow the cine-concert.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
film screening
book talk
Hollywood's Unofficial Film Corps: American Jewish Moviemakers and the War Effort – In-person Event
Join the American Jewish Historical Society and NYU’s Center for the Study of Antisemitism for a book talk on Hollywood’s Unofficial Film Corps: American Jewish Moviemakers and the War Effort with author Michael Berkowitz and moderator Avinoam Patt.
It has long been known that Hollywood was actively involved in shaping US public opinion during World War II. Less well documented are the ways in which Washington sought to work behind the scenes, subtly obliterating the boundaries between “studio” and “government” films. Michael Berkowitz studies the contributions of humorist and best-selling author Leo Rosten (The Joys of Yiddish, The Education of H*Y*M*A*N* K*A*P*L*A*N) and writer, producer, and screenwriter Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront, A Face in the Crowd) in order to examine the elusive story of Jewish Hollywood’s role in World War II.
Hollywood’s Unofficial Film Corps shows that Rosten, Schulberg, and others—including Garson Kanin, George Cukor, Stanley Kramer, and Jules Buck—created movies that were both entertaining and politically expeditious for US war aims. At the same time, in an effort to unify the American public, they avoided focusing on the fate of European Jews, even while addressing racism and antisemitism in the United States. Jewish themes were often downplayed, and Jewish directors, writers, and other contributors frequently went uncredited. As Berkowitz writes, “Rosten’s cohort changed feature films forever.” Thanks to his research, we now have a better understanding of how and why.
Ticket Info: General Admission $10, Students $5
Presented by:
book talk
concert
Two Pianos, Six Hands: Phoenix Chamber Ensemble performs Bach, Schubert & Prokofiev – In-Person Concert and Live on YouTube
J.S. Bach/A. Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 Pianos in A minor BWV 1065, transcribed for 2 Pianos, 6 Hands by E. Braslavsky
F. Schubert: Lebensstürme; Characteristic Allegro, Op.144, D.947
S. Prokofiev: Suite from "Cinderella" for 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, edited by Mikhail Pletnev
J.S. Bach: Concerto in C minor, BWV 1060 for 2 Pianos
F. Schubert: Fantasia in F minor, Op.103, D.940
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (1759-1845; J.S. Bach’s grandson): Das Dreyblatt for Piano, 6 Hands
Founded in 2005 by pianists Vassa Shevel and Inessa Zaretsky, the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble has, over the course of two decades, become a vital part of the New York classical community, presenting more than 70 public concerts at the Center for Jewish History. The ensemble has garnered a devoted following with its innovative programming and sensitive interpretations, earned an international reputation presenting concerts in Russia, Poland, Italy, and other European venues, and collaborated with numerous acclaimed guest artists, including clarinetist David Krakauer, the Grammy-nominated Enso Quartet, the Tesla Quartet, members of the Jasper String Quartet, the New York Little Opera Company, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Ballet.
Made possible by the Stravinsky Institute Foundation through the generous support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Ticket Info:
In person: $10 general; $9 senior/student; $8 member; click here to register
YouTube: Pay what you wish; click here to register
Presented by:
concert
film and panel discussion
The Anne Frank Gift Shop with Mickey Rapkin, Ari Graynor, Avinoam Patt, and Sloane Crosley – In-Person Program
The Anne Frank Gift Shop was shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. The film, written and directed by Mickey Rapkin, premiered at L.A. Shorts in 2023 and won the Film Movement Award at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and a completion grant from JFI. Of the film, GQ magazine's Sarah Seltzer wrote: "Featuring darkly funny and ultimately moving turns by a strong cast including Ari Graynor and Chris Perfetti and comedian Mary Beth Barone as a stone-faced Gen Z influencer, The Anne Frank Gift Shop provides a poignant meta-commentary on our continually robust Anne Frank discourse. It’s a film that, per Sarah Paulson on Instagram, 'makes you laugh your face off AND FEEL things'." The film won the Audience Award in Philadelphia and has screened around the world at festivals including SCAD, the Cleveland International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival.
A panel discussion and Q&A featuring writer/director Mickey Rapkin, Ari Graynor, and Avinoam Patt,moderated by the bestselling author of Grief Is for People, Sloane Crosley will follow the screening.
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
About the Speakers
Mickey Rapkin made his directorial debut with The Anne Frank Gift Shop which was shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. He also wrote the film, a dark comedy about antisemitism starring Ari Graynor and Chris Perfetti. Rapkin is a screenwriter and journalist whose first book, Pitch Perfect—about the world of competitive a cappella singing groups—inspired the film franchise of the same name. Previously a senior editor at GQ, he has written for the New York Times, WSJ, Town & Country, and Esquire.
Ticket Info: $10 general; $8 seniors/students; $6 CJH members; click here to purchase tickets
CJH members enjoy 40% off on tickets. Join today.
Presented by:
film and panel discussion
lecture
The YIVO Library in New York: Personal Reflections on Its History and Collections – Live on Zoom
In the mid-1930s a group of New York Yiddishist intellectuals established the Central Jewish Library and Press Archive, whose collections became the nucleus of the YIVO Library when the Institute relocated from Vilna to New York in 1940. Over the succeeding decades, the Library grew by leaps and bounds, thanks to the dedication of its librarians and supporters. It emerged as a “collection of collections,” absorbing the extensive personal libraries of prominent Yiddish writers, scholars, and book collectors. Crucially, after 1945 the Library also recovered large portions of the Vilna YIVO’s prewar holdings along with thousands of rabbinic works from Vilna’s Strashun Library. Throughout its history, the YIVO Library has been a beehive of scholarship and bibliography, which has been fostered by such outstanding figures as Mendl Elkin and Dina Abramowicz.
In this presentation, Zachary M. Baker will offer some personal reflections on the legacy that the YIVO Library’s founders and builders have left behind.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
lecture
film and discussion
Where Is Anne Frank with Ari Folman – In-Person Program
Where Is Anne Frank is a 2021 animated magic realism film by visionary Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman, Academy Award-nominated director of Waltz with Bashir. The film follows Kitty, Anne Frank's imaginary friend to whom she addressed her diary, manifesting in contemporary Amsterdam. Seeking to learn what happened to her creator, Kitty attracts worldwide attention.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "The story of Anne Frank and her diary is retold in this fervent, heartfelt and visually wonderful animated film." Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter said the film "expresses the story's unspeakable sadness with eloquence and sensitivity." Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood called it "a complete Anne Frank story reinvention that should resonate in the hearts of the young audience at which it is aimed".
The screening of a new version of the film, never before seen in the United States, will be followed by a panel discussion with director Ari Folman.
Watch the trailer here
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
Ticket Info: $18 general; $16 seniors/students; $11 CJH members; click here to register
CJH members enjoy 40% off on tickets. Join today.
Presented by:
film and discussion
discussion
2025 Summer Program Advanced Level Information Session – Live on Zoom
Are you thinking of returning to the Summer Program to continue your advanced studies? Join Summer Program faculty and staff for a brief information session about YIVO’s advanced levels. Open to graduates of YIVO’s intermediate levels and those with comparable proficiency, this session will cover the structure of YIVO’s advanced levels, the online and in-person formats, admissions process, and more, with time for questions from prospective Summer Program students.
The session will be conducted in Yiddish and is entirely optional (prospective students are not required to attend).
Learn more about the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
discussion
film and discussion
Where Is Anne Frank with Ari Folman – In-Person Program
Where Is Anne Frank is a 2021 animated magic realism film by visionary Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman, Academy Award-nominated director of Waltz with Bashir. The film follows Kitty, Anne Frank's imaginary friend to whom she addressed her diary, manifesting in contemporary Amsterdam. Seeking to learn what happened to her creator, Kitty attracts worldwide attention.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "The story of Anne Frank and her diary is retold in this fervent, heartfelt and visually wonderful animated film." Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter said the film "expresses the story's unspeakable sadness with eloquence and sensitivity." Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood called it "a complete Anne Frank story reinvention that should resonate in the hearts of the young audience at which it is aimed".
The screening of a new version of the film, never before seen in the United States, will be followed by a panel discussion with director Ari Folman.
Watch the trailer here
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
Ticket Info: $18 general; $16 seniors/students; $11 CJH members; click here to register
CJH members enjoy 40% off on tickets. Join today.
Presented by:
film and discussion
theatrical performance
The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher - In-person Event
Leo Baeck Institute is proud to present the North American premiere ofinterdisciplinary performance The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher. The performances will take place February 24, 25, and 26 at the Center for Jewish History.
When the last person who remembers is gone, whole worlds disappear forever. Israeli/American artist, choreographer and performer Neta Pulvermacher situates her riveting one woman show, The Archive, inside this perforated post-memory landscape. Exploring her German-Jewish family history, she constructs a jarring, funny and deeply moving performative journey that follows the traces to Frankfurt and Berlin – once her family’s home.
Pulvermacher sifts through documents, old pictures, and personal artifacts, conjuring up fragmented narratives, voices, and characters that emerge briefly, only to fade back into oblivion. Through research and memory, she combines real and imagined sites and events, blurring the lines between past and present, battling the gradual disappearance of memories.
For a moment, this pursuit of traces materializes in the Great Hall of NYC’s Center for Jewish History, a place of remembrance itself. As Pulvermacher navigates this layered landscape, she invites the audience to join her as she attempts to reconstruct a lost world. Especially in times of crisis, the questions of memory and history and their significance for understanding our world(s) become relevant and urgent.
Originally commissioned as a site-specific work for a quartet of dancers at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, The Archive was reimagined as a one-woman show for the KFW Stiftung Villa 102 in Frankfurt Germany (March 2024) and the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv (June 2024). Following this North American premiere at the Center for Jewish History, Pulvermacher invites the audience to an artist talk.
Made possible in part by support from the Arnhold family and Mary and Saul Sanders.
Ticket Info: LBI/CJH/Partner Members, Students, Seniors: $15; General: $25-$40
Presented by:
theatrical performance
book talk
Russia’s Jews in World War I – Live on Zoom
When World War I began, the Russian Empire was home to more than 5.7 million Jews, the most densely settled Jewish population in the world. Thirty years later, by 1945, only remnants of this civilization remained. The years of World War I, from 1914 to 1918, launched nearly all the forces that led to this epic destruction.
In A Nation of Refugees: Russia's Jews in World War I, Polly Zavadivker tells how Jewish civilians experienced that war and its epicenter of violence on the Eastern Front. World War I transformed the lives of East European Jews in ways that were second only to the Holocaust in their magnitude. State violence and forced migration determined many aspects of Jewish wartime and revolutionary experience. These policies not only destroyed much of traditional Jewish life but also inadvertently compelled a transformation of Jewish civil society. The collapse of Russian imperialism enabled the growth of an empire-wide humanitarian campaign to rescue the “nation of refugees,” whose plight embodied that of the Jewish nation itself. By exploring this history of Jewish humanitarianism during World War I, Zavadivker provides the origin stories of key leaders and public institutions that served East European Jewry in the interwar years and during the Holocaust.
Join YIVO for a discussion with Zavadivker about this book, led by historian Eliyana Adler.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
book talk
theatrical performance
The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher - In-person Event
Leo Baeck Institute is proud to present the North American premiere ofinterdisciplinary performance The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher. The performances will take place February 24, 25, and 26 at the Center for Jewish History.
When the last person who remembers is gone, whole worlds disappear forever. Israeli/American artist, choreographer and performer Neta Pulvermacher situates her riveting one woman show, The Archive, inside this perforated post-memory landscape. Exploring her German-Jewish family history, she constructs a jarring, funny and deeply moving performative journey that follows the traces to Frankfurt and Berlin – once her family’s home.
Pulvermacher sifts through documents, old pictures, and personal artifacts, conjuring up fragmented narratives, voices, and characters that emerge briefly, only to fade back into oblivion. Through research and memory, she combines real and imagined sites and events, blurring the lines between past and present, battling the gradual disappearance of memories.
For a moment, this pursuit of traces materializes in the Great Hall of NYC’s Center for Jewish History, a place of remembrance itself. As Pulvermacher navigates this layered landscape, she invites the audience to join her as she attempts to reconstruct a lost world. Especially in times of crisis, the questions of memory and history and their significance for understanding our world(s) become relevant and urgent.
Originally commissioned as a site-specific work for a quartet of dancers at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, The Archive was reimagined as a one-woman show for the KFW Stiftung Villa 102 in Frankfurt Germany (March 2024) and the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv (June 2024). Following this North American premiere at the Center for Jewish History, Pulvermacher invites the audience to an artist talk.
Made possible in part by support from the Arnhold family and Mary and Saul Sanders.
Ticket Info: LBI/CJH/Partner Members, Students, Seniors: $15; General: $25-$40
Presented by:
theatrical performance
theatrical performance
The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher - In-person Event
Leo Baeck Institute is proud to present the North American premiere ofinterdisciplinary performance The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher. The performances will take place February 24, 25, and 26 at the Center for Jewish History.
When the last person who remembers is gone, whole worlds disappear forever. Israeli/American artist, choreographer and performer Neta Pulvermacher situates her riveting one woman show, The Archive, inside this perforated post-memory landscape. Exploring her German-Jewish family history, she constructs a jarring, funny and deeply moving performative journey that follows the traces to Frankfurt and Berlin – once her family’s home.
Pulvermacher sifts through documents, old pictures, and personal artifacts, conjuring up fragmented narratives, voices, and characters that emerge briefly, only to fade back into oblivion. Through research and memory, she combines real and imagined sites and events, blurring the lines between past and present, battling the gradual disappearance of memories.
For a moment, this pursuit of traces materializes in the Great Hall of NYC’s Center for Jewish History, a place of remembrance itself. As Pulvermacher navigates this layered landscape, she invites the audience to join her as she attempts to reconstruct a lost world. Especially in times of crisis, the questions of memory and history and their significance for understanding our world(s) become relevant and urgent.
Originally commissioned as a site-specific work for a quartet of dancers at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, The Archive was reimagined as a one-woman show for the KFW Stiftung Villa 102 in Frankfurt Germany (March 2024) and the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv (June 2024). Following this North American premiere at the Center for Jewish History, Pulvermacher invites the audience to an artist talk.
Made possible in part by support from the Arnhold family and Mary and Saul Sanders.
Ticket Info: LBI/CJH/Partner Members, Students, Seniors: $15; General: $25-$40
Presented by:
theatrical performance
film and discussion
Bau, Artist at War with Writer/Producer Deborah Smerecnik, Clila Bau, Hadasa Bau, and Daniel S. Mariaschin – In-Person Program
Bau: Artist at War is a remarkable film is based on the true love story of Joseph and Rebecca Bau, whose wedding took place in the Plaszow concentration camp during WWII, an event immortalized in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. Using his artistic skills and sense of humor in the camps, Joseph manages to stay alive and ultimately helps hundreds to escape. Years later, when called to be a key witness in the trial of the brutal Nazi officer who tortured him and killed his father, he is thrust back into vivid memories of the Holocaust. Emile Hirsch stars as Joseph Bau.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with writer/producer Deborah Smerecnik andJoseph Bau’s daughters Clila and Hadasa Bau, moderated by Daniel S. Mariaschin.
Watch the trailer here.
Presented with Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme and UJA
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
About the Speakers
Deborah Smerecnik spent 14 years developing and producing "Bau, Artist at War." Her production company has a slate of projects, in different stages of development, including "VOICES", a dystopian sci-fi television series, "Wake-Up", a feature highlighting the sex trafficking industry of Ventura County, California, and a mini-series centered around the diaries of Rebecca Bau. A graduate of Scripps College with a diverse professional background in finance, management, and restaurant ownership, Smerecnik was deeply inspired by the Bau family's story. This project has profoundly impacted her, instilling a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to bring the Bau’s inspiring journey to life.
Clila Bau Cohen is a lecturer and performer. Hadasa Bau is an actress, singer, songwriter, lecturer and graphic artist. They both serve as managers of the Joseph Bau House, a museum focusing on the life and work of Joseph Bau.
Daniel S. Mariaschin is the CEO of B’nai B’rith International. As the organization’s top executive officer, he directs and supervises B’nai B’rith programs, activities and staff around the world. He is the spokesman for B’nai B’rith, interpreting its policies to a variety of audiences, including the U.S. Congress, world leaders, global diplomats and the media, with responsibility for coordinating the organization’s programs and policies on issues of concern to the Jewish community. In the United States and abroad, Mr. Mariaschin has met with scores of heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers, opposition leaders, religious leaders and influential members of the media, to advance human rights and to help protect the rights of Jewish communities worldwide as well as to promote better relations with the State of Israel.
Ticket Info: Pay what you wish; click here to register
CJH members enjoy 40% off on tickets. Join today.
Presented by:
film and discussion
film and discussion
Here Lived: The Stolpersteine Story with Jane Wells, Emile Schrijver, Ulrika Citron, and Dienke Hondius – In-Person Program
Here Lived: The Stolpersteine Story won Best Documentary at the Jewish Film Festival in 2024 and has been screened at many festivals around the world.
When conceptual artist Gunter Demnig first conceived the idea of laying Stolpersteine (literal translation: stumbling stones) for Roma, Sinti, and disabled victims of National Socialism (Nazis) in his native Germany, he never imagined his project would grow to become the world’s largest decentralized memorial.
The Stolpersteine he crafted are, in theory, quite simple: concrete blocks measuring 10x10cm, topped with polished brass plates that are hand stamped with the names and fates of victims of Hitler’s reign of terror. These handmade stones are laid into the pavement in front of the last voluntarily chosen residence of those murdered by the Nazis. The stones, requested by surviving family members, represent a deeply personal commemoration to those affected by the horrors of Nazi occupation. Today, Stolpersteine have been placed in 30 countries across Europe, and on May 23, 2023, 3 Generations filmed Gunter Demnig laying the 100,000th Stolperstein.
Against the backdrop of a war in Europe, the perpetual plague of anti-Semitism and racism around the world, and the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Nazi’s defeat, this extraordinary tale of resilience, remembrance, and community deeply resonates with our contemporary moment. Here Lived is a timely and profoundly moving testament to the enduring power of human compassion and solidarity.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with producer and director Jane Wells, historian Emile Schrijver, producer Ulrika Citron, and professor Dienke Hondius.
Watch the trailer here.
Presented with Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme and UJA
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
About the Speakers
Ulrika Citron, Producer, is the grandchild of Dutch Holocaust victims and the daughter of a hidden child. She was born and raised in Sweden, but has lived and worked in the USA for the last 30 years. In the film, Ulrika journeys to the Netherlands to honor her family and reclaim her Jewish identity.
Dienke Hondius has been a staff member at Anne Frank House since 1984 and works as senior researcher and docent at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. She is the author of Absent: Memories of the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam, 1941-1943 and many articles published in scholarly Dutch journals.
Emile Schrijver is the General Director of The Jewish Cultural Quarter and professor of Jewish Book History at the University of Amsterdam. A world-renowned expert on Jewish history, he explains the horrors faced by Jewish people during the Nazi occupation, as well as his role in the initiative to place 733 stones in his hometown of Haarlem.
Jane Wells, an Emmy-Award nominated filmmaker and activist, is the director and producer of HERE LIVED. Over fifteen years, Wells has produced groundbreaking documentaries chronicling a diverse range of social issues. TRICKED is an unflinching examination of sex trafficking in the United States; The Devil Came on Horseback chronicles the genocide in Darfur. Most recently, HERE LIVED focuses on the families impacted by the Nazis during World War II and the generational trauma that atrocity precipitates. In HERE LIVED, Wells and her team capture the story of the world’s largest decentralized memorial, explore the unknown history of the Netherlands’ hidden children, and give a platform to the relatives of Nazi victims and key figures in the Stolpersteine project to reflect on the meaning of the memorial and its role as a source of healing and reconciliation. As the daughter of Sidney Bernstein, who was responsible for documenting the liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps for the Allies in World War II, Jane knows the power film has to shape history and empower survivors. This history led her to build her own legacy as a filmmaker focused on telling the stories of survivors of crimes against humanity. Over more than 15 years, Wells has produced 50 short films and documentaries. Her projects have been featured in international film festivals, such as Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, NY Jewish Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The films have been recognized by distinguished media outlets, such as the New York Times, the Huffington Post, CNN, and the BBC, among others. Wells wholeheartedly immerses herself in all of her projects. Actively participating in every stage of each production, she ensures her presence on the ground. However, what she holds dearest is the enduring relationships she has fostered with the individuals featured in her films. It is their stories that inspire her and drive her team to continue with their mission and work.
Ticket Info: Pay what you wish; click here to register
CJH members enjoy 40% off on tickets. Join today.
Presented by:
film and discussion
concert
Andrzej Cieplinski Plays Jewish Clarinet Masterworks – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Distinguished Warsaw-based clarinetist Andrzej Cieplinski will appear in a rare American recital performing Jewish classical music masterworks. This program will feature Alexander Krein's two suites of "Jewish Sketches" for Clarinet and String Quartet which take inspiration from Yiddish folksong and Klezmer music and Joseph Achron's Kindersuite, a collection of character pieces inspired by Hebrew cantillation for clarinet, string quartet, and piano. The program will also feature a new work by YIVO's own Alex Weiser and selections from Cieplinski's Limanowa project which features recently discovered pre-Holocaust Jewish music found in a small town in Southern Poland. Sergei Prokofiev's beloved Overture on Hebrew Themes completes the program. Cieplinski will be joined by cellist Julian Schwarz, pianist Marika Bournaki, violinists Peter Sirotin and Daniel Kurganov, and violist Colin Brookes.
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series is made possible by a generous gift from the Estate of Sidney Krum.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
concert
panel discussion
Yiddish Tangos and Klezmer Mambos – Live on Zoom
This panel discussion will explore the remarkable influence of Latin American music and dance on the culture of Yiddish speaking communities in the United States. Ronald Robboy will discuss Latin American musical influences upon Yiddish theater composers, including Sholom Secunda, Abraham Ellstein, and Alexander Olshanetsky; Sonia Gollance will discuss the popularity of dances like the Tango and Mambo in the Borscht Belt, as exemplified by movies like Dirty Dancing and Mamboniks; and Josh Kun will discuss the influence of Latin American music on post-war Jewish music and the influence of Jewish music on U.S. Latino/a artists.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
panel discussion
book talk
The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai – In-person Event and Live on YouTube
Join us in person and online for a book talk on The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai with co-author Melissa R. Klapper and moderator Zev Eleff. The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai was edited by Dianne Ashton z”l and Melissa R. Klapper and is available from NYU Press.
Emma Mordecai lived an unusual life. She was Jewish when Jews comprised less than 1 percent of the population of the Old South, and unmarried in a culture that offered women few options other than marriage. She was American born when most American Jews were immigrants. She affirmed and maintained her dedication to Jewish religious practice and Jewish faith while many family members embraced Christianity. Yet she also lived well within the social parameters established for Southern white women, espoused Southern values, and owned enslaved African Americans.
The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai is one of the few surviving Civil War diaries by a Jewish woman in the antebellum South. It charts her daily life and her evolving perspective on Confederate nationalism and Southern identity, Jewishness, women’s roles in wartime, gendered domestic roles in slave-owning households, and the centrality of family relationships. While never losing sight of the racist social and political structures that shaped Emma Mordecai’s world, the book chronicles her experiences with dislocation and the loss of her home.
Bringing to life the hospital visits, food shortages, local sociability, Jewish observances, sounds and sights of nearby battles, and the very personal ramifications of emancipation and its aftermath for her household and family, The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai offers a valuable and distinct look at a unique historical figure from the waning years of the Civil War South.
Ticket Info: General Admission $10, Students $5
Presented by:
book talk
lecture
A Trip into the Archive: The Case of Otto Schneid – Live on Zoom
YIVO’s Museum of Jewish Art, Judaica, and Art History was initiated in the mid-1930s at YIVO’s Vilna headquarters. Those involved included the well-known artist Marc Chagall and the Austrian-Jewish art historian Otto Schneid. Before Schneid was tapped to spearhead this museum, he had dedicated years of his life to creating a kind of encyclopedia of contemporary Jewish artists, many of them contributors to L’Ecole de Paris and satellites of this avant-garde art movement in cities across Europe. Beginning in 1929, Schneid travelled to view the artwork of over one hundred a hundred Jewish artists such as Chana Orloff, Alfred Reth, Oscar Miestchaninoff, and Henryk Streng. He also corresponded with them by letter, and the artists sent him photographs of their work along with their biographies. Schneid submitted the manuscript of his encyclopedia to his publisher in 1937. Following the Anschluss of March 1938, the Nazis raided the publishing house and destroyed the manuscript. Schneid escaped Europe with the letters and photographs he had gathered with the hope of recreating the book.
Based on her archival work at YIVO and at the University of Toronto’s Fisher Library, Alyssa Quint discusses the lives of Schneid and his artists and uses the case of Schneid to reflect on the allure of and impediments to archival research.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
lecture
panel discussion
Yiddish Studies in the Digital Age: 10 Years of In geveb – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies published its first articles, essays, translations, and teacher resources in August of 2015. In the intervening decade, it has to a large degree achieved its founding goal, to become “a central address for the study of all things Yiddish.” A generation of students, culture producers, and emerging scholars of Yiddish have now come of age with In geveb as a place to publish, to keep abreast of current research around the world, to find new translations to teach, and read reviews of everything from the latest scholarly publications to new Yiddish music, theater, and film. This roundtable brings together a group of scholars who have all been involved with In geveb in a range of roles to reflect on what this “born digital” journal has contributed to the field of Yiddish studies. This panel will also reflect on the state of Yiddish studies more broadly over the past decade. The panel will conclude by asking what the next 10 years will hold for the field of Yiddish studies, and how scholarly and cultural spaces like In geveb will need to adapt to be ready to serve a changing academic and cultural landscape.
Panelists include former Peer Review Associate for In geveb Elena Hoffenberg, founding co-editor of In geveb and past president of In geveb’s board of directors Eitan Kensky, and members of In geveb’s board of directors Eddy Portnoy and Rachel Rubinstein. The evening will be introduced and moderated by chief editor of In geveb Jessica Kirzane and president of In geveb’s board of directors Madeleine Cohen.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
panel discussion
book talk
Agunot in the Ashkenazi Realm, 1648-1850 – Live on Zoom
An agunah, literally a “chained woman,” is a woman unable to secure a rabbinic divorce because her husband has disappeared or is unwilling to sign the divorce papers. In The Marital Knot: Agunot in the Ashkenazi Realm, 1648-1850, Noa Shashar sheds light on Jewish family life in the early modern era and on the Jewish legal rulings of rabbis, which determined the fate of these marginalized agunot. How did Jewish society deal with the danger of women becoming agunot? What kind of reality was imposed on women who found themselves as agunot, and what could they do to extricate themselves from their plight? How did rabbinic decisors discharge their task during this period, and what were the outcomes given that the agunot were dependent on the male rabbinic establishment? Shashar reexamines the halakhic activity concerning agunot in the early modern period and proposes a new assessment of the attitude that decisors displayed toward the freeing of these women. This study also fills a void in the scholarship on agunot by describing the lives of these women and of the men who brought this about.
Join YIVO for a discussion with Shashar about this book, led by historian Elisheva Carlebach.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
book talk
lecture
The YIVO Sound Archive and the Klezmer Revival – Live on Zoom
YIVO sound archivist Eléonore Biezunski will tell the story of the Max and Frieda Weinstein Archive of YIVO Sound Recordings in relation to the revitalization of klezmer music since the mid-1970s. The impetus of young folk musicians seeking to reclaim the music of their ancestors, particularly the instrumental genre known as klezmer music, in a general context of “roots movement,” was a major factor in the establishment of the YIVO Sound Archive in the early 1980s. As a sound archivist and Yiddish musician, Biezunski presents the archive not only as a repository of documents, possible sources, but also as a living space – a historical phenomenon in its own right and a dynamic spatialized territory generated by individuals with their own creativity, caught in a web of social and cultural, intellectual and scientific, institutional and artistic contexts.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
lecture
concert
Falafel, Freilach and Frijoles: From Mambo to Borscht - In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Arturo O’Farrill, and his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, perform a concert that explores the relationship between the Latino and Jewish communities. The evening will feature Jewish and Yiddish classics in Afro Latin big band versions, and Latin classics in Klezmer arrangements. The Orchestra will feature performances by special guests including trumpeter/slide trumpeter, composer Steven Bernstein.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info:
In Person: $25; Members (YIVO, Belongó, ASJM, Borscht Belt Museum, LBI): $15; Students: $15
Zoom Livestream: $10
Presented by:
concert
lecture
The Making of a Historian of East European Jewry and the Holocaust: Lucy S. Dawidowicz and the YIVO in Vilna, New York, and Offenbach – Live on Zoom
This talk by Nancy Sinkoff will explore the influence of the YIVO on Lucy S. Dawidowicz (1915-1990), a postwar American Jewish public intellectual and historian, who was central to the field that is now called “Holocaust Studies.” Witness to the vital Jewish world of pre-war Vilna, shaped by the group of refugee and survivor historians at the New York YIVO during the war, and an activist working with Jewish DPs and salvaging Jewish cultural treasures in Germany after the war, Dawidowicz played a principal role in the construction of postwar American Holocaust consciousness. With The Golden Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in Eastern Europe (1967) and The War Against the Jews: 1933–1945 (1975), a classic of “intentionalist” Holocaust historiography that emphasized the centrality of Hitler’s antisemitic ideology to the Nazis’ “Final Solution,” Dawidowicz became a central authority on East European Jewry, the Holocaust, and antisemitism in the postwar years.
Buy Nancy Sinkoff’s book about Lucy S. Dawidowicz.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
lecture
panel discussion
New Trends in YIVO Scholarship – Live on Zoom
Since 1925, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research has been a pioneer in the field of Jewish studies. At the core of YIVO since its founding was its commitment to scholarship which supported the Jewish “folk.” This manifested in a variety of initiatives, including youth autobiography contests and a youth research division (yugfor), an Economic-Statistical section (ekstat), and the establishment of various YIVO branches. These YIVO's activities continue to pique the interests of scholars, who have recently produced new scholarship analyzing these initiatives through the lens of new pioneering research methods.
Join YIVO for a panel discussion sharing new research on these historic YIVO initiatives featuring presentations by William Pimlott, Kamil Kijek, and Nicolas Vallois, followed by a conversation led by Jessica Kirzane.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
panel discussion
conference
YIVO in America – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Join us for a celebration of YIVO’s 100th anniversary with a conference focusing on how YIVO’s founding vision for Jewish social sciences has been realized in America since its headquarters shifted to New York City in 1940.
The destruction of East European Jewry during the Holocaust—including YIVO’s original headquarters in Vilna—challenged fundamental ideas about Jewish peoplehood and the Yiddish language’s role in it that had animated YIVO since its founding. Despite this, YIVO continued to publish scholarly works in America, support the study of Yiddish linguistics and folklore, and serve as a repository documenting East European Jewish history and culture. YIVO also developed new ventures, helping to create the field of Holocaust studies, playing a pioneering role in the teaching of Yiddish as it ceased being the mother tongue of the Jewish masses, and bolstering the development of Jewish studies more broadly.
In this conference, scholars will discuss YIVO’s work since 1940 touching on how YIVO’s purpose shifted in the American context, major achievements of YIVO’s work in America, YIVO’s role in the post-war evolution of Yiddish and Jewish studies, and what work lies ahead for YIVO and Jewish studies more broadly.
Scholars featured in this conference include Jonathan Brent, Leyzer Burko, Deborah Dash Moore, Hasia Diner, Eric Goldstein, Itzik Gottesman, Stefanie Halpern, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Cecile Kuznitz, Rebecca Margolis, Anita Norich, Samuel Norich, Naomi Seidman, Mark Smith, Kalman Weiser, and Steve Zipperstein.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
conference
conference
YIVO in America – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Join us for a celebration of YIVO’s 100th anniversary with a conference focusing on how YIVO’s founding vision for Jewish social sciences has been realized in America since its headquarters shifted to New York City in 1940.
The destruction of East European Jewry during the Holocaust—including YIVO’s original headquarters in Vilna—challenged fundamental ideas about Jewish peoplehood and the Yiddish language’s role in it that had animated YIVO since its founding. Despite this, YIVO continued to publish scholarly works in America, support the study of Yiddish linguistics and folklore, and serve as a repository documenting East European Jewish history and culture. YIVO also developed new ventures, helping to create the field of Holocaust studies, playing a pioneering role in the teaching of Yiddish as it ceased being the mother tongue of the Jewish masses, and bolstering the development of Jewish studies more broadly.
In this conference, scholars will discuss YIVO’s work since 1940 touching on how YIVO’s purpose shifted in the American context, major achievements of YIVO’s work in America, YIVO’s role in the post-war evolution of Yiddish and Jewish studies, and what work lies ahead for YIVO and Jewish studies more broadly.
Scholars featured in this conference include Jonathan Brent, Leyzer Burko, Deborah Dash Moore, Hasia Diner, Eric Goldstein, Itzik Gottesman, Stefanie Halpern, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Cecile Kuznitz, Rebecca Margolis, Anita Norich, Samuel Norich, Naomi Seidman, Mark Smith, Kalman Weiser, and Steve Zipperstein.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
conference