CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Yad Vashem/USHMM Workshop. Everyday Life of Jews in the USSR during the Holocaust and its Early Aftermathhh

Call for Applications

Everyday Life of Jews in the USSR during the Holocaust and its Early Aftermath

Sunday-Thursday, August 29–September 2, 2021, Jerusalem

The Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem and the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) are pleased to invite applications for a research workshop entitled, "Everyday Life of Jews in the USSR during the Holocaust and its Early Aftermath." The workshop is scheduled for August 29–September 2, 2021 at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. This is the third research workshop co-organized by Yad Vashem and USHMM with a focus on the former Soviet Union.

The workshop will focus on the Holocaust and everyday Jewish life during World War II and early years after the war in the countries of the former Soviet Union. 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, violence, Jewish children and families during the Holocaust, survival in camps and ghettos, 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 beginning of the workshop for circulation among all participants. Daily sessions will include 30-minute presentations followed by a discussion (up to 30 min), as well as an opportunity for participants to do research at Yad Vashem’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.

Please note that the organizers of this event intend to hold the workshop on site at Yad Vashem. However, if it is impossible to physically convene from August 29-September 2 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, then the workshop will be held either entirely online or in a hybrid in-person and online format. Details on the workshop’s format will be sent out well in advance of the beginning of the program.

All application materials must be received by 23 April 2021. Incomplete applications will not be considered after this date. Late applications will not be accepted. The selected participants will be notified by 23 May 2021. 

Please send all application materials via email to

shlomit.shulchani@yadvashem.org.il:

1. A current Curriculum Vitae outlining the applicant’s qualifications (including previous coursework, research projects, presentations, and publications).
2. An abstract of no more than 1000 words for your proposed paper (including title and discussion of methodological and theoretical issues).
3. A letter of recommendation (for 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 shlomit.shulchani@yadvashem.org.il.

The workshop organizers are 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) and Dr. Daniel Newman, Program Manager of the Initiative for the Study of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union, USHMM (danewman@ushmm.org).

The organizers will cover the cost of economy class flights to and from the workshop, lodging for the workshop’s duration and meals. Participants must obtain their own health insurance.

The workshop will be conducted in English.

This program is made possible by a generous support of Michael and Laura Mirilashvili, the Jewish Euro-Asian Congress 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.