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Conference: Building from Ashes

Building from Ashes: Jews in Postwar Europe (1945-1950) 

International conference 3. – 5. December, a cooperation between the Jewish Museum Frankfurt and the Simon Dubnow Institute Leipzig, the Seminar für Judaistik at the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and the Fritz Bauer Institute. Supported by the European Association for Jewish Studies, the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung and the Nassauische Sparkasse.

Ankunft polnischer Juden im DP-Lager Zeilsheim

In the immediate postwar years, Europe faced the aftermath of genocide, extreme violence, and mass displacement that had produced millions of refugees, poverty and hunger. In the midst of this “savage continent” Jews found themselves in diverse situations, having endured varied wartime experiences: some had survived the ghettos and concentration camps, some were refugees returning from emigration or a harsh shelter in the Soviet Union, or from hiding places or partisan encampments, others entered central Europe as part of the Allied Military Forces. In the midst of ruins, poverty and destruction surviving Jews sought to find places that felt secure, whether in their former homelands or under Allied protection. Many became Displaced Persons who organized their survival as well as their emigration with the help of diverse military and social organizations. At the same time, they were building new communities and attempting to sustain Jewish life and traditions in Europe.

“Building from Ashes” will examine the complex situation of Jews in the years 1945-50 in a comprehensive European perspective.

The International Conference takes place in the Renate von Metzler Saal (Room 1.801), Casino, Campus Westend, Goethe Universität in English, and is open to the public.

Find the complete program here.

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