Research
We conduct research and support researchers worldwide who wish to tell a global history of the Holocaust through local stories. Our goal is to raise awareness about survivors’ and refugees’ lived experiences of war, genocide, and displacement by sharing and connecting their individual stories to broader histories, interdisciplinary scholarship, and artistic collaborations.
We are always seeking new opportunities to promote our knowledge and expertise through partnerships and projects. We welcome all visitors and researchers.
Research Expertise
We are the only Holocaust charity located on a university campus in Europe, which gives us unique access to university researchers and thousands of students. We work closely with the University of Huddersfield, local schools (discover our learning programme), and other higher education institutes by lecturing to their students and hosting bespoke visits for students. This is an exciting opportunity for students to gain practical industry experience about how the public engages with the histories and legacies of the Holocaust and other genocides today.
We also proudly support the visiting professorship of Dr Stefan Hördler to the University of Huddersfield, a leading scholar on the history of forced labour in National Socialism and former director of Mittlebau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial. His expertise is an asset to our community.
To learn more about how our team can assist you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Student Placements
Our experts provide undergraduate and postgraduate supervision to university students across multiple fields and degrees. We also offer several work placements every year, which allows students to design and create original projects and gain invaluable work experience.
Research Projects and Collaborations
We welcome new projects and collaborations from any field or discipline, including those representing community groups and charities. Our current projects include artistic collaborations with creative practitioners, anti-racism awareness campaigns with other charities, and research projects with leading academics across the UK and Europe. Some of our current projects include:
Through Our Eyes
A Student-Produced Anthology of Holocaust Survivors’ Testimonies from the North of England (2022, Dr David Rudrum, Dr Chelsea Sambells, Hannah Randall). This project explores the impact of editing original survivor testimonies upon students’ knowledge of the Holocaust within a Year 3 English module at the University of Huddersfield. This is the world’s first experiment in using the editing/publication process as a pedagogical tool for Holocaust education and will produce a 50,000-word manuscript, crediting all undergraduate students as authors of this ground-breaking publication.
The Leningrad Diary
A Boy’s Diary from the Siege of Leningrad (2022-2023, Dr Alex Kay from the University of Potsdam and Dr Chelsea Sambells). This project will translate, annotate and publish for the first time in English of the complete diary of Yura Ryabinkin, a Russian adolescent who died during the siege of Leningrad. With funding from the University of Huddersfield, this project combines the transnational expertise of Dr Sambells (children, humanitarianism, warfare) and Dr Kay (genocide, mass violence) to show how children were not simply dependent victims of war, but human beings with individuality, agency and remarkable capacities of self-observation.
Making Known
Making Known: Creative Practice and Holocaust Awareness (2021-2022, Dr Rebecca Gill, Dr Claire Barber, Dr Chelsea Sambells and Dr Alessandro Bucci). This collaboration between the departments of Textiles and History and Holocaust Centre North resulted in four seminars for interdisciplinary postgraduates in 2021 and 2022. These events explored how the histories and legacy of the Holocaust are used by museum professionals to nurture community engagement, and how interdisciplinary work between communities can benefit postgraduate research and practice. As a result of this collaboration, we are now working towards an AHRC Networking Grant to develop further connections between community groups, creative practitioners, and scholars working in the themes of genocide, war and displacement.
Research Resources
We have a growing archive with the personal papers and objects of more than 90 survivors who fled war, displacement and genocide. Find out more about Our Collection.
We are proud to benefit from a major donation of specialist literature about the Holocaust and other genocides from the Wiener Holocaust Library. Housed in the University of Huddersfield’s Library, the new Wiener Library North includes hundreds of specialist books that are accessible to students, staff and visiting scholars.
For those interested in broader histories of the North of England, including those of Jewish communities and experiences of the Second World War, we also recommend exploring Heritage Quay, the University of Huddersfield’s archive. It includes collections of other organisations, families and individuals dating back over 200 years.