Proudly co-hosted by the Holocaust Centre North and the University of Huddersfield’s Centre for History Culture and Memory, we will hear from historian Dr Christine Schmidt as she discusses the incredible role of women who collected survivors’ testimonies after the Holocaust in 1950s London.
This talk will explore the remarkable work Dr Eva Reichmann, a German Jewish refugee woman who launched a project to collect eyewitness accounts of survivors for the Wiener Library in London in the 1950s. Holocaust refugees and survivors conducted many of the interviews, and the accounts demonstrate the importance of collecting for shaping early knowledge about the Holocaust, specifically the experiences of the persecuted. They also the vital role of women whose work helped shape the field – both in terms of early scholarship as well as safeguarding evidence. Highlighting key examples from the collection, this talk will also show how Reichmann’s work challenges the idea that survivors were “silent” after the war.
Our speaker, Dr Christine Schmidt, is Deputy Director and Head of Research at The Wiener Holocaust Library, where she oversees its research profile and partnerships. Her recent research has focused on postwar search and collecting initiatives, and she is currently writing a social history and archival biography of survivor accounts recorded led by Eva Reichmann in the 1950s.
This event will take place at 5.00pm GMT. If joining us from a different country, please check the timezone appropriate to where you are.
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