The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide are pleased to invite applications for the International Research Workshop, “The Holocaust in the East in the Records of the International Tracing Service Digital Archive.” This workshop is scheduled for July 28 – August 1, 2014 and will take place at USHMM in Washington, DC.
This international research workshop seeks to provide scholars specializing in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during and after World War II new opportunities to research within the International Tracing Service (ITS) digital collections, the largest archive of Holocaust and World War II-era documentation opened only recently for research. Applications are welcome from scholars in all relevant academic disciplines, including history, political science, literature, Jewish studies, psychology, sociology, geography, and others. Applications from scholars based in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are especially encouraged.
ITS Digital Records Available at USHMM and The Wiener Library
The International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, Germany, was, until November 2007, the largest closed archive in the world related to the Holocaust, forced labor, and Nazi persecution. Recently inscribed into the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Memory of the World Register, the ITS collection has opened unprecedented potential for understanding the Holocaust and other Nazi-era crimes. While utilized for decades principally for tracing purposes, the documents provide opportunities for a better understanding of a broad range of topics related to Nazi-era persecution, incarceration, forced labor, mass murder, displacement, resettlement, postwar compensation programs, and the legacies of these experiences. The ITS holdings are now being digitally copied and made available to member states of the 11-nation International Commission (IC) that oversees the archive. Digital copies are in the process of being transferred to USHMM and The Wiener Library. Large portions of the ITS collection relate to the experiences of Jewish and non-Jewish Eastern European and Soviet citizens.
The Workshop
On each day of the five-day workshop, scholars will have equal time to conduct research in the ITS digital archive and to present their research projects-in-progress and share research methodologies and findings. USHMM and Wiener Library staff scholars will assist participants in exploring portions of the ITS digital collection that relate specifically to their projects. To that end, projects concerning (1) forced and slave laborers from Eastern Europe and the occupied Soviet territories in the German war economy; (2) Nazi Germany’s expansionist and genocidal policies, including the mass murder of Eastern European and Soviet Jewry and other citizens; and (3) the postwar experiences of displaced persons from Eastern Europe and the territories of the Soviet Union are especially encouraged.
To Apply
The Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies and The Wiener Library invite applications from Ph.D. candidates working on their dissertations (ABD), postdoctoral researchers, and senior scholars from all relevant academic disciplines.
Applications must be submitted in English and should include:
1. A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s department chair, dean, or dissertation advisor (in the case of Ph.D. Candidates) addressing the applicant’s scholarly potential;
2. A letter of interest outlining the applicant’s research project;
3. A current curriculum vitae addressing the applicant’s qualifications, including previous coursework, projects, teaching, and publications.
Please submit all application materials via mail, fax, or email attachment to both Elizabeth Anthony and Dr. Christine Schmidt at:
Elizabeth Anthony, Curt C. and Else Silberman ITS Staff Scholar
Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024 U.S.A.
Fax: +1 202 479 9726
eanthony@ushmm.org
Dr. Christine Schmidt, International Tracing Service Archive Researcher
The Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust & Genocide
29 Russell Square
London WC1B 5DP
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7436 6428
cschmidt@wienerlibrary.co.uk
Recommenders must submit signed letters on their institution’s letterhead under separate cover. Applications and supporting materials must be received by February 28, 2014. Selected participants will be notified by the end of March.
For non-local participants, awards include (1) a stipend toward the cost of direct, economy-class travel to and from his or her home institution and Washington, DC; (2) lodging for the seminar’s duration; and (3) additional compensation toward the cost of meals, local transit, luggage surcharges, and other incidental expenses, which will be distributed via direct deposit after the seminar’s conclusion after receipts and invoices are collected. Local participants from the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area will receive a reduced amount. Participants are required to attend the full duration of the workshop.
The workshop will be conducted in English.