The following Call for Papers, recently received by the Louis D. Brandeis Center, may be of interest to some of our readers:

Life in the aftermath – Displaced Persons, Displaced Children and Child Survivors on the move: New approaches in education and research

30 May – 1 June 2016

Max Mannheimer Studienzentrum (MMSZ), Dachau, Germany

Joint event organised by Max Mannheimer Studienzentrum (MMSZ), Dachau, Germany

International Tracing Service (ITS), Bad Arolsen, Germany

with consultance by the Holocaust Studies Program of the Western Galilee College, Akko, Israel

For PDF version of this CFP see http://www.wgalil.ac.il/files/Conferences/2015/CfP_DPChildren_ChildSurv.pdf

In the past few years, interest in the aftermath, social and individual consequences of the Shoah, forced labour and Nazi-persecution has increased. These topics include early testimonies, the immediate Allied care for the Displaced Person (DP) population, regional micro studies and the ongoing displacement in following generations.

This academic workshop on Displaced Persons, displaced children and child survivors as specific groups after 1945 is planned as the opening event for the Exhibition on Displaced Persons, curated by ITS (Bad Arolsen) and to be shown in the MMSZ, Dachau. The aim is to bring together scholars and educators from various disciplines who are engaged in education and research on Displaced Persons and child survivors. Opening lectures, a movie lecture and round-table discussions as well as visits of e.g. the Dachau memorial site and locations of former DP camps will be included in the finalised programme.

The workshop focuses in the first part on historical education regarding DPs and in the second part on research about child survivors and DP children as specific survivors’ groups with special emphasis on organizations working with them, such as the Child Search Branch of UNRRA and the IRO.

Of course, the topic of displacement is of special importance in times when the world is facing a tragedy of millions of refugees – the highest number of people forced to move since WW II. Although the historical and the present situation are different, we believe that examining history can provide some directions and insights that can be helpful today. (more…)