Situated in Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research, The Eli and Diana Zborowski Centre seeks to initiate, coordinate and support research relating to the consequences and implications of the Shoah.
The post-war years were one of huge upheaval and transition. In these few years, survivors of the Holocaust were for the most part homeless, geographically dispersed, displaced and recovering from their struggle against death and loss. It was a period in which the broken body and spirit of European Jewry was trying to regather itself and find a way to rebuild destroyed lives and communities. The efforts they made and the organizations that were created to assist them is a phenomenal story of improvisation, creativity, and leadership in assisting men, women, and children to find the basic conditions necessary for continued survival. These struggles were not always overcome as many individuals were unable to find the emotional and physical resources to rebuild their lives. These experiences are important to document as it gives witness to their endeavors. This period also provides models and tools for the millions of victims who today are suffering as a result of war and violence and are looking for ways to restore hope and instill resilience in innocent victims.
The goal of the center is initiate research and host scholars to present their current research in various aspects of the immediate postwar experience. The center seeks provide a space in which interdisciplinary research in areas in which the efforts made – organizationally and individually – towards the physical and emotional rehabilitation of survivors will be discussed.
Since its inception the center has initiated and published new research. The most recent volume: Starting Anew: the rehabilitation of child survivors of the Holocaust in the early postwar years (2019), examines the physical, emotional, and social rehabilitation of child survivors. As part of this project 12 scholars, both early career researchers and established scholars were recruited to examine the issue of child survivors in the immediate post war period. During a workshop at Yad Vashem each of the scholars presented and discussed their research. In November 2020, a book launch will be held which will host two important scholars: Prof. Simone Gigliotti (Royal Holloway) and Prof. Laura Jockusch (Brandeis University).
Over the next two years the center will be continue publishing a selection of Yehuda Bacon’s post-war notebooks. During WWII, the now-renowned artist and Holocaust survivor Yehuda Bacon became determined to somehow share the events he was experiencing, and this resolution continued to guide him throughout his postwar life. In particular, he wanted to bear witness to what he and millions of other Jews had gone through. He has fulfilled this resolution by, among other things, writing over 240 notebooks, or diaries, since the end of the war until this day. Originally in Czech, Bacon’s early diaries (1945-1948) will be annotated and published in English. His writing is accompanied by drawings, as he uses both mediums to express his daily thoughts, activities, hopes and struggles. These are powerful and rich documents which will hopefully give readers a deeper understanding of the experiences of child survivors of the Shoah.
In 2020 the center hosted a research seminar together with The George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention of the American University of Paris entitled “Overcoming the Darkness? – Holocaust Survivors' Emotional and Social Journeys in the Early Postwar Period.” The aim of the workshop was to give a platform for scholars who had worked on issues relating to the mental health of survivors in the early post-war years. During this on-line workshop, 16 scholars from all over the world participated and presented their research of this largely understudied area. It is hoped that the center will be able to publish a volume based on this workshop. In 2020, the Zborowski centre hosted various scholars who gave public addresses via zoom due to the covid 19 pandemic. They included Prof. Robert Jan van Pelt (University of Waterloo), Prof. Dan Stone (Royal Holloway) and Prof. Jeffrey Shandler (Rutgers University). The center hopes to host more scholars in the coming year.
For research proposals, comments or further information please contact us at:
The Diana Zborowski Center for the Study of the Aftermath of the Holocaust,
Yad Vashem,
P.O.B. 3477,
Jerusalem 9103401
Israel.
E-Mail address: zborowski.center@yadvashem.org.il
