December 4–7, 2023
Application Deadline: May 1, 2023
The very first international conference at Yad Vashem in 1968 explored the subject of Jewish resistance. Among the central questions asked at the time was what constitutes resistance? And within that, what constitutes Jewish resistance, and how was it expressed during the Holocaust? The discussion ranged from limiting the definition of resistance to armed resistance, to the concept of Amidah, which includes a wide range of acts of standing up to Nazi oppression as well as spiritual resistance. In 1983, political scientist Roger S. Gottlieb published a pathbreaking conceptual article, which related to the polemics on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. He maintained that resistance occurs under conditions of oppression and is defined as predetermined acts performed by the oppressed group to thwart, limit, or put an end to the exertion of power of the oppressing group. For there to be such intent, the resisters must (a) acknowledge their self-identity and its characteristic signs, and (b) make a series of assumptions regarding the manner in which the oppressors effect their control, that is, consider the ways in which their identity is being assaulted. On this basis they may choose to take action or remain passive. Thus, resistance is a matter of free will.
