Researching and communicating Jewish history & culture

The Dubnow Institute conducts research into Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe. Together with the project  »European Traditions – Encyclopedia of Jewish Cultures« of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig, it invites you to a varied evening program on its premises for the Long Night of Science.

5.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 7.45 p.m. to 8.15 p.m.
»Who writes Jewish history?« – Short guided tours with Nicolas Berg 
In two short guided tours of the “Jewish Scholars” portrait gallery at 5.30 pm and 7.45 pm, Nicolas Berg introduces key figures in Jewish historiography and asks how they continue to shape the Institute's research profile today.

6.30 p.m.
Mission »Eynikayt«
Book presentation with Jakob Stürmann, Jan Claas Behrends, and Elisabeth Gallas
In a discussion moderated by Elisabeth Gallas (Leipzig), historians Jakob Stürmann (Leipzig) and Jan Claas Behrends (Frankfurt/Oder, Potsdam) will present the book »Mission >Eynikayt<« about the extraordinary world tour of two Soviet Jews. In 1943, the actor Solomon Mikhoels and the poet Itsik Fefer traveled to North America and Great Britain for the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, where they campaigned for support for the Soviet Union against Hitler's Germany under the guise of Jewish unity.

8.30 p.m.
Ausgeschlagenes Erbe
Book presentation with Philipp Graf and Jeannette van Laak
In conversation with historian Jeannette van Laak (Halle/Saale), author and historian Philipp Graf (Leipzig) presents his book »Ausgeschlagenes Erbe«, which is expected to be released in June 2025. The essay looks at how the state, the city and civil society approached the Jewish past in four decades of the GDR. Against the backdrop of antisemitic reservations in the city that are still vital today, the author asks to what extent the »prescribed antifascism« and the political culture of the GDR are expressed in this and influence how Jews, Judaism, and Jewish life are spoken about in Halberstadt and in the new federal states as a whole.

The academy project offers an insight into the results of its publication and editing work: with the »Encyclopaedia of Jewish History and Culture««and the »Library« and »Archive of Jewish History and Culture« series.