The Age of Humanitarianism. Jewish and other global migrants in the Age of Humanitarianism

The 20th century witnessed profound waves of Jewish migration and displacement on a global scale. Empires served as important arrival hubs for Jewish migrants, yet they were also sites of persecution and uprooting. The decades between the 1910s and the 1970s, from the decline of the Ottoman Empire to struggles for independence across Africa and Asia, were marked by colonial expansion and decolonisation, extreme violence, the Holocaust, the Cold War, and fundamental shifts in the concepts of borders, citizenship, and humanitarian governance. This period of imperial fragmentation compelled many to seek new lives in unfamiliar and often hostile places, rendering migration a defining aspect of the modern Jewish and non-Jewish experience. At the same time, the persecution of and violence against other minorities throughout the world led to large-scale domestic and international forced migrations.

Networks of support, hospitality, and solidarity proved crucial. Improving access to migration pathways enabled individuals to navigate restrictive border regimes. In an emerging era of humanitarianism, individuals, relief actors, and various stakeholders coordinated efforts to facilitate travel, acquire necessary documentation, distribute food supplies, secure employment and/or work permits, and support the newcomers’ arrival.

This year’s annual conference of the Dubnow Institute aims to broaden the focus on empires and migration to a more comprehensive global perspective. It will examine the interconnections and relationships among various humanitarian support and solidarity networks, including grassroots movements, traditional concepts of hospitality, and professional organisations that facilitate, support, and organise migration. Its comparative approach analyses how different regions responded to migration and the support systems in place. Against this backdrop, this conference will examine the dual role of empires as both havens of refuge and catalysts of forced migration.