A public symposium at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum

9 September 2024 | Online or in person at US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C. US

We’re pleased to announce a public symposium at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, co-convened by the Conference on Jewish material Claims against Germany and EHRI partners the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and The Wiener Holocaust Library (London, UK).

The symposium will take place on Monday 9 September, and you can register to attend in person or online.

During the Holocaust, older Jews were among the first to be targeted for death or deportation to killing centers. Some wrote about their experiences in diaries and letters, and information can be found in other documentation and post-war testimony. Still, little is known about how older Jews endured persecution, how they responded, and their survival strategies.

This symposium will explore new research on the experiences of the elderly during and after the Holocaust, preceding the publication of an edited volume on the same topic. Instead of focusing solely on their vulnerability and death, the speakers will discuss how older individuals lived through genocide and navigated its aftermath, as well as how others reacted to the needs of older Jews.

Programme and Registration

Image: Portrait of an elderly Holocaust survivor in France, circa 1946–48. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Andre Limot