The Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies is delighted to announce our

2nd Jewish Roots Workshop

This year we focus on general questions of genealogy, and especially on the fate of Jewish families during the Holocaust. As last year, we also want to include your reflections on engaging with your family's eastern European roots.

We will have four sessions: two speakers on genealogy, and two family-research presentations. Our two special guest speakers are:

• Michael Tobias, past Vice-President of JewishGen, Inc, one of the Vice Presidents of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB).and co-founder and Board member of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland (JRI-Poland), returning by popular demand!
• Sima Velkovich, from the Reference and Information Department of Yad Vashem, the internationally-leading research centre for Holocaust history.
  Sima will be available to search for your family on the Yad Vashem database during the workshop.

Our family research presentations include:

• Asya Gefter takes us on a journey into the recovery of her family history, and her experiences as an artist and researcher. She grew up in Moscow as the granddaughter of a dissident historian, and the daughter of a human rights activist. The past was represented by silence: a near complete absence of stories, pictures, documents, memories. Starting from that ‘inherited’ silence, Asya began an extensive research project to uncover the stories of her ancestors' lives, disappearances, ideologies, and migrations. Her findings reflect on the complexities of third generation Holocaust survivors' experiences, and the ways that memory can support intergenerational healing and resiliency.
• Dr. Sima Beeri’s parents were among the 5% of Litvaks who survived WWII, returning to Kovno after the war, their families having been decimated. Denied access to resources and archival documents in this Soviet republic, Sima had been unable to find out about her parents' pre-war life - until a chance visit to the Yad VaShem archive in 2018 led to the revelation of her long-lost family, in documents and photos. This story, of the disappearance and concealment of any information from future generations, must resonate with many. Her discoveries will give hope to others searching to uncover their roots.

Our specialist IPJS historians of Jewish history in Eastern Europe, Prof Antony Polonsky and Dr François Guesnet, will join us again this year to continue those mutually enriching conversations.

The day concludes with a film screening of 'A Town Called Brzostek', Prof Jonathan Webber‘s moving story of how the restoration of the local Jewish cemetery led to the reconciliation of Jewish and Polish communities, and their perceptions of the German occupation in World War Two.

The price includes morning and afternoon coffee/tea, a light lunch, and film screening.

A LIMITED NUMBER OF CONCESSIONS ARE AVAILABLE

Programme

Sunday 22 September 2019

At JW3, 341-351 Finchley Road
London NW3 6ET

9:30am Registration

10:00am Welcome: Susan Storring, IPJS Joint Conference Secretary

Opening Remarks: Dr. François Guesnet, Reader in Modern Jewish History in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, UCL, and IPJS Chairman

Morning Session 1

10:15am Sima Velkovich: The fate of Holocaust Victims in Yad Vashem’s documentation and projects.

11:00am Q&A

11:30am Coffee break

Morning Session 2

11:45am Sima Beeri: “Lost and Found”. How a chance visit to Yad Vashem led to the amazing discovery of a family previously hidden during the Soviet times.

12:15pm Q&A

12:30pm Lunch (provided), with time for mingling and data-base searching.

NB. Please do not bring food into JW3 unless is it certified and sealed as kosher. Thank you for your co-operation.

Afternoon Session 1

2:00pm Michael Tobias: Jewish Genealogical research using online searchable databases

2:45pm Q&A

Afternoon Session 2

3:15pm Asya Gefter: “Stories of Not Asking and Not Telling”: an artist and researcher’s journey into the recovery of her ancestors' lives, disappearances, ideologies, and migrations. Asya’s findings reflect on the erasures and intersections of family and national memories in the Russian- and English-speaking worlds.

3:45pm Q&A

4:00pm Tea break

Afternoon Session 3

4.15pm Film: A Town called Brzostek (2014, Dir. Simon Target, 50 min.)

Prof Jonathan Webber’s story of the restoration of an abandoned Jewish cemetery in his ancestral hometown, and of Jewish-Polish reconciliation.

Introduced by Prof Antony Polonsky

5:15pm Discussion chaired by Dr Guesnet

Afternoon Session 4

5:30pm Concluding Discussion and chance to talk with presenters and experts.

6:00pm Close of Workshop – Good bye! and hope to see you next year.

The Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies relies on supporters like you. Events like this are possible

The Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies