The International Institute for Holocaust Research was established in 1993. Since its inception the goal of the Institute has been to allow for the steady increase in the scope of worldwide scholarly research on the Holocaust and Holocaust related topics. The Institute is active in the development and coordination of International research; the planning and undertaking of scholarly projects; the organization of symposia and conferences; the fostering of cooperative projects among research institutions; the support of young scholars who research the Holocaust; and the publishing of analytical studies, conference proceedings, documents and monographs on the Holocaust.
Professor Israel Gutman was director of the Institute from 1993 to 1996, and is continuing his active role at Yad Vashem in an advisory capacity. Professor Yehuda Bauer was head of the Institute since the academic year of 1996/7 and is currently serving as an academic advisor. As of August 1, 2000, Professor David Bankier assumed headship of the Institute. The Institute's Advisory Committee is composed of academics from all universities in Israel and public officials.
Research at Yad Vashem is conducted under the supervision of Prof. David Bankier, Head of the Institute and the Incumbent of the John Najmann Chair of Holocaust Studies, and Prof. Dan Michman, Chief Historian of Yad Vashem.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

The Institute initiates research projects on a wide range of topics, which have not heretofore been extensively studied. The following major projects are currently in progress:
* The Children’s Universe:
This project focuses on the historical investigation of the fate of Jewish children during the Holocaust. It is aimed at revealing the special hardships this vulnerable segment of the population went through in ghettos, camps, partisan units, hiding, and other settings. Three publications are forthcoming: Children’s Homes in the American Zone between 1945-1949, by Dr. Niva Aschkenazi; The Attempt to Install a Jewish Identity in Jewish Children during the Third Reich by Dr. Chana Livnat; and The Children of Villa Emma by Dr. Iael Nidam-Orvieto.

* The Comprehensive History of the Holocaust:
This multi-volume series will summarize the present state of research on the Holocaust, according to several major introductory topics, such as the Final Solution, and according to each European country. The volumes on the history of the Holocaust in Hungary, Yugoslavia, France, Germany, Romania, USSR, and the Final Solution, have already been published in Hebrew. The volumes on Bohemia, Bulgaria, Italy, Moravia and Slovakia are in progress. The series will also be published in English.

* Deportations of Jews During the Holocaust:
The aim of the project is to compile reliable information, as much as possible, on each and every community and each and every victim. The project will research the bureaucratic machinery of the deportation process from the RSHA Office of Adolf Eichmann to the last policeman who rounded up Jews. This project will check and compare deportation lists with other demographic data, such as the aryanization of businesses and residences. It will also examine transport lists of those destined for immediate extermination with those transports destined for slave labor. This will assist in understanding the motivations behind the predetermination of the selected transports. In addition, the research will investigate the reasons for postponing deportation trains in one country, while commencing deportations in another country. By the material and information gained from this project, the Institute hopes to make an electronic database available, comprising detailed information on individuals and deportations, searchable by fields such as: name, gender, age, residence (area), community, profession, economic status, place of deportation, reason for deportation or reason for exemption from deportation, collection point, date, number of Jews on transport, train code number, names of those in command of the transport. It is also the aspiration of the International Institute for Holocaust Research – Yad Vashem that the database will be used by the families of Shoah victims who wish to find details on the fate of their relatives, as well as anyone wishing to broaden their knowledge on the Holocaust.

* Ghettos - Lexicon:
The International Institute for Holocaust Research is currently conducting a research project on Jewish ghettos during World War II. The project involves the creation of a lexicon by means of investigation of over 1000 ghettos, established by the Third Reich and its collaborators. This project will enable professors, students and all interested persons alike to have easy access to a wealth of information about the places where Jews were confined before their deportation or immediate massacre during World War II. The published lexicon will include details such as the ghetto’s dates of establishment and liquidation, its geographical location, number of residents, resistance within the ghetto, whether or not there was a Judenrat, number of survivors, and more. The lexicon will be published first in English and in CD format in 2008.

* Jewish Resistance in Reports and Letters:
This is a brand new project that has been started in the Institute. This project sets out to compile and collect reports and personal letters written by Jews who fought in resistance underground networks.

* The Holocaust in Hungary and Hungarian Jewish History:
Two research projects on the Holocaust in Hungary have been completed and are being prepared for publication: Yet Unexploited Sources of the Holocaust in Hungary: A Selection from the Jewish Denominational Periodicals, conducted by Dr. Anna Szalai; and I have been a Stranger in a Strange Land: Jewish Refugees in Hungary, 1933-1945, by Dr. Kinga Frojimovics. In addition, a new research project has been initiated on Religious Life in Hungary During the Holocaust.

* The Killing Sites - Lexicon:
The characteristics of the Holocaust in the occupied territories of Eastern Europe are unique as compared to Western Europe. The murder of Jews in the occupied territories of the USSR was carried out by shooting in areas adjacent to the cities, towns, and villages in which they lived. In general, the sites chosen such as Babi yar in Kiev, the Nineth Fort in Kovna, Ponar in Vilna, Drobitzki Yar in Kharkov, are well known including their exact location. However, there are hundreds if not possibly thousands of murder sites which are unknown and not marked. The opening up of the many archives in Eastern Europe has made available a great amount of information concerning these events to scholars. The review and collating of this vast amount of historical sources necessitates a clear presentation, which will allow historians, students and the interested public to access important facts and figures. This project will allow students, researchers, and laypersons to check the actual location of a certain event and to read who the perpetrators were, the number of victims, the local collaborator’s contribution, etc. By way of making this information accessible to everyone, Jews and non- Jews will have an invaluable tool for knowledge, remembrance and commemoration at their disposal.

* Property Confiscation:
The Institute is investigating problems of confiscation of Jewish property in Hungary and Romania, and has engaged in research designed to clarify the fate of property of Holocaust victims in Palestine/Israel before and after 1948.

* The Rescue of Jews from the Nazis in France and Belgium During the Holocaust
The Institute has commenced working on a new and important research project involving an in-depth research into the motivations of the rescuers of Jews in France and Belgium. This research will concentrate mainly on clerical and lay members of Catholic and Protestant denominational institutions in these two countries. This research will obtain a better understanding into the more specific reasons, which inspired a person of religious faith to act. It will also shed more light into how the rescue groups operated during World War II between various religious organizations and cross denominational lines.

* Righteous Among the Nations - Lexicon:
This lexicon project presents in a series of volumes the stories of all those who have been honored to date by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for their rescue activities on behalf of Jews during the Holocaust era. To date, there are published volumes on France, Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In addition, the latest volume that has been published is part 1 of Europe and Other Countries, in which the stories of the Righteous Among the Nations from Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States are included. A second volume of Europe and the Other Countries is forthcoming.

* Survivors’ Contribution to the State of Israel:
The International Institute for Holocaust Research has initiated a new and interesting research project on the impact and contributions, which Holocaust survivors have had, on the establishment of the State of Israel and on Israeli society, in the fields of settlements, security, the arts, sciences, technology, and on Holocaust remembrance. The Institute is in the midst of collecting all relevant material and has begun to categorize it.

CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA, AND WORKSHOPS

The Institute organizes scholars' forums, symposia, workshops, and conferences on central issues in Holocaust research on a national and international level. The symposia and scholars' meetings take place several times a year. Workshops between young Israeli researchers and young researchers from abroad take place one to two times a year either in Israel or abroad.  An international conference convenes biannually for several consecutive days at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

The Institute’s Calendar – October 2007 – December 2007

SCHOLARSHIPS

The Institute grants annual financial awards to masters' and doctoral students enrolled in Israeli universities to encourage Holocaust study. The awards are distributed from endowments established by individuals and organizations in memory of Holocaust victims.

• The Danek Gertner Yad Vashem Ph.D. Scholarship. Click here for information.

FULBRIGHT – YAD VASHEM RESEARCH GRANT FOR A DOCTORAL DISSERTATION STUDENT IN HOLOCAUST STUDIES

The United States – Israel Education Foundation (USIEF) and Yad Vashem offer a grant to a doctoral candidate, enrolled at an Israeli university, who wishes to carry out a six-month visit to a US research institution, in order to advance his/her doctoral dissertation research in the field of Holocaust Studies. This program is open to doctoral candidates in all the academic disciplines, whose thesis topics deal with the study of the Holocaust. The final date for submission of applications is 15 February 2008. 

For more information on this unique grant opportunity, please, refer to the Fulbright website at www.fulbright.org.il.  Questions may also be emailed to info@fulbright.org.il.

THE JOHN NAJMANN CHAIR OF HOLOCAUST STUDIES ANNUAL LECTURE

INSTITUTE NEWS

The International Institute for Holocaust Research mails biannually a newsletter to universities, institutions, and private scholars.  Within the newsletter are descriptions of the research fellowships and scholarships offered by Yad Vashem, the events and research programs of the Institute, and a section on new research that is being conducted by a scholar associated with the Institute. For the main newsletter research articles, click below.

Responses of Italian Jewry to the 1938 Racial Laws
by Dr. Iael Nidam-Orvieto (From Institute News, No. 3)

Beloved Profession – Archives, Life-writing, and the Impossibility of Memoir
by Dr. Julija Šukys (From Institute News, No. 4)

Holocaust Teaching and Research in Israeli Universities, 1947-1967
by Dr. Boaz Cohen (From Institute News, No. 5)

Only the Gates of Tears Were not Locked: The Holocaust in the Lublin District of Poland
by Dr. David Silberklang (From Institute News, No. 6)

Racial and Antisemitic Cultural Policies and Propaganda in Italy, Germany and Central-Eastern Europe (1938-1943): A Comparative Analysis
by Dr. Tommaso Dell’Era (From Institute News, No. 7)

On Comparing Jewish Survivors’ Testimonies taken by the National Relief Committee for Deportees in Hungary and Other Large-Scale Historical-Memorial Projects of She’erit Hapletah in the Immediate Aftermath of the Holocaust (1945-1948)
by Dr. Rita Horváth (From Institute News, No. 8)

The Legal Legacy of the Holocaust and Lessons for Today:  Research for a New Textbook Holocaust, Genocide and the Law
by Prof. Michael Bazyler (From Institute News, No. 9)

The Holocaust, Medicine and Medical Ethics:  Lessons for Future Professionals
by Dr. Tessa Chelouche, M.D. (From Institute News, No. 10)

RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
The Institute offers 8 postdoctoral fellowships per year.  The length of an individual fellowship is normally four months.  (The fall semester is 1 October  - 31 January / the spring semester is 1 March – 30 June.)  In recent years academics from the United States, Canada, Israel and many countries in Europe have been research fellows of the Institute.  For more information, click here

SCHOLARS’ SEMINAR
The Institute conducts seminars that provide a platform for the research fellows of the Institute to present their current research to an audience of established scholars, newly emerging academics, and doctoral students from Israel and abroad. During these seminars, the fellows of the Institute are given the opportunity to discuss and answer questions regarding their current research.  Throughout the academic year, guest speakers are also invited to this forum to deliver lectures on new research and pertinent issues.

For more information about the Institute, please contact: research.institute@yadvashem.org.il