New Research at the IGdJ
Researchers at the IGdJ contribute their expertise to numerous projects that have recently been published, reviewed and received awards.
Beate Meyer and Kim Wünschmann contributed to the newly published Cambridge History of the Holocaust (Cambridge University Press 2025). The four-volume work represents the most comprehensive overview of the field of Holocaust research in decades and offers a multi-perspective discussion of the history of the events and impact of the Shoah, taking into account historiographical traditions in different languages.
The first reviews of the anthology Deutsch-Jüdische Geschichte und Gegenwart (Wallstein 2025) edited by Karen Körber and Björn Siegel have been published. Bernd Hüttner emphasises that the book offers new perspectives on the changing Jewish communities in Germany as a result of immigration through “several very readable contributions”: “This development has created a new diversity in terms of Jewish religion, culture and self-image. It has immense significance for the visibility of Jewish life as well as for communities and politics of remembrance. There is no single, homogenous German-Jewish history, but rather complex patterns and interdependencies."
Reviews in German History and First World War Studies discuss the book Living the German Revolution 1918–19 (Oxford University Press 2023), edited by Christopher Dillon and Kim Wünschmann, with Alexander Gallus emphasising that traditional master narratives of this period of upheaval are increasingly being called into question through new approaches highlighting histories of experiences: “This volume makes an important contribution to that effort and gives expression to the plurality of contemporary voices, perspective and political rhetorics.” Moritz Föllmer emphasises that the volume shows that Jewish experiences of the revolutionary period were also deeply ambivalent, “ranging from expectations of complete emancipation to fears of heightened antisemitism, form hopes for a more radical and transformative Zionism to nostalgia for the German Empire.” Overall, he emphasises the “timely moment for an English-language collection”.
The anniversary issue of the journal of the Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien PaRDeS, edited by Andrea Sinn – currently a fellow at the IGdJ – and Björn Siegel and a related event at the Munich City Archives, were the focus of a report in Jüdische Allgemeine. With the topic Through Their Eyes ...: Biographical Research in the Digital Age, both the volume and the event are dedicated to biographical research, which is decisively influenced by the ongoing digitisation of sources.
The graphic novel Zeter + Mordio. Frei nach den Memoiren der Glückel von Hameln (avant-verlag 2024) was created as part of the IGdJ education project Geschichtomat. Carmen Bisotti collaborated with the Hamburg-based illustrator Jens Cornils. Jens Cornils has now been honoured with the ICOM Independent Comic Award in the Best Independent Comic category. Our warmest congratulations!