Anna Cichopek-Gajraj: A Comparative Approach to the Postwar History of Jews in Poland

In my presentation, I will compare property restitution in Poland and Slovakia in 1944-1948. I will argue that the problem transcended national borders, becoming a universal obstacle in Jewish attempts at rebuilding life in Eastern Europe after the war. At the same time, a comparative discussion of property restitution shows that East European Jews did attempt to rebuild their lives, reclaim their roles in society, and were willing to fight lengthy battles in order to do so. It also tells us about the complex relationship between the new state ideology and the bottom up attempts of citizens to retain their property rights under the pressures of advancing nationalization.

 

Anna Cichopek-Gajraj is an Assistant Professor of East European Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Arizona State University (USA).

 

Date

June 3rd 2015

at 6.30 p.m.

 

Location

Andrássy Universität Budapest, Österreich-Bibliothek György Sebestyén (Austrian Library)

Pollack Mihály tér 3.

1088 Budapest

 

Organizer

Faculty of Central European Studies at Andrássy University, Jewish Studies Program at Central European University