Event: Older Jews and the Holocaust

Elderly Jews were among the most vulnerable groups during the Holocaust, yet little scholarly and literary work has focused on their experiences. Not only were older Jews usually the first to be murdered by the Nazis, they were also less likely to survive the hardships imposed by the regime. What do we uncover when we look beyond the devastation and despair associated with older age during the Holocaust? Debórah Dwork Director of the Center in a wide-ranging conversation with historians Christine SchDmidt (Co-Director of the Wiener Holocaust Library, London), Elizabeth Anthony (Director of Visiting Scholar Programs at the Mandel Center, USHMM, Washington, DC), and Joanna Sliwa (historian and administrator of academic programs at the Claims Conference, New York City), the editors of the newly released Older Jews and the Holocaust: Persecution, Displacement, and Survival. Bringing together sixteen international scholars, Older Jews and the Holocaust explores how age and physical ability made older adults especially susceptible to violence and death, while also illuminating their lives and moments of agency amid devastating circumstances.