The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki invites scholars, students, and the wider public to attend the international conference “Balkan Jewry in the Aftermath of the Shoah (1945–1955): Emerging Scholarship, New Research.” The conference will take place from 15 to 17 February 2026 at the Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center (KEDEA), Thessaloniki.
Focusing on the crucial decade following the Holocaust, the conference examines the complex processes that shaped Jewish life in the Balkans after 1945. Far from marking a return to normality, the postwar years were defined by trauma, political instability, civil conflict, restitution struggles, ideological divisions, and large-scale emigration. This conference brings together leading and emerging scholars to explore how Jewish individuals and communities across Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania, and the wider region confronted these challenges.
Conference Themes
Panels and papers will address topics including:
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Postwar trials, investigations, and Jewish efforts to achieve justice
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Early survivor testimonies, archives, and questions of memory and silence
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Women’s voices and gendered experiences of survival and transmission
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Confiscation, restitution, and the fate of Jewish property and heritage
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Communal reconstruction under socialism, communism, and civil war
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Zionism, socialism, and postwar ideological conflicts
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Emigration, displacement, and the reshaping of Jewish identities
Program Highlights
The conference opens on Sunday, 15 February, with a welcome gathering and guided tour of the Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki. The main program will run on 16–17 February, featuring thematic panels, keynote discussions, and concluding reflections that foster dialogue across disciplines and national historiographies.
By foregrounding new archival research, oral testimonies, and comparative perspectives, the conference aims to deepen understanding of the long aftermath of the Shoah and to highlight survivors as active historical agents who navigated postwar realities, rebuilt communal life, and shaped Holocaust memory under difficult conditions.
Attendance
Attendance is open to academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students, educators, and all those interested in Jewish history, Holocaust studies, memory studies, and Balkan history.
Organisers: Maria Kavala & Dimitrios Varvaritis
Venue: Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center (KEDEA), Thessaloniki
Dates: 15–17 February 2026
Detailed information on the conference program, speakers’ biographies, and paper abstracts is provided in the attached documents.
