Exciting News from POLIN Museum

25 02 2026

Call for Applications: Second Edition of POLIN Museum’s Summer School

Building on the success of last year’s debut, we are thrilled to announce the second edition of the POLIN Museum Summer School for early-career scholars!

This is more than just a seminar; it’s an intensive, fully-supported residency designed to take your research from a draft to a polished publication. We are looking for 12 dedicated participants to join us in Warsaw for a program that balances rigorous academic exchange with immersive historical exploration.

We’ve designed the curriculum around three core pillars to help you level up your academic career:

Work on pre-circulated papers (such as a PhD chapter or article draft) with the goal of preparing them for a scholarly journal. You’ll present your work, receive constructive critiques, and refine your voice in a supportive peer environment.
Attend expert-led sessions on digital research tools, public speaking, career networking, and “soft skills” essential for navigating the modern academy.
Go beyond the library. We’ll visit the collections at POLIN Museum and the Emmanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute, explore Jewish Warsaw, and take a day-long excursion to Łódź to examine memory politics and heritage preservation firsthand.

To ensure this opportunity is accessible to the best talent, we provide generous subsidies for travel and accommodation for all 12 participants.

Read more details by following the link.

New Release: Fresh Perspectives on the history of Jewish Łódź

We are thrilled to announce the publication of the latest volume of Studia Judaica (Vol. 28, 2025, No. 1). LINK

This special issue grew out of the vibrant discussions at POLIN Museum’s GEOP-sponsored conference, “Accidental Metropolis? Jewish Łódź from the 19th Century to the Present.” It offers a deep dive into the rapid urban transformation and the multifaceted Jewish experiences that defined one of Poland’s most industrial and iconic cities.

This issue brings together diverse disciplinary approaches—from historical reporting to spatial mapping—to provide a nuanced look at the Łódź Jewish community:

The Conference Retrospective: Adam Sitarek provides a comprehensive report on the “Accidental Metropolis?” proceedings, capturing the pulse of current scholarship.
Literary & Philosophical Inquiry: Yaron Nir-Freisager examines the haunting perceptions of death within the wartime writings of Josef Zelkowicz.
Spatial History: Ruthie Kaplan utilizes maps to offer a fascinating spatial analysis of Jewish life in Łódź before the Holocaust, visualizing the community’s footprint in the city.

Call for Papers: International Conference in Warsaw “Documenting the Holocaust: Testimonies as Historical Evidence”

We are pleased to invite submissions for the upcoming international conference, “Documenting the Holocaust: Testimonies as Historical Evidence,” organized in partnership with the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute. The conference will take place on June 16–17, 2026 in Warsaw. LINK

This conference seeks to bridge the gap between early postwar documentation efforts and modern analytical frameworks. While the Jewish Historical Institute holds one of the world’s earliest systematic collections of survivor testimonies, this gathering aims to look outward—examining the methodological complexities, ethical challenges, and evolving uses of these sources in scholarship and education today.

The organizers are looking for contributions that critically engage with early testimonies and situate them within broader historiographical and digital debates. We are particularly interested in the history and significance of Jewish historical committees and wartime/postwar records; and the relationship between memory, trauma, and historical writing; narrative forms; and the “silences” in survivor accounts.