Speakers: Dr. Ludivine Broch, University of Westminster; Dr. Michael Carter-Sinclair, King’s College London; Dr. Victoria Khiterer, Millersville University; Professor Elizabeth Tingle, De Montfort University.
Memory is a vital component of national identity. But when it comes to Jews, national histories are mixed. In many cases, when nations have forged their identity, they have drawn the boundaries of their community in ways that exclude Jews. Sometimes national identities and national memories have been, and continue to be, closely bound up with antisemitism or an ambivalent relationship to Jews.
In this event, four speakers will discuss the issues raised by the memorialization of a national hero whose relationship to Jews was problematic or persecutory. The discussion will extend from the medieval period to the present, and across Europe, from west to east. Our speakers will address the ways in which Jews and antisemitism do (and do not) figure in national, local and minority memory cultures and how, if at all, this has changed over time. The four presentations will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.