The Jewish space in East-Central Europe after 1989 - The American Jewish organizations and the shaping of Jewish life of East- Central Europe

• Applicant: Dr. Eszter Gantner (†)
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2015 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 276320687

Between 1948 and 1989, in the former socialist countries of Eastern Central Europe memories of Judaism, testimonies of Jewish culture and identity, and even the Holocaust were taboos (KOVÁCS:2002). On one hand, this happened due to the absent confrontation with the Holocaust, on the other hand, this was the result of the anti-Zionist and anti-Israel policy dictated from Moscow. This silence, which also contained the denial of the past and the existence of the Jewish culture (GANTNER/KOVÁCS:2008) turned after 1989 rapidly into the opposite: since the fall of the Berlin Wall a remarkable revitalization of Jewish culture in the form of Jewish festivals, modernization of synagogues, construction of Jewish shops and restaurants or sightseeing tours in the former Jewish quarter is to be observed in the cities of the Eastern Central European Region (GRUBER: 2001). In this construction of Jewish life and Jewish communities numerous American Jewish organizations had become involved. In this regard, the following hypothesis is formulated here, that these organizations transferred new patterns of Jewish identity and culture in the region. Therefore, the research project intends to describe and analyze the precise practices, patterns and strategies of this transfer of the American Jewish organizations between 1989-2000.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professorin Rebecca Kobrin