Reimagining the History of the Kovno Ghetto

Max Weinreich Fellowship Lecture in Baltic Jewish Studies The Abram and Fannie Gottlieb Immerman and Abraham Nathan and Bertha Daskal Weinstein Memorial Fellowship in Eastern European Jewish Studies, the Abraham and Rachela Melezin Memorial Fellowship and the Maria Salit-Gitelson Tell Memorial Fellowship Admission: Free

The knowledge we produce about the Holocaust rests on our sources. For decades, scholarship on the Holocaust in Kovno has been dominated by the writings of ghetto elites, relegating the testimonies of Jews who did not occupy positions of authority during the war to the margins. This talk will highlight Yiddish and Hebrew accounts of the Kovno ghetto whose evidentiary value has been minimized or ignored. Weaving them into the historical tapestry, Mr. Goldberg will explore how these texts challenge traditional narratives and open fresh perspectives on the plurality of Jewish experiences under the German occupation.

About the Speaker

Simon Goldberg is a PhD candidate in History at Clark University’s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and a Wexner Graduate Fellow. His research focuses on the history and historiography of the Kovno ghetto. Simon is a graduate of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva University as well as the University of Haifa, where he earned his master’s degree. He is the recipient of the 2018-2019 Fellowship in Baltic Jewish History at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.