The Bogdanow Lectures in Holocaust Studies

2020

‘The Holocaust in political life: Israel and Europe in comparison’
Prof. Dina Porat (Tel Aviv University) and Chief Historian of Yad Vashem 

Lecture 1 (Tues 28 January 2020): The Impact of the Holocaust on Israel's Foreign Policy

This lecture will present the impact of the Holocaust on Israel's prime ministers, from David Ben-Gurion to Benjamin Netanyahu, and a few other decision makers, and the ways it shaped, and is still shaping, their policies. It will start with Meir Dagan, the legendary head of the Mossad, who never authorized an operation before taking a long look at the photo of his grandfather, kneeling before being shot by laughing German soldiers, and will carry on to Netanyahu's photo of an Iranian atomic bomb, which he showed in a UN general assembly. The research question to be addressed is: has the Holocaust and its memory been used as a tool to advance Israeli interests, or did the Holocaust, and its consequences in every area of life, create a deep seated layer of anxiety that is common to all, or at least most, Israeli society and leaders?

Lecture 2 (Weds 29 January 2020): The Working Definition of Antisemitism – Holocaust related Contents and Debates 

The WDA, first adopted in 2005,  and since then by many countries and organizations, has become a both a kind of a yardstick that demonstrates readiness to struggle against an old hostility and prejudice, and a bone of contention regarding  freedom of speech and possible comparisons of today's situations to the Holocaust. The text of the WDA will be read and analyzed with the students and audience.

Masterclass (Weds 29 January 2020): Holocaust in Politics
2pm A115 Samuel Alexander Building

The Bogdanow Lectures Bequest

This annual public lecture series was made possible as a result of the generous bequest to the University by Fanni Bogdanow (1927-2013), a former Professor of French and Medieval Studies at Manchester and a child refugee on the Kindertransporte.

Fanni Bogdanow, PhD graduation 1957

"Fanni Bogdanow was born in Düsseldorf, Germany. When she was 11, in 1939 and just in time, her parents loaded her on to a Kindertransport train bound for Britain. She was taken in by a Quaker family in Manchester to whom she remained very grateful. In 1945, she won a scholarship to study French at Manchester University; she was to stay at Manchester, as undergraduate, postgraduate, lecturer, reader and professor, for the rest of her life. Her parents, astonishingly, survived between them Dachau, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen; to Fanni's intense joy, her mother later joined her in Manchester..." [More from The Guardian]

Fanni Bogdanow's full life story interview was conducted in April 2002 by one of the Centre's former PhD students, Ros Livshin, and was archived at the Oral Testimony Archive of the Manchester Jewish Museum, a collection compiled under the supervison of the Centre's Bill Williams.

See also

Fanni Bogdanow, 'Anne Frank and the Holocaust' in Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 88:1 (2006), 207-215.

Fanni Bogdanow, 'From Holocaust Survivor to Arthurian Scholar' in On Arthurian Women, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Fiona Tolhurst (Dallas: Scriptorium Press, 2001), 387-394.

As part of her bequest to the University of Manchester, Prof. Fanny Bogdanow funded a number of student travel bursaries for educational visits to concentration camps. This year the Centre for Jewish Studies can allocate a number of awards of £400 each (based on an estimated cost of £230 for flights and £115 for hotel/tour, plus £55 contribution for food/other expenses). The expectation is that the visit would take place during the period 1 January - 30 June 2020.

Application: Please email Laura.Mitchell@manchester.ac.uk and outline in a couple of sentences your interest in the subject, and whether you are currently registered for a relevant course unit. (Depending upon demand, priority may be given to students registered on relevant course units). Please also confirm that you understand that you must provide receipts for all costs/expenses that will be reclaimed, and that you are prepared to write a 500 word report for publication. Deadline for application: 22 November 2019, with an expectation of notification to successful applicants by 5 December 2019. Eligibility: Any undergraduate, post-graduate, or research student in SALC.