11th Contact Day Jewish Studies on the Low Countries

University of Antwerp
Tuesday 22 May 2018
09h15 - 17h30
Followed by an evening lecture by Prof. dr. em. Hans Blom and Dr. David Wertheim at 20h00.


Location: City campus University of Antwerp
Contact day: room D.127, Grote Kauwenberg 18, 2000 Antwerp
Evening lecture: Annexe building, Lange Winkelstraat 9, 2000 Antwerp

The Institute of Jewish Studies organizes for the 11th time an interdisciplinary conference at the University of Antwerp concerning Jewish Studies on the Low Countries. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate contacts between researchers working within this area of study. We especially encourage young researchers to participate in the workshop. We also hope for contributions from more established researchers, in order to establish a positive exchange between different research generations. This year the contact day will be followed by an evening lecture (in Dutch) by Prof. dr. em. Hans Blom and Dr. David Wertheim on the history of the Jews in the Netherlands.

Contact day in English, evening lecture in Dutch - free entrance

Program contact day

9.15-9.30 Registration and coffee
9.30-9.45 Welcome Karin Hofmeester & Veerle Vanden Daelen
9.45-11.45 Panel 1: Jewish Presence and Networks in the Low Countries, 17th-20th Centuries
Chair: Timothy De Paepe (Museum Vleeshuis / University of Antwerp
  José Alberto Rodrigues da Silva Tavim (Centro de História, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa / CIDEHUS, Universidade de Évora)
Antwerp in the Seventeenth Century:  The “Must-have” city of the Amsterdam Jews
  Tsila Rädecker (University of Groningen)
The Jewish Network as Motor for Success. Jewish pillarization, acculturation and assimilation in the life of Dina Sanson, first policewoman in the Netherlands (1868-1929)
  Saskia Coenen-Snyder (University of South Carolina)
Agents of Empire? : Jews and the Nineteenth-Century Diamond Trade
  Aalt Smienk (VU Amsterdam)
Jews in the Dutch Press between 1890-1910 and ‘Harderwieker risjes’
11.45-12.00 Coffee break
12.00-13.00 Panel 2: From the Storage Room to Public History
Chair: David Wertheim (Menasseh ben Israel Institute)
  Karin Hofmeester (IISG / University of Antwerp)
Membership cards of diamond trade unions in Amsterdam and Antwerp as sources for research and more
  Griet Blanckaert, Dorien Styven, Veerle Vanden Daelen, Carolina van der Star, Marieke Verboven (Kazerne Dossin / University of Antwerp)
Art works and the Holocaust: testimony, conservation and the need for interdisciplinary cooperation: the cooperation between the University of Antwerp and Kazerne Dossin
13.00-14.00 Lunch break with book presentation
  Hans Blom, Hetty Berg, Bart Wallet, David Wertheim (eds.)
De Geschiedenis van de Joden in Nederland
14.00-15.30 Panel 3: Jewish Migrations from East to West
Chair: Hilde Greefs (University of Antwerp)
  Janiv Stamberger (University of Antwerp / Kazerne Dossin)
From East to West: Immigration, consolidation and transformation of Jewish society and politics in Belgium(1906-1940): preliminary conclusions
  Dieter Tielemans (University of Antwerp)
Integration of Russian Jewish diamond dealers in Antwerp (1880-1914)
  Huibert Schijf (em. University of Amsterdam)
The Nutkiewitz Brothers. Diamonds in Antwerp and a garment factory in Amsterdam
15.30-15.45 Coffee break
15.45-17.15 Panel 4: The Holocaust
Chair: Hans Blom (em. University of Amsterdam)
  Geraldien von Frijtag Drabbe Kunzel (Utrecht University)
A Foreign Country. Concepts of collective and individual identity among Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria in the Netherlands
  Herman and Annelies van Rens (Stichting Gedenkteken Jodentransporten naar Cosel)
Deportation transports of Jews to Cosel
  Arnoud-Jan Bijsterveld (Tilburg University)
Holocaust, History, Commemoration: how history contributes to coping strategies and resilience
17.15-17.30 Closing remarks by Karin Hofmeester & Veerle Vanden Daelen

Program evening lecture

Tuesday 22 May 2018 at 20h00
GESCHIEDENIS VAN DE JODEN IN NEDERLAND: EEN ‘SPECIES HOLLANDIA JUDAICA’ OF ‘EEN VOLK ZONDER LAND’?
Prof. dr. em. Hans Blom (University of Amsterdam) and Dr. David Wertheim (Menasseh ben Israel Instituut)

Lecture in Dutch, followed by a reception.

In 2017 verscheen een zeer grondig herziene editie van de Geschiedenis van de Joden in Nederland. Die geschiedenis wordt zowel beschreven vanuit het perspectief van een minderheid in de geschiedenis van Nederland als in het verband van de algemene geschiedenis van de Joden. Dat levert een zeer veelzijdig verhaal op, dat rijker is dan dit perspectief van een dubbele minderheid. In de voordracht zal David Wertheim ingaan op de recente vernieuwende ontwikkelingen in de internationale historiografie betreffende de geschiedenis van de Joden en Joodse geschiedenis en de invloed daarvan op het boek. Hans Blom zal de vraag bespreken in hoeverre in Nederland sprake was/is van een heel eigen variant van de geschiedenis van Joden dan wel of die geschiedenis zich toch bovenal voegt in de algemene geschiedenis van de Joden.


Hans (J.C.H.) Blom (1943) is emeritus hoogleraar Geschiedenis van Nederland aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam en oud-directeur van het Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie (NIOD) te Amsterdam. Zijn onderzoek en publicaties hebben betrekking op uiteenlopende onderwerpen uit de negentiende- en twintigste-eeuwse geschiedenis van Nederland.

David (D.J.) Wertheim (1970) is directeur van het Menasseh ben Israel Instituut voor Joodse en sociaalwetenschappelijke en cultuurhistorische studies te Amsterdam (een samenwerkingsverband van de Universiteit van Amsterdam en het Joods Cultureel Kwartier aldaar). Zijn onderzoek en publicaties hebben betrekking op de geschiedenis van de Joden.

Hans Blom en David Wertheim waren respectievelijk voorzitter en secretaris van de redactie van Geschiedenis van de Joden in Nederland (Amsterdam, 2017; uitgeverij Balans). De redactie bestond verder uit Hetty Berg en Bart Wallet.

Abstracts

Click here to read the abstracts of the speakers.

Register

To register for the 11th Contact Day, click here.

To register for the evening lecture, click here.

Accommodation and directions

Accommodation

Directions

Location:
Contact day 22 May
: University of Antwerp city campus, building D, room D.127, Grote Kauwenberg 18, 2000 Antwerp.
Evening lecture 22 May: University of Antwerp city campus, Annexe building, Lange Winkelstraat 9, 2000 Antwerp.

Call for Papers (closed)

11th Contact Day Jewish Studies on the Low Countries
Institute of Jewish Studies - University of Antwerp
Tuesday 22 May 2018

The Institute of Jewish Studies organizes for the eleventh time an interdisciplinary conference at the University of Antwerp concerning Jewish Studies on the Low Countries. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate contacts between researchers working within this area of study. We especially encourage young researchers to participate in the workshop. We also hope for contributions from more established researchers, in order to establish a positive exchange between different research generations. We especially invite papers and/or sessions that are explicitly comparative in character, and welcome themes and disciplines within Jewish Studies concerning the Low Countries. Proposals need not be limited to a specific historical period and presentations may include works in progress. Both individual and panel proposals are possible. The conference language is English. Please note that the conference cannot provide financial support to cover travel and accommodation of presenters or participants. Please submit an abstract of maximally 400 words and a short CV by 15 January 2018.

For further information please contact:
Karin Hofmeester: kho@iisg.nl
Veerle Vanden Daelen: veerle.vandendaelen@kazernedossin.eu