May 3, 2010 | 5:00-6:00 PM | Free & Open to the Public
Humanities 1 Building, Room 210, UC Santa Cruz
Directions and Parking Information
This talk will deal with a number of issues related to the theme of Jews in Germany after the Holocaust. Firstly, what has been the changing nature of Jewish life since 1945? Secondly, how has the community been viewed by the perpetrators and their children, and how has this perception changed over time? Professor Lapp begin with a description of the situation of the displaced persons and their relationship to the Germans and vice-versa. He will go on to discuss the influx of Russian-Jewish immigrants in the 1990s and its impact on the nature of the Jewish community and its communal institutions. Professor Lapp will conclude with a discussion of the current debates about the place and significance of the Jewish community in German society today. The talk will incorporate literary representations of the rapidly changing German Jewish community by such authors as Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Henryk Broder, Barbara Honigmann and Wladimir Kaminer.
Benjamin Lapp is Associate Professor of German History at Montclair State University.
The event is sponsored by the Center for Jewish Studies. Support provided by the David B. Gold Foundation. Staff support provided by the Institute for Humanities Research.