We record many of our lectures, conferences, and other events for you.
Eyewitness talk with Eva Schloss, recorded on 21 January 2021 (in German, with English and German subtitles)
More information on the event
You can also find Open Access Publications on this page.
Our Stories: Curators Showing Objects from the Core Exhibition
A postcard-sized work by the artist Boris Lurie: it features a white star on a yellow background, with the words "Judenknax," "Fasanenstrasse – Synagoge," and "Entebee"—what events does the work of art refer to? Cilly Kugelmann, head curator of the new core exhibition, tells the story of this small item in the exhibition and explains what makes it so valuable to the JMB collection.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
A tiny pewter ring with a menorah on it—it was found just twenty years ago in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland, but it dates to the 4th century. How did it arrive at its place of discovery and what does it tell us about the interwoven nature of Jewish and Christian culture?
Miriam Goldmann, a curator for the core exhibition, tells the story of the oldest item in the new JMB core exhibition and explains why it is so valuable to the museum.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
A small boxer made of bronze standing on a marble pedestal. His left arm is glued on, but its hand is missing—what does this object tell us about its owner and his life story? Leonore Maier, a curator of the new core exhibition, tells the moving story of Günter Loewinski, who survived the war in Berlin and rediscovered his boxing trophy in the ruins of his apartment building.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
A green and white knitted sweater and a photo of two sisters taken in a DP camp, in which one of them is wearing the sweater—what does this sweater tell us about the postwar era in Germany? Tamar Lewinsky, curator for contemporary history and for the new core exhibition of the Jewish Museum Berlin, tells a story of escape and persecution, new beginnings and memory.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
A compasses case, a child's painting, a kosher pan—what do these exhibition objects tell us about the migration experiences of Jews who came to Germany from the former Soviet Union? Theresia Ziehe, a curator of the new core exhibition at the Jewish Museum Berlin, talks about a daughter's longing gaze backwards and a woman's sense of connection to religious tradition in her family.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
Emigrate or wait and endure? In December 1936, to say farewell to his friends Erst and Margot Rosenthal, Bruno Heidenheim gave them an album: "Farewell, farewell, think of us oft, we'll send you our well-wishing thoughts. Happiness awaits across the sea, but saying goodbye to you isn't easy." Written and illustrated with an eye for detail, Heidenheim wanted to give his friends an "etiquette guide" for America. Aubrey Pomerance, archive director and curator of the new core exhibition, talks about this testimony to a close friendship and two diverging life paths.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
A glimpse into a 19th-century work and living space : the cozy apartment belongs to the writer Fanny Lewald, who held a successful Berlin salon in her time. What does the image tell us about the inconspicuous-looking woman seated at the desk? Inka Bertz, director of the JMB collections and curator of the new core exhibition, tells the story of a luminary who fought for the emancipation of women and Jewish people.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
A white, purple, and pink flamenco dress, decorated with ribbons and heaped with ruffles. At first glance, there's nothing about this dress that one would generally associate with Jewishness. But it belonged to a Jewish person: Sylvin Rubinstein bought it, added certain details, and later wore it himself. Monika Flores, curator for the new core exhibition, tells the story of a distraught man who grieves his twin sister's death in his own way. Flores describes a Jewish object that reveals its identity upon close examination.
Jewish Museum Berlin, 2020
Lecture Series Kosher to Go (2021)
Holy Food and Drink – Why Do Dietary Rules Exist? With Prof. Kikuko Kashiwagi-Wetzel (Kansai University of Osaka) and Prof. David Kraemer (Jewish Theological Seminary of America), video recording from Thu 22 April 2021.
Read more
Kosher and Halal – Animal Slaughter in Judaism and Islam. With Aaron S. Gross (University of San Diego) and Serdar Kurnaz (Humboldt University of Berlin). Video recording from 19 May 2021.
Read more
Between Sanction and Sanctification – Alcohol in Judaism and Christianity. With Jordan D. Rosenblum (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and David Grumett (University of Edinburgh). Video recording from 22 June 2021.
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Do you eat Insects? – Forbidden Animals In Judaism and Hinduism. With Dr. Syed (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich) and Dr. Mattern (University of Tübingen). Video recording from 30 September 2021, in German.
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The Kitchen as a Substitute Sanctuary? Modern Debates Around Eating. With Kathrin Burger (science journalist and author) and Jonathan Schorsch (Professor of Jewish Religious and Intellectual History at the University of Potsdam). Video recording available in German.
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Lecture Series The Others’ Faith (2019/20)
See also our overview of all previous lecture series with video recordings
On the Path to Enlightenment: Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism
Whereas Jews rarely came in contact with the teachings of Buddha before the nineteenth century, the spread of Islam in central and southeast Asia sparked an intensive exchange between Muslims and Buddhists. What shape did these relationships take?
Today, the popularity of Buddhism is growing in the West. Its followers include a group known as JuBus: predominantly American Jews who have adopted Buddhist practices. What explains that interest? And how do Judaism and Islam today approach a tradition of thinking that recognizes deities but not one all-powerful and immortal God?
A discussion with Jerome Gellman (Ben-Gurion University) and Johan Elverskog (Southern Methodist University), video recording of the event on 24 Sep 2020, in English
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Tying the Knot versus Bonds with God: Jews and Muslims in Interfaith Marriages
Does interfaith marital bliss require religious relativism?
Love goes beyond religious and cultural barriers, or at least that is what many believe. The growing number of interfaith marriages in Europe and the United States does seem to confirm this. But in day-to-day life, couples who practice different faiths confront a variety of challenges.
How do Jews and Muslims handle this? How can someone strike a balance between their own religious beliefs and their partner’s – and pass on those beliefs to children? And finally, how do the religious authorities react to interdenominational marriages?
With Madeleine Dreyfus (cultural anthropologist and psychoanalyst) and Imen Gallala-Arndt (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology), video recording of the event on 18 Jun 2020, in German
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Non-Transcendental Morality: Judaism, Islam, and Atheism.
Can mindsets critical of religion be constructive for a Jewish and Islamic theology that speaks to our times?
Skepticism, non-belief, and doubt have accompanied religions since their beginnings. As a result of advancing secularization, however, atheistic and agnostic convictions have become widespread in the Western world to an unprecedented level. How do Judaism and Islam respond to this?
As monotheistic religions, they both see the negation of God as a rejection of moral values. But do moral principles necessarily require recourse to transcendence? And how do Judaism and Islam meet the claim of rationality and reason formulated by the atheists?
With Jacques Berlinerblau (Georgetown University) and Ufuk Topkara (Johns Hopkins University), video recording of the event on 20 Apr 2020, in German and English
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What do you think about Jesus? Judaism, Islam, and Christianity
Jewish and Muslim perspectives on Christianity – Many Christian beliefs and religious practices are baffling to Jews and Muslims, from the Holy Trinity and the veneration of saints to the role of Jesus as the Son of God. By contrast, the other two traditions applaud Christianity’s shared beliefs in divine creation and the immortality of the soul as well as the observance of moral principles.
Where do Jewish and Muslim perspectives on Christianity overlap? Where do they diverge? And how is the diversity of Christian denominations addressed in theological debates?
With Israel Yuval (Hebrew University in Jerusalem) and Maha El Kaisy-Friemuth (Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), video recording of the event on 18 Feb 2020, in German and English
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Mono or Poly? Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism
How do today’s Jews and Muslims view Hinduism, which recognizes multiple deities?
Since Antiquity, Judaism has been preoccupied with setting itself apart from polytheistic religions and “idolatry.” Islam, too, has had numerous experiences with non-monotheistic religions, dating back to its emergence in the early seventh century BCE, and particularly during its expansion in Asia.
How do today’s Jews and Muslims view Hinduism, which recognizes multiple deities? As we will see, perhaps these historical perspectives are useful for a contemporary understanding of polytheistic religions, or perhaps such perspectives impede a nuanced exploration.
With Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein (Elijah Interfaith Institute) and Reza Shah-Kazemi (Institute of Ismaili Studies in London), video recording of the event on 4 Feb 2020, in English
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Judaism and Islam – The History of Theological Relations
Judaism is generally regarded as the first monotheistic religion. The advent of Islam, however, brought a strictly monotheistic “competitor” to Judaism. How did Jewish scholars view this new religion? Both the Koran and early Islamic writings testify to numerous encounters between the Prophet Mohammed and Jews.
What does the Muslim Holy Scripture and early Muslim tradition reveal about how they perceived Jews and their religious ideas and practices?
With Lukas Mühlethaler (Free University Berlin) and Imam Abdullah Antepli (Duke University, USA), video recording of the event on 21 Nov 2019, in German and English
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Shared History Conference on 1,700 Years of Jewish Life in German-speaking Lands
Key note discussion: Jewish Life today – A multitude of voices
Moderated by Dr. Josef Joffe (Die Zeit), speaking with Hetty Berg (Jewish Museum Berlin) and Max Czollek
Images and objects from a shared history in the collections of the Jewish Museum Berlin
Chair: Aubrey Pomerance
Speakers:
Inka Bertz: J.F.A. Darbes‘ Gemälde der Büste Moses Mendelssohns: Bilderverbot, Antikenrezeption und Mediengeschichte
Theresia Ziehe: Fotografieren trotz Lebensgefahr: Werner Fritz Fürstenbergs Aufnahmen antisemitischer Schilder in Nazi-Deutschland
Dr. Tamar Lewinsky: Migrationsgeschichten sammeln – die Objekttage des JMB
The search for belonging: The ongoing struggles for minority identity
Chair: Hannah Dannel (Zentralrat der Juden)
Speakers:
Dr. Dani Kranz (Ben Gurion University of the Negev): Sharing is caring: Meet Cologne Jewry 2.0
Sabine Bergler (Jüdisches Museum Wien): „Erde aus Österreich”: Das verklärte Habsburgerreich als Teil der österreichischen Identität
Jo Frank (Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk): Dynamics of Jewish identities in Germany today
Migration: From Refugees to Citizens
Chair: Prof. Dr. David Sorkin (Yale University)
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Tobias Brinkmann (Penn State University): Fathers and Sons: Writing the History of the Morgenthau Family
J.J. Kimche (Harvard University): Migration as a National Desideratum: The Peregrinatory Strain Within German Jewish Thought
Dr. Vera Kallenberg (University of Erfurt): Almost equally unequal? The “Shared history” of Jews and Gentiles in the Frankfurt Criminal Justice System around 1800
Flight: Exile in Modern Times
Chair: Dr. Simone Blaschka (Deutsches Auswandererhaus Bremerhaven)
Speakers:
Dr. Emilie Kutash: Hans Jonas Trauma, Exile and German Philsophy
Malte Spitz (Selma Stern Zentrum): Hermann Grabs Pianoforte aus der Werkstatt J. A. Stein
Dr. Sheer Ganor (UMN, Twin Cities): 'Hilde Scott Diskutiert:' Advice for the Displaced Family
Memory and commemoration: Historical narratives of minorities within discourse of the majority society
Chair: Dr. Andreas Eberhardt (Alfred Landecker Stiftung)
Speakers:
Dr. Liat Steir-Livny (Sapir College): Shared History: The Hybrid Identity of Jewish immigrants from Germany to Eretz-Israel in the 1930s in the Israeli Documentary The Flat
Aya Zarfati (Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz): Talking about the Holocaust in the post-witnesses era: the Relation Between archival sources and family memories
Adam Kerpel-Fronius (Stiftung Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas): Die aktuelle Wissensvermittlung und Desiderate in der Mehrheitsgesellschaft
Withstanding the pressure: Resilience and self-assertion in times of discrimination
Chair: Prof. Dr. Miriam Rürup (Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden)
Speakers:
Dr. Christopher Brennan (London School of Economics and Political Science) and Alma Hannig (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms- Universität Bonn): Jews in governmental politics and diplomacy in Germany and Austria-Hungary
Anna Knoblauch (SCHUM-Städte): Architektur als Spiegelbild gesellschaftlicher Resilienz: Die Synagoge in Worms zwischen dem 12. Jahrhundert und der Shoah
Dr. Nathaniel Weston (Seattle Central College): Sharing Vienna in Hugo Bettauer’s The City without Jews (1922)
Shared spheres and cultural exchange – Acceptance as challenge and opportunity
Chair: Dr. Aya Elyada (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Speakers:
Renate Evers (Leo Baeck Institute New York I Berlin): The 1484 Nuremberg Jewry Oath (More Judaico)
Dr. Susanne Korbel (University of Graz): Private Spaces as Spheres of Jewish and non Jewish Relations: Encounters Between Jews and Non-Jews in Viennese Homes
Dr. Daniel Baránek (Czech Academy of Sciences): Crossing the Ghetto Borders: Integration of Jews in Loschitz and Mährisch Weisskirchen, 1848–1921
Interviews with Participants of the Conference Jews in Muslim Majority Countries
Interview with Najat Abdulhaq (MiCT – Media in Cooperation and Transition, Berlin); Jewish Museum Berlin, 2017
Video Recordings “Cultural Summer – 20 Years of JMB!”
Jewish in Real Time – New Visibility. Talk with Hetty Berg, Tal Alon, Daniel Donskoy, and Leon Kahane, moderated by Marion Brasch, video recording from 15 Apr 2021 in German; Jewish Museum Berlin
My Jewish Soundtrack. Talk with Daniel Libeskind, Daniel Kahn, Roy Siny, Sharon, and Dmitrij Kapitelman, moderated by Shelly Kupferberg, video recording from 29 Jul 2021 in German; Jewish Museum Berlin
From Liberal to Orthodox.Talk with Hetty Berg, Ita Afanasev, Sveta Kundish, Andreas Nachama, Dekel Peretz und Akiva Weingarten, moderated by Shelly Kupferberg; video recording from 11 Aug 2021 in German; Jüdisches Museum Berlin
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Video Recordings: Watch Past Museum Events (71)
Watch Past Museum Events
We film select events, such as conferences, panel discussions, book presentations, and our lecture series.
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Emancipation and Law
On the history of jurisprudence and Jewish equal rights – book launch and panel discussion
Reading/Discussion
Tue 26 Apr 2022, 7 pm (video recording available, in German) -
“Ich kämpfe gegen alles, was mich niederdrücken will“ (I Fight Against Everything that Tries to Oppress Me)
The diary of Jewish communist resistance fighter Karl Neuhof and correspondence with his family
Mon 11 Apr 2022, 7 pm (video recording available, in German) -
Rafi, Judenbub. Die Rückkehr der Seligmanns nach Deutschland
Book presentation and discussion with Rafael Seligmann, publicist, political scientist and historian, and Hetty Berg, director of the Jewish Museum Berlin
Thu, 24 Mar 2022, 7 pm -
Staging Jewishness
Artist talk with the photographer Frédéric Brenner
Wed 2 Mar 2022, 7.30 pm (video recording available) -
Harry Raymon: Different from the Start
Harry Raymon was born in 1926 in Kirchberg, a town in the Hunsrück upland of southwestern Germany, to a family of Jewish businesspeople. In 1936, his family fled the Nazis and emigrated to the United States.
Mon 28 Feb 2022, 7 pm (video recording available) -
“The Lonely Living Stars”
Concert for the Memorial Day of the Victims of National Socialism
Thu 27 Jan 2022, 7 pm (video recording available) -
Shtetl Berlin All-Star Concert
Hanukkah 2021: Candle lighting with Yiddish songs, instrumental music and dance
Concert
2 Dec 2021, 7 pm (video recording available) -
Iber der grenets / Crossing the Border: Yiddish Literature and Culture Today
Presentation of an extensive collection of Yiddish short stories (in German)
Sat, 20 Nov 2021, 6.30 pm (via Zoom) -
Jews Don't Count?
Book launch and talk with the author David Baddiel, Sascha Chaimowicz, Marina Chernivsky and Daniel Donskoy, moderated by Jo Frank, in English
Tue 26 Oct 2021 -
The Jewish Kulturbund (Cultural Association) – A Lifeline in Dark Times
A musical-literary evening (in German)
Sun 12 Sep 2021, 7 pm (video recording available, in German) -
Is anyone still waiting for the Messiah? – Jewish and Christian Views
With Prof. Christoph Markschies (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) and Prof. Daniel Krochmalnik (University of Potsdam)
24 Aug 2021, 7 pm (video recording available, in German) -
Yael Bartana – Redemption Now
Digital opening event with Yael Bartana, Hetty Berg, Shelley Harten and Gregor Lersch
Language: mainly in English, with brief sections in GermanExhibition Opening
Thu, 3 Jun 2021 -
The 2nd DAGESH Art Award goes to Talya Feldman
& Opening of the Installation The Violence We Have Witnessed Carries a Weight on Our Hearts
Language: English and GermanExhibition Opening
Thu, 20 May 2021 -
In Celebration of Daniel Libeskind’s 75th birthday
with Daniel Libeskind, JMB Director Hetty Berg, and film director Axel Fuhrmann, moderated by Sonja Marx of Saarland Broadcasting
Discussion
Tue 4 May 2021, 7 pm -
Shtetl Berlin All-Star Concert
Hanukkah 2020: Candle lighting with Yiddish songs, instrumental music and dance
Concert
12 Dec 2020 -
Conversation with the Artist Wendy Ewald
With Wendy Ewald and Gregor H. Lersch as part of the exhibition This Place
Artist Talk
5 Mar 2020 -
The Last Veit Simons from Berlin
One of Berlin’s oldest Jewish families in a transnational story of class, gender, and sexuality
With: Anna Hájková and Maria von der Heydt
Language: German, no subtitlesReading/Discussion
11 Dec 2019 -
Conversation with the Artist Thomas Struth
With Thomas Struth (photographer) and Theresia Ziehe (curator of photography), related to the exhibition This Place, in German
Artist Talk
5 Dec 2019 -
About a Tea Bowl
Discussion with brief presentations about interwoven experiences of post-Soviet Jewish migration, in German
Lecture/Discussion
27 Nov 2019 -
The Family Album
Peter Schaul recounts the life of his mother, Dora Schaul, whose estate is part of the interactive installation The Family Album
Language: German, no subtitlesLecture/Discussion
9 Nov 2020 -
Ruth Wodak:
Swing to the right?!Ruth Wodak traces how a new “normality to the right” is establishing itself in many European countries (in German)
Lecture/Discussion
17 October 2019 -
Zvi Aviram: Brushes with Death
16 September 2019
Zvi Aviram was born in January 1927 in Berlin as Heinz Abrahamsohn. From age 14, he had to perform forced labor in the arms industry. During the so-called factory operation on 27 February 1943, his parents were arrested and deported and he himself went into illegality. -
Karl M. von der Heyden: From Berlin to New York
29 August 2019
In his book From Berlin to New York, Karl M. von der Heyden describes his experiences as a child and youth in war-torn Germany and his journey to the USA, where he began studying at Duke University in 1957 and rose to the boardrooms of Pepsi and Dreamworks. -
“To Know One Religion Is to Know None”
W. Michael Blumenthal Fellow Walid Abdelgawad talks about reflections on Islam and Judaism in the writings of German-speaking Jewish orientalists between 1833 and 1955 (in German)
Video: in German; no subtitles
28 August 2019 -
Sally Perel:
Hitlerjunge Salomon12 June 2019
Sally Perel was born in Peine in April 1925. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union he pretended to be a Volksdeutscher and called himself Josef Perjell.
In 1990, his memoirs were published and were filmed in the same year under the title Hitlerjunge Salomon. -
Museums, Religion, and the Work of Reconciliation and Remembrance
Museums are called on to deal critically and transparently with the often invisible colonial history of their collections. The curators Jisgang Nika Collision (Haida Gwaii Museum, Haida Nation & Canada) and Léontine Meijer-van Mensch (Saxonian State Ethnographic Collections) discussed this topic.
9 May 2019 -
Access Barriers. Critical Perspectives on Racism in Schools and Curatorial Practices
Keynote by Bonita Bennett (District Six Museum, Cape Town) at the conference Access Barriers on museums as places of social change.
Lecture/Discussion
20 Mar 2019 -
The Laskers from Breslau (Wrocław) – A Family Reunion in Music and Words
27 January 2019
Cellist and contemporary witness Anita Lasker Wallfisch shares the stage with three generations of her family for the first time.
Marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp on 27 January 1945, they read letters from the family written between 1942 and 1952 and play works by Beethoven, Schubert, Bloch, and others.
27 Jan 2019 -
Peter Neuhof: A Youth in the Shadow of the Persecution
3 December 2018
Peter Neuhof speaks about his memories and experiences in an interview with Aubrey Pomerance, head of the archive. His parents were active members of the German Communist Party (KPD) and were arrested in 1943. Peter was able to remain in the parental home. -
Happy Birthday, Academy Programs!
Welcoming Remarks and Introducing the Academy Programs | Discussion with Performance: Archive of Life. Memory in a Society Shaped by Migration | Panel Discussion: Jewish Fathers – Jewish Children? | Panel Discussion: A Pre-fascist Era? | Reception: 5 Years – 5 Friends – 5 Gifts
2 Dec 2018 -
Polish Perspectives on '68: March Protests
22 November 2018
This event for the “'68 Now” series discusses (in German and Polish) the events of 1968 from the Polish perspective. In Poland, the student protests were co-opted by an antisemitic rampage that resulted in 13,000 Jews being forced to leave the country. -
Living with Islamophobia
The international conference “Living with Islamophobia” considered how cultural and religious affiliations are constructed and invited experts to enter into discussion.
11–12 Oct 2018 -
Michael Sfard:
The Jerusalem Dispute. The Fight for Human Rights in Israeli Courts6 September 2018
Lecture by Michael Sfard, one of Israel’s leading human rights lawyers -
Imported Antisemitism?
Is Antisemitism increasing with the number of refugees from Arab countries? We discuss with political, academic, and practical experts which manifestations of antisemitism among Arab migrants and Muslims in Germany exist (in German).
30 Aug 2018 -
Seyla Benhabib: The Global Refugee Crisis and the Challenge to Liberal Democracies
26 June 2018
Seyla Benhabib (Yale University) discusses the challenges migration poses to liberal democracies. -
Hanni Levy: Surviving in Berlin
Born in 1924, survived the Nazi era in hiding in Berlin with the help of friends, in German
Eyewitness Talks
25 Jun 2018 -
Stolen Judaica
Provenance Research in Israel and GermanyIn this symposium, research that explores the origins of Jewish ceremonial objects exclusively in Israel and Germany, took center stage for the first time.
Conference
18/19 Jun 2018 -
Ongoing Struggles. Anti-Discrimination Work during the Rise of the Far Right
Opening Session of the academic conference
Including Imani Perry's keynote »What Lies Underneath: Difficult Histories and the Resurgence of The Far Right«
7 Jun 2018 -
Anita Lasker Wallfisch: Auschwitz Never Left Me
28 May 2018
Born in Breslau in 1925, Anita Lasker Wallfisch studied cello in Berlin from 1938. In 1942, Anita’s parents were deported to Izbica and murdered, and in 1943 Anita and her sister Renate were deported to Ausschwitz. -
Lives in Common: Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem
8 May 2018
Author Menachem Klein in Conversation with Cilly Kugelmann -
Margot Friedländer: Try to Make Your Life
9 April 2018
Margot Friedländer was born in 1921 in Berlin and has had close ties with the museum for many years. She reads from her memoir, which takes its title from her mother’s last message to her: Try to Make Your Life. -
What is the Relationship Between Antisemitism and Islamophobia?
Lectures by David Feldman and Stefanie Schüler-Springorum
20 Mar 2018 -
The Book of Numbers
12 February 2018
Reading and Talk with the Author Joshua Cohen and Literary Scholar Jan Wilm -
Walter Frankenstein: Not with Us
31 January 2018
Born in 1924 in West Prussia, Walter Frankenstein lived in Berlin from 1936. When deportation threatened, he went into hiding with his wife and their five-week-old son. The family managed to survive with the help of friends. -
“And the day will come ...”
11 January 2018
Eyewitness Horst Selbiger in Conversation with Léontine Meijer-van Mensch -
Kurt Roberg: A Visa Or Your Life
Born 1924 in Celle, emigration at the end of 1938 via the Netherlands, return to Berlin in March 1941 and re-emigration in May 1941 via Lisbon to the USA, in German
Eyewitness Talks
4 Dec 2017 -
New Judaism – Alliances in Postmigrant Society
Discussion on concepts of being Jewish within the third generation of Jews in Germany (in German and English)
16 Nov 2017 -
Jews in Muslim Majority Countries
24 to 27 October 2017
International conference for scholars from different continents and academic disciplines, who discuss questions of culture, identity and memory of Jewish life in Arab and Muslim majority countries. -
Henry Wuga: A Nuremberger from Glasgow
23 October 2017
Henry Wuga was born to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father in Nuremberg in 1924. In 1938, his parents were able to send him to Scotland with a children’s transport and later in 1947, he could bring his mother, who had survived in hiding, to his home in Glasgow.
Language: German -
Future Memories
Discussion on the Importance of Minority Perspectives for European Societies’ Commemorative Cultures (in German and English)
26 Sep 2017 -
Luther, Rosenzweig, and the Script
18 September 2017
Book Presentation and Discussion (in German) -
Between the Lines
9 September 2017
An Evening with Israeli and German Poets (in Hebrew and German) -
Religion. Fashion. Empowerment.
Discussion with Reina Lewis and Meriem Lebdiri (in German and English)
29 Jun 2017 -
Jews in North Africa During the Second World War
Theme day with lectures by Michel Abitbol, Eric Salerno, Patrick Bernhard, Haim Saadoun, and panel discussion
Language: German, English, and French
26 Jan 2017 -
"Nothing can Hurt Those who Already Died Once" - Discussion with Contemporary Witness Marko Feingold
Event on 10 November 2016
With: Marko Feingold, Peter Schäfer, Uwe Neumärker
Language: German, no subtitles -
Sites of Memory: Lost and Entangled Narratives
With: Dr. Rosa Fava, Juliane Jurewicz, Prof. Dr. Iman Attia, Olga Gerstenberger, Ozan Keskinkiliç, Anita Awosusi, Ilona Lagrene, Prof. Dr. Michael Rothberg, and Serpil Polat
Language: German and English, no subtitlesConference
16 Sep 2016 -
TIME OF CRISIS
With: Dan Diner, Adam Michnik, Dietmar Herz, Étienne François, and Hans Kundnani
Language: German, no subtitlesDiscussion
7 Sep 2016 -
Antisemitism in the Arabic World – Facts and Myths
With: Michael Kiefer and Omar Kamil
Language: German, no subtitles
26 Apr 2016 -
"Mich hat Auschwitz nie verlassen" (Auschwitz has never left me)
With: Renate Lasker-Harpprecht and Anita Lasker Wallfisch
Language: German, no subtitlesEyewitness Talks
1 Mar 2016 -
Post-migrant Society?!
International conference from 12 to 14 November 2015
Recording of the opening event
Language: German and English, no subtitles
12–14 Nov 2015 -
On Life – Working with People Traumatized by the Shoah
Panel discussion on 1 October 2015
With: Giselle Cycowicz, Martin Auerbach and David Becker and Volker Beck
Language: German, no subtitles -
Kill Me a Son!
Recording of the opening event
With: Prof. Dr. Peter Schäfer and Prof. Dr. Angelika Neuwirth
Language: German, no subtitles
3–4 Sep 2015 -
A Shared View of Europe – Jewish and Muslim Experiences as Reflected in Public Controversies
Panel discussion
With: Prof. Nilüfer Göle, Shai Lavi and Gökçe Yurdakul
Language: German, no subtitles
19 Jan 2015 -
Contemporary Jewish life in a global modernity
International conference
Recording of the presentation "Future of European Jewry"
With: Dr. Karen Körber and Dr. Diana Pinto
Language: English, no subtitles
11–12 Dec 2014 -
Snip it?!
Presentation of a study followed by a discussion
With: Professor Kerem Öktem, Mounir Azzaoui, Dr. des. Alexander Hasgall, and Dr. des. Hannah C. Tzuberi.
4 Dec 2014 -
Concepts of Citizenship and Participation in European Comparison
Recording of the keynote by Prof. Dr. Rainer Bauböck and the followed panel discussion
With: Prof. Dr. Rainer Bauböck, Dr. Manuela Bojadžijev, Josip Juratovic and Dr. Monika Lüke
Language: German, no subtitlesLecture/Discussion
7–8 Apr 2014 -
Art and Culture in the Terezín Ghetto
Symposium on 2 March 2014
In four lectures, the symposium explores the history of Theresienstadt, the “ghetto of exceptions,” from four different angles.
With: Wolfgang Benz, Anna Hájková and Hanno Loewy
Language: German, no subtitles -
The Connected Audience
Conference from 27 February 2014 to 28 February 2014
With: John H. Falk
Language: English, no subtitles -
Is Higher Education a Safeguard Against Racism and Antisemitism?
Presentation of a study followed by panel discussion on 20 February 2014
With: Wassilis Kassis, Charlotte Schallié, Iman Attia, Stefanie Schüler-Springorum and Andreas Zick
Language: German, no subtitlesLecture/Discussion
20 February 2014 -
“What do we mean when we say 'antisemitism'?”
Keynote lecture, opening the conference Antisemitism in Europe Today: the Phenomena, the Conflicts
With: Brian Klug
Language: EnglishLecture/Discussion
8 Nov 2013 -
Circumcision: Identity Politics and / or Health Issue?
With: Sander L. Gilman, in Englisch
Lecture/Discussion
8 May 2013
Audio Recordings: Listen to Past Museum Events (65)
Listen to Past Museum Events
Lectures, book presentations, theatrical readings, panel discussions, and award ceremonies
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World History in Berlin
The Humboldt Brothers and the Jewish Enlightenment
With: Uta Lohmann, Sebastian Panwitz, and Conrad Wiedemann, Humboldt researchers
Language: GermanLecture/Discussion
30 Oct 2019 -
Antisemitism Today – A Challenge for School and Society
21 February 2019
Talk by Juliane Wetzel as part of the symposium Actively Countering Antisemitism and Exclusion (in German) -
Katharina Galor: The Temple Mount
9 January 2019
Archaeologist Katharina Galor talks about the historical and archaeological heritage of Jerusalem’s most controversial site – the Temple Mount (Har haBait). She presents various research initiatives and highlights the role of religiously or politically motivated agendas in the research process. -
Assaf Gavron:
Achtzehn Hiebe (Eighteen Blows)28 July 2018
Reading and Discussion
Achtzehn Hiebe is a novel of love and a detective story, a piece of contemporary history, and a journey through Israel of today. The Israeli author Assaf Gavron presents his new novel with the actor Golo Euler and the journalist Ulrich Gutmair (taz). -
Stolen Judaica
Provenance Research in Israel and GermanyIn this symposium, research that explores the origins of Jewish ceremonial objects exclusively in Israel and Germany, took center stage for the first time.
Conference
18/19 Jun 2018 -
Rechavia – Grunewald in the Orient
28 February 2018
Reading with Thomas Sparr on German-Jewish Jerusalem (in German) -
A Canon of Jewish Renaissance
22 February 2018
Bernhard Jensen, author of the first monograph about the Soncino Society in conversation with publisher Thedel von Wallmoden (in German) -
Jerusalem for Cowards
19 February 2018
Discussion with filmmakers Dalia Castel and Orit Nahmias following the screening of Jerusalem for Cowards (in German and English) -
Who is carrying the Menorah?
8 February 2018
Talk by Steven Fine on Jewish Counter-Histories of the Arch of Titus Spoils Panel -
The Many Deaths of Jew Süss
22 January 2018
Reading with Yair Mintzker on Joseph Süß Oppenheimer – Jew Süss -
Germanija. How I Became an Adult and a Jew in Germany
Reading and discussion on Dmitrij Belkin's narrative that also throws light on immigration today.
19 Oct 2017 -
IN-/EXCLUSIONS and Self-Empowerment in the Cultural Business
With Max Czollek, Dan Thy Nguyen, Sandrine Micossé-Aikins, and Mutlu Ergün-Hamaz (in German)
12 Oct 2017 -
Volk, Volksgemeinschaft, AfD (People, National Community, AfD)
Book presentation and discussion with Alexander Häusler and the author Michael Wildt (in German)
10 Oct 2017 -
Incredibly Clever
5 August 2017
Iris Berben reads Paula Buber (in German and English) -
Before the After Party
15 July 2017
Reading and talk with the author Molly Antopol, translator Patricia Klobusiczky and actor Katharina Marie Schubert (in German and English). -
Yousef Abad
Eliz Sanasarian and Elham Rokni on video art by Elham Rokni and the situation of Jews in Iran from the 1979 revolution to today.
6 Jul 2017 -
The New Völkerwanderung
Book Presentation by Asfa Wossen Asserate3 July 2017
Asfa-Wossen Asserate presents his latest book Die neue Völkerwanderung (The New Völkerwanderung) on the grievances of the EU’s Africa policy. -
Peter Schäfer – "Two gods in heaven. Concepts of god in the ancient Jewish world"
12 June 2017
Peter Schäfer and Michael Wolffsohn on monotheism in Judaism and Christianity and concepts of a second god. -
With Karamba to the Bundestag – My Journey from Senegal to the German Parliament
Karamba Diaby tells of his birth country Senegal, of life in the GDR, his work in the Bundestag, and of his vision of an open and future-oriented society (in German).
1 Jun 2017 -
Ariel Sabar: My Father’s Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq
Reading and talk with the writer Ariel Sabar on the story of his father Yona Sabar, professor of the Neo-Aramaic language, and the Kurdish-Jewish history.
11 May 2017 -
The Dress of the Unfaithful Wife
Artist Talk and Discussion on Women and Sexuality in Judaism9 May 2017
Talk with Andi LaVine Arnovitz, Amy K. Milligan, Professor for Jewish Studies and Women's Studies, and Emily D. Bilski, art historian, on the role of women in religious Judaism. -
Israelis in Germany
Ideological Debates and Changing IdentitiesTalk and Slideshow with Dr. Dani Kranz and Katja Harbi from the University of Wuppertal on Israeli Jews in today's Germany (in German).
4 May 2017 -
Im/Possibilities – Perspectives on Refugee Participation
Conference on the situation for refugees in Europe and Germany. Recording of the opening event with a talk by Gurminder K Bhambra, Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK, followed by a panel discussion (in German and English).
29 Mar 2017 -
Our Father: A Sinti Family Recounts
Conversation and reading with the German-Sinti civil rights activist and author Anita Awosusi and her daughter Tayo Onutor about their family’s history (in German).
23 Mar 2017 -
Europe Against the Jews. 1880-1945
22 February 2017
Historian Götz Aly and Daniel Cohn-Bendit discuss antisemitism in Eastern and Western Europe from 1880 to the present (in German). -
The Acid Test
How Fear of Foreigners is Threatening our DemocracyThe Islamic studies and education scholar Lamya Kaddor reads from her book and discusses integration with Minister of State Aydan Özoğuz and Andreas Zick (in German).
-
Gottes Körper (God's Body)
13 February 2017
Christoph Markschies in conversation with Peter Schäfer about Christian conceptions of God and their roots in other ancient religions (in German). -
All Sorts of Stories
21 November 2016
The actor Johanna Wokalek reads from Bertha Pappenheim’s German translation of the Maase book, a collection of Yiddish stories, fairy tales, and legends (in German). -
Joshua Cohen:
You want a golem?17 November 2016
Reading and conversation with Joshua Cohen and Caspar Battegay about the golem myth in the age of automation. -
A Jew in Neukölln – My Path to Coexistence of Religions
The theology student and writer Ármin Langer reads from his book and talks about Jewish life in Neukölln (in German).
19 Oct 2016 -
The Clay Giant's Alive!
8 October 2016
Anke Kuhl reads from her comic about two kids and their golem, with musical accompaniment by the cellist Martin Klenk (in German). -
Reading with Christian Berkel: Tevye the Dairyman
9 July 2016
To mark the 100th anniversary of Sholem Alejchem’s death, the actor Christian Berkel will read from the new translation of the book Tevye the Dairyman -
Herzl reloaded – It’s No Fairytale
Staged reading. Doron Rabinovici, writer and historian, and Natan Sznaider, sociologist, have a fictional email correspondence with Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism (in German).
Reading/Discussion
7 Jul 2016 -
Ludwig Haas – A Left-liberal Campaigner for Peace and Democracy
9 June 2016
Symposium with Evening Lecture by Gerhart Baum on the liberal Campaigner Ludwig Haas (1875-1930) and "Perspectives of Left-wing Liberalism Today". -
The Holocaust and the Problem of Visual Representation
30 May 2016
Talk with artist and exhibition curator Peter Weibel about Boris Lurie and visual representation of the Holocaust (in German). -
Helga Krohn: Bruno Asch
19 May 2016
Reading and talk with Helga Krohn on the local politician and socialist Bruno Asch. -
Angst ums Abendland (Fears For the West)
Book Presentation with Daniel BaxTalk with Daniel Bax and Gideon Botsch on Right-wing populist parties, anti-Muslim sentiments, flight and asylum (in German).
6 Apr 2016 -
Prize for Understanding and Tolerance
Acceptance speech by the 2015 award winner: W. Michael Blumenthal, Founding Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin (in German).
14 Nov 2015 -
Béla Guttmann - The World History of Football in one Person
4 August 2015
The writer Detlev Claussen presents his book about the Hungarian-Jewish soccer coach Béla Guttmann (in German). -
Attempts to Describe Anti-Semitism
Book presentation and discussion on the history of antisemitism research before 1944 with Hans-Joachim Hahn, Olaf Kistenmacher, Dr. Werner Treß, and Franziska Krah (in German).
Reading/Discussion
22 Apr 2015 -
From a Berlin Farce to a Story of Success
2 March 2015
The writer Daniel Bussenius talks with Inka Bertz and Heinrich Wefing, reporter from Die Zeit, about the museum’s development from 1971 to 2001 (in German). -
The Realignment of "Education after Auschwitz" in Immigration Society
Book presentation and panel discussion with the author Rosa Fava, Angela Kühner (University of Frankfurt), Selman Erkovan, history teacher in training, and Marco Kühnert, a guide at the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, Hamburg (in German).
27 Jan 2015 -
The Book of Job. Aesthetics, Ethics, Hermeneutics
The editors of a volume of essays about the Book of Job, Leora Batnitzky (Princeton) and Ilana Pardes (Jerusalem), in conversation with Vivian Liska
Language: in German and EnglishReading/Discussion
21 Jan 2015 -
What’s your "Heimat"?
14 November 2014
W. Michael Blumenthal, Founding Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, and Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, talk about culture, religion, and being at home in a foreign place (in German). -
Zimzum. God and the creation of the world
Author Christoph Schulte talks with Micha Brumlik and Vivian Liska about his book on the notion of zimzum (tzimtzum) in Jewish mysticism
Language: GermanReading/Discussion
30 Oct 2014 -
Hebrew Worlds – On the Presence of Ancient Texts in Modern Ivrith
Anne Birkenhauer, a translator and the August Wilhelm Schlegel Guest Professor of the German Translation Fund and the FU Berlin, gives her inaugural lecture (in German).
Lecture/Discussion
27 Oct 2014 -
Forgotten Soldiers?
3 September 2014
Historian Tim Grady presents his research on the commemoration of German-Jewish soldiers from the First World War. -
Modernized, then Tolerated?
Micha Brumlik, Petra Bahr, Kadir Sanci, and Thomas Bauer about religion and navigating between tradition and adaptation
Language: GermanDiscussion
10 Oct 2013 -
1933: Denial, Opposition, and Protest
Wolf Gruner about his research into German Jews’ responses to Nazi persecution (in German).
Lecture/Discussion
8 Aug 2013 -
Peter Schäfer: The Origins of Jewish Mysticism
Panel discussion between the author Peter Schäfer, Christoph Markschies, and Micha Brumlik about Schäfer’s book on the history of early Jewish mysticism
Language: GermanReading/Discussion
25 Jun 2012 -
The History of Jews and Dönme in Turkey
The Turkish studies scholar Corry Guttstadt and the historian Marc Baer discuss the history of Jews and Dönme (converts) in Turkey (in German).
Lecture/Discussion
31 Jan 2011 -
Perrine Simon-Nahum: Jews in France Today
Talk by Perrine Simon-Nahum about her book on the circumstances of Jews in France, both past and present.
Lecture/Discussion
29 Nov 2010 -
W. Michael Blumenthal: Around the World in Eighty Years. My Life
W. Michael Blumenthal, Founding Director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, presents his memoir (in German).
Reading/Discussion
30 Sept 2010 -
Jewish Youth Movement in Germany
22 May 2010
German-language talk by Ulrike Pilarczyk and panel discussion with Micha Brumlik, Hans Jakob Ginsburg, Stefanie Schüler-Springorum, and Moshe Zuckermann about the history of the Zionist youth movement in Germany (in German). -
Dialogues on Jewish Present: On the Question of Redemption – Messianism and the End of Days
with Moshe Idel, Elliot R. Wolfson, and Micha Brumlik about the Messianic promise of redemption and its relevance in the twenty-first century
Language: EnglishReading/Discussion
10 Dec 2009 -
Walther Rathenau's Life: Text and Context
Talk by Shulamit Volkov about the life of the writer, politician, and industrialist Walther Rathenau (in German).
Lecture/Discussion
15 Oct 2009 -
Migrants Moving History
Saskia Sassen about immigration, diversity, and future prospects for dealing with history and citizenship in multiethnic societies.
Lecture/Discussion
25 Oct 2008 -
Self Displaced Person. Peter Szondi's Problematic Judaism
3 December 2007
Talk by Andreas Isenschchmid about the life and work of the literary scholar Peter Szondi (in German). -
Painted in words. The portrait of a lost time
10 October 2007
Reading and conversation with the artist Samuel Bak about his family’s story and his survival as a child in German-occupied Vilnius (in German). -
A synagogue curtain at the Brandenburg Cathedral Chapter
23 November 2006
Talk by Vera Bendt about a synagogue curtain that was discovered at the Brandenburg Cathedral Chapter, where it had been listed in records as an altar curtain (in German). -
Exile in Shanghai
Conversation between W. Michael Blumenthal and Horst Eisfelder about the time they both spent in Shanghai, where 18,000 Jews from Germany had taken refuge (in German).
14 Nov 2006 -
The place of psychoanalysis in the history of the Jews
30 May 2005
Talk by Eli Zaretsky about the influence of psychoanalysis on Judaism and the place of psychoanalysis in Jewish history. -
Breaking Ground: Adventures in Life and Architecture
In conversation with Susanne Weingarten, Daniel Libeskind presents his autobiography.
Language: EnglishReading/Discussion
25 Jan 2005 -
The Fragile Foundation: The Quest for German-Jewish “Normalcy”
Salomon Korn reads essays from his book about Jewish life in Germany, Jewish culture and remembrance, architecture, and politics.
Language: GermanReading/Discussion
30 Sep 2003 -
Times of Commemoration: On Jewish Histories and Others
Book presentation by the historian Dan Diner about remembering the twentieth century as an era of violence, forced displacement, and genocide (in German).
Reading/Discussion
24 Jun 2003
Conference Proceedings: PDF and Open Access (6)
PDF and Open Access
Select conference presentations
-
“Hear the Truth, Whoever Speaks It”
Conference Proceedings on Milestones in the Work of Moses Maimonides from Islamic Spain to Modern Berlin, in German
Online Publication
2014 -
Antisemitism in Europe Today
This publication is devoted to manifestations of antisemitism in Europe today. It adopts a comparative perspective and includes findings from eleven European countries.
-
Media and Minorities
Online Publication
-
Contemporary Russian-Jewish Life in Germany
This volume contains interdisciplinary perspectives on a changing diaspora, concentrating on the migration of Russian-speaking Jews from the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states after 1989 (in German).
2015 -
JMB Journal 12: Ban on Images
JMB Journal
2015 -
Concepts of Citizenship and Participation in European Comparison
Documentation of the conference devoted to the question of what citizenship in Europe of the 21st century can mean and which concepts of citizenship are currently guiding political policy and promise greater political inclusion (PDF in German).
7–8 Apr 2014
Dialogical Lecture Series
Overview of all recorded dialogical lectures from this series by the Jewish-Islamic Forum
Video recordings
2015–2020
Calendar of Programs
Events, guided tours, concerts, and more
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