Skip to main content
Designed graphic with overlapping photos and red squares, the top photo shows a woman with a child holding her hand, next to her a teenager, in the background the so-called workers' palaces in Stalinallee.

Stories from the GDR – Biographical Interviews with Jews from 1980 to Today

A Podium Discussion as Part of the Conference: “...And Facing the Future? – Jewish History and Stories in the GDR” (in German)

Biographical interviews are the focus of this evening event, which is part of the conference “...And Facing the Future? – On Jewish History and Stories in the GDR.” From the 1980s until today, Jews who lived in the GDR have been interviewed many times about their experiences and life stories. How did different generations’ views of the socialist state change? And how did interviewers’ perspectives on the history of Jews in the GDR evolve?

Past event

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Old Building is marked in green

Where

Old Building, level 2, Great Hall
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin

Miriam Rürup, Director of the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies in Potsdam, moderates a panel discussion featuring sociologist Robin Ostow, cultural historian Jeffrey Peck, author Lara Dämmig and filmmaker Yael Reuveny as they talk about and reflect on their different interview projects.

Canadian sociologist Robin Ostow interviewed East German Jews in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in the publication of two books. Around the same time, the American cultural historian Jeffrey Peck conducted interviews for his documentary film Chronik einer Rückkehr: Lebenswege deutscher Juden in der DDR (Chronicles of Return: Life Histories of Jews in the GDR, 1993). More recently, Lara Dämmig and Sandra Anusiewicz-Baer collected interviews for their book Jung und Jüdisch in der DDR (Young and Jewish in the GDR), published in 2021. Filmmaker Yael Reuveny created the audio and video installation Neuland (New Land), which can currently be seen in the exhibition Another Country. Jewish in the GDR. The project was part of the Jewish Museum Berlin’s W. Michael Blumenthal Fellowship 2022/23.

Organized by the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies in Potsdam and the Jewish Museum Berlin, the event is part of the conference “...And Facing the Future? – On Jewish History and Stories in the GDR.”

The conference is sponsored by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and will take place as part of the accompanying program for the exhibition Another Country. Jewish in the GDR. The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States.

Conference Program

You can find the entire program on the website of the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies (in German).
Program on mmz-potsdam.de

Designed graphic with overlapping photos and red squares, the top photo shows a woman with a child holding her hand, next to her a teenager, in the background the so-called workers' palaces in Stalinallee.

Exhibition Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: Features & Programs

Exhibition Webpage
Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: 8 Sep 2023 to 14 Jan 2024
Publications
Another Country. Jewish in the GDR: Catalog accompanying the exhibition, English edition, 2023
Ein anderes Land. Jüdisch in der DDR: Catalog accompanying the exhibition, German edition, 2023
Digital Content
Voices from the GDR: Twelve short film interviews with Jewish perspectives on life and the political system, 2023, in German with English subtitles
Come Fly With Me Over the Brandenburg Gate: A documentary by Esther Zimmering, in German
Singled Out and Viewed Suspiciously: Jews in the GDR: Abridged version of Annette Leo’s contribution to the exhibition catalog, 2023
Jewish in the GDR. A Road Trip with Marion and Lena Brasch: A podcast by Deutsch­land­funk Kultur in co­operation with the Jewish Museum Berlin, six episodes, 2023, in German
Jewish Local History of the GDR: Information about the communities in Dresden, Erfurt, Halle, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Chemnitz and Schwerin on Jewish Places
City Walk Berlin-East: Tour with Jewish Places from the New Synagogue to the kosher butcher’s shop, school participation project 2022/23
Soundtrack of the Exhibition: Playlist on Spotify
See also
East Germany

Where, when, what?

  • WhenThu 19 Oct 2023, 7 pm
  • Where Old Building, level 2, Great Hall
    Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
    See location on map
  • Entry fee

    Free of charge

  • Conference For information on the conference 18–20 Oct 2023 and how to register visit the conference page on this website.

    Language German

Share, Newsletter, Feedback