Leo Baeck Institute London

05/10/2026

Between 1933 and 1940, some 60,000 Jewish refugees fled N**i-ruled countries for Palestine, more than half of them German Jews, or "Yekkes," as they became known. Our latest Snapshot by Ellie Cole explores how this "Fifth Aliyah" reshaped Tel Aviv's streets, shops and advertising.

Drawing on the 1943 pamphlet 10 Jahre Neue Alijah, the piece looks at how German immigrants, many trained in Weimar Germany's booming advertising industry, brought striking graphic design and consumer culture to Mandatory Palestine, transforming shop windows, retail and the visual identity of the city.

But the Snapshot also uncovers a tension beneath this triumphant story: the individualism and bourgeois comforts these immigrants imported sat uneasily against the collectivist ideals of the Yishuv, while many quietly carried a deep sense of loss for the homeland they'd left behind, a feeling captured movingly in Leah Goldberg's poem "Tel Aviv 1935."

Read the full Snapshot here:
https://www.lbilondon.ac.uk/research/snapshots/weimar-tel-aviv-german-immigration-and-transformation-advertising-mandatory

01/10/2026

Mark Lilla, Professor of Humanities at Columbia University, delivers the second annual Eva Reichmann Lecture on 25 October, opening LBI New York's conference "Between Revolution and Reaction".

He'll trace the intellectual history of conservative and reactionary thought among German-Jewish thinkers who saw modern society's problems as rooted in a break with earlier ways of thinking.

The lecture, named for historian and sociologist Eva Reichmann, who helped found the Wiener Library in London, is open to all and will be streamed online.

25 October, 6:30pm EDT / 10:30pm UK time. Watch live: https://www.youtube.com/live/49ha9ljLqYA

Supported by the Hans & Berthold Finkelstein Foundation.

newyork

30/09/2026

German-Jewish Libraries After the Holocaust: A History of Disappearance, by Anna Hołzer-Kawałko, has just been published as the latest addition to our German Jewish Cultures series with Indiana University Press.

For centuries, Jewish communal and institutional libraries across Germany held vast collections of books, heritage and culture at the heart of Jewish intellectual life, until the N**i regime plundered and dismantled them almost entirely. Working across archives in Germany, the Czech Republic, Israel and the United States, Hołzer-Kawałko follows the fate of what remained of these libraries as Jewish life was rebuilt after 1945 and Cold War politics took hold. Her research reveals that while restitution efforts recovered individual books, the libraries' role as a living, collective inheritance was lost for good.

None of the libraries in this book survive today, but Hołzer-Kawałko, a postdoctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, brings their stories back into view, and with them, valuable lessons about memory, loss and cultural survival.

Read more here: https://www.lbilondon.ac.uk/publications/german-jewish-cultures/german-jewish-libraries-after-holocaust

Anna Holzer-Kawałko German-Jewish Libraries After the Holocaust illuminates the final years of the long history of Jewish communal and institutional libraries in Germany. These valuable depositories, with centuries of history, heritage, and culture within their collections, played a vital role in t...

29/09/2026

On 5 October, the Wiener Holocaust Library hosts a book talk with Charlie Scheidt and Kat Rohrer on their new book, Inheritance: Love, Loss, and the Legacy of the Holocaust.

Drawing on letters and documents Scheidt found after his mother's death, the book follows two very different German-Jewish families, uprooted by the Holocaust and rebuilt across two continents. A reception and book signing will follow the talk.

The event is co-sponsored by the Wiener Holocaust Library, the Austrian Cultural Forum, LBI London and Rutgers University Press.

5 October, 3:00–4:30pm. Details here: lbilondon.ac.uk/events/book-love-loss

28/09/2026

We're pleased to share an upcoming event featuring Miriam Rürup, a valued member of LBI London's Editorial Board for our Schriftenreihe series and our Fellowship Advisory Board.

On Tuesday 29 September 2026, Miriam Rürup, Director of the Moses Mendelssohn Centre for European-Jewish Studies in Potsdam, joins journalist Dinah Riese from the taz for a digital lecture on statelessness and visions of belonging, part of the Jewish Museum Berlin's series "Human Rights as the Last Utopia? Migration and Jewish History."

The conversation explores what it means to be stateless in societies built on citizenship as the gateway to rights, protection, and political participation, examining how statelessness became, and remains, a mass phenomenon, and what this means for the people who live it. Drawing on Jewish migration history, the discussion considers the relationship between citizenship and human rights from both historical and utopian perspectives, and asks where openings for solidarity and change might still be found.

The event is free, held in English, and streamed live via YouTube on the taz and JMB channels.

More information: https://www.jmberlin.de/digital-lecture-staatenlosigkeit

25/09/2026

The second annual Eva Reichmann Lecture takes place on 25 October, with Mark Lilla, Professor of Humanities at Columbia University, opening the conference "Between Revolution and Reaction" at LBI New York. His lecture traces the intellectual roots of conservative and reactionary thought among German-Jewish thinkers, exploring how they framed modern society's problems as a break from earlier traditions of thought.

Named for historian and sociologist Eva Reichmann, who helped establish the Wiener Library in London, the lecture is free and open to all, streaming online.
25 October, 6:30pm EDT / 10:30pm UK time. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/live/49ha9ljLqYA

Supported by the Hans & Berthold Finkelstein Foundation.

newyork

24/09/2026

Our latest LBI Film Club screening is live today. Outsider. Freud (Yair Qedar, 2025), a poetic and award-winning documentary exploring Sigmund Freud's Jewish identity, marginalisation, and exile, is now available to watch free online, with the viewing link and password on our website.

The film has picked up 15 international awards, including the 2025 Gradiva Award for Best Documentary, and features insights from renowned Freud scholars and psychoanalysts, including Adam Phillips, Lisa Appignanesi, and George Makari.

You have until 30 September to catch it, so don't miss your chance.
Watch now: https://www.lbilondon.ac.uk/events/film-club/film-club-outsider-freud

Featured image 24 September 2026, 12:00AM - 30 September 2026, 11:59PM Google Yahoo! Outlook.com Office.com iCal / MS Outlook The Leo Baeck Institute London is pleased to invite you to another free online screening from the LBI Film Club, starting on Thursday 24th September 2026.  Our lat...

23/09/2026

The Leo Baeck Institute for the Study of the History and Culture of German-speaking Jewry is now inviting submissions for its 2028 Year Book Essay Prize.

The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, published by Oxford University Press, is a fully refereed journal covering all areas of German-Jewish history and culture. It has established itself as one of the leading publications in the field, appearing annually since 1956.

The Essay Prize was launched in 2011 with a clear aim: to encourage new research on the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry, and to support and promote early-career researchers working in the field. Entries may address any topic relating to German-speaking Central European Jewry, provided the essay maintains a clear focus on the German-Jewish dimension and context.

The winning entry will receive publication in the Year Book, a cash prize of £500, and a year’s free online subscription to the journal.

Full rules and details on how to enter are available on the LBI website: https://www.lbilondon.ac.uk/publications/yearbook/essay-prize

The closing date for submissions is 1 March 2027.

22/09/2026

The Leo Baeck Institute London is pleased to invite you to another free online screening from the LBI Film Club, starting this Thursday..

Our latest selection offers a fascinating and unconventional portrait of Sigmund Freud, exploring his Jewish identity, exile and the experiences of marginalisation that shaped his life and work:

Outsider. Freud
24th September – 30th September 2026

21/09/2026

Join us on 5 October at the Wiener Holocaust Library for a book talk with Charlie Scheidt and Kat Rohrer on their new book, Inheritance: Love, Loss, and the Legacy of the Holocaust.

The book traces two very different German-Jewish families, uprooted by the Holocaust and rebuilt across two continents, drawing on letters and documents Scheidt uncovered after his mother's death. The talk will be followed by a reception and book signing.

Co-sponsored by the Wiener Holocaust Library, the Austrian Cultural Forum, LBI London and Rutgers University Press.

5 October 2026, 3:00–4:30pm, Wiener Holocaust Library.

Full details: lbilondon.ac.uk/events/book-love-loss