Public opinion and the press (taken in a broad sense to include newspapers, radio broadcasts, pamphlets, leaflets, etc.) became major actors of the world since WWI. Their significance can hardly be underestimated. After the first British and American research on the subject, in the late 1960s, and a couple of other scattered case studies that were published from the 1980s on, it was only recently (2023) that a Guide to Holocaust sources finally included a chapter on “Contemporary Newspapers as Sources for Approaching Holocaust Study.”This conference aims to contribute to a more comprehensive and all-encompassing understanding of the Holocaust by discussing how the European press covered nazi anti-Semitism and the Holocaust from a comparative historical perspective.

Argument

Public opinion and the press (taken in a broad sense to include newspapers, radio broadcasts, pamphlets, leaflets, etc.) became major actors of the world since WWI. Their significance can hardly be underestimated. As the American journalist Robert W. Desmond wrote at the very beginning of a book on The Press and World Affairs in 1937, “the press not only reports the history of the world, day by day, but helps to make it.” Surprisingly, however, the press continues to remain only a secondary (and neglected) source of information in Holocaust research. After the first British and American research on the subject, in the late 1960s, and a couple of other scattered case studies that were published from the 1980s on, it was only recently (2023) that a Guide to Holocaust sources finally included a chapter on “Contemporary Newspapers as Sources for Approaching Holocaust Study.”

To be sure, the press plays a double role as a valuable source of information about the period: it disseminated mass information and purported to influence public opinion (the numerous historical studies on propaganda testify to the awareness of its importance), while at the same time it mirrors the multitude of public voices and opinions that were locally available and willing to polemically interact on.

This conference aims to contribute to a more comprehensive and all-encompassing understanding of the Holocaust by discussing how the European press covered nazi anti-Semitism and the Holocaust from a comparative historical perspective.

The conference welcomes paper proposals from a broad range of disciplines dealing with:

• The flow of information in European countries about the anti-Semitic violence ongoing in Germany and occupied Europe;
• The knowledge available to public opinion on the genocide that took place during the war;
• The role of news agencies on the dissemination and exchange of (dis)information regarding the Holocaust;
• The constructing and desconstructing of anti-Semitic stereotypes and prejudices during the period;

We especially encourage the participation of younger scholars at the beginning of their careers. Selected papers will be published.

Submission guidelines

• Working language of the conference: English
• Please submit a paper abstract of 300 words (in English) and a short CV (no more than 250 words long) to claudia.sn@fcsh.unl.pt

before 2 September 2024

Calendar

• Submission deadline: 2 September 2024
• Notification of Acceptance: 16 September 2024

Organisation committee

• Cláudia Ninhos (IHC — NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST)
• Fernando Clara (NOVA FCSH)