Dr. Eugenia Mihalcea

Professional Background

Eugenia Mihalcea is a researcher at the “Theodor Herzl” Center for Israeli Studies at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) in Bucharest. She also teaches courses related to the Holocaust as a Claims Conference University Partnership in Holocaust Studies Lecturer at SNSPA. She holds a PhD and a master's degree in Holocaust studies from the University of Haifa, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Jewish studies from the University of Bucharest. Dr. Mihalcea coordinates a research project at the “Theodor Herzl” Center for Israeli Studies at SNSPA that examines the rise of antisemitism in the Euro-Atlantic world over recent years. Additionally, she participates in another research project organized by the University of Haifa, which focuses on public memory of the Holocaust in contemporary Europe.

Dr. Mihalcea’s research has received support from several institutions, including Yad Vashem, the Azrieli Foundation, and the Claims Conference Saul Kagan Fellowship in Advanced Holocaust Studies. This support has enabled her to visit archives in Israel, Germany, the United States, and Romania. Her research utilizes a diverse range of sources, including official documents and personal correspondence in multiple languages such as Romanian, Hebrew, German, French, English, and Spanish.

Fellowship Research

While at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a Matthew Family Fellow, Eugenia Mihalcea will conduct research on the repatriation of Jewish survivors from Transnistria and their reintegration into postwar Romanian society. She examines their social, political, and economic struggles to elucidate how the fight for political power in Romania, war crimes trials, and emigration to Israel were significant events affecting Jews’ reintegration. 

Dr. Mihalcea intends to use archival collections from the Securitate Archives and the Romanian National Archives, among others. She will also explore the Museum’s extensive collection of oral histories, family questionnaires from the World Jewish Congress, and postwar interviews conducted with Holocaust survivors by the Jewish Democratic Committee’s Association of Widows and War Orphans (IOVR).

Residency Period: January 1, 2026–August 31, 2026