Jewish Life in the Baltic States, 1917-1945

Call for Applications

Monday, June 9 – Thursday, 12 2026

All application materials must be received by December 1, 2025. Please direct questions to iaprograms@ushmm.org.

Overview

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Vytautas Magnus University, and Sugihara Diplomats for Life Foundation are pleased to invite applications for an international conference entitled "Jewish Life in the Baltic States, 1917-1945”, scheduled for June 9-12, 2026, in Kaunas, Lithuania. The conference program is supported by the Kaunas Jewish Community and Kaunas IX Fort Museum.

Commemorating the 85th anniversary of the onset of the Holocaust in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, this conference brings together research on Jewish life in the Baltic states from the dissolution of the Russian Empire to the aftermath of World War II, with particular emphasis on the period immediately before and during the Holocaust. The program is especially addressed to early-career scholars (M.A. students through post-docs) who research Jewish life in the Baltic states within the time period.

Conference presentations will be accompanied by panel discussions with senior scholars, reflecting on developments in the field and providing key insights on professionalization. A cultural framework program will allow participants to engage with filmmakers, artists, and musicians who focus on Jewish life in the Baltic states. The program also includes excursions to places commemorating Jewish life and the unfolding of the Holocaust in and around Kaunas. 

Eligibility and Selection

Applications will be accepted from scholars ranging from M.A. students through post-docs. Applications are welcome from those who work in all relevant academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, geography, film studies, history, Jewish studies, law, literature, material culture, philosophy, political science, religion, sociology, and other fields.

Participants will be chosen by a Steering Committee consisting of representatives from the Mandel Center at the USHMM, the Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union at Yad Vashem, the Museum “Jews in Latvia,” Vytautas Magnus University, Vilnius University, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Binghamton University, and the Leibniz Institute of Contemporary History in Munich. Participants will have the opportunity to network and interact with representatives from the Steering Committee.

Participants will be expected to submit a finalized paper (no more than 5,000 words, excluding footnotes) two weeks prior to the beginning of the conference to their moderators.

Application Details

Applications must be submitted via our application form and consist of the following:

1. An online application form

2. A current Curriculum Vitae outlining the applicant’s qualifications (including research projects, presentations, and publications)

3. An abstract of no more than 500 words for your proposed paper (including title and discussion of methodological and theoretical issues, and a brief bibliography/sources)

All application materials must be received by December 1, 2025. Applications not completed by this date will not be considered.

Selected participants will be notified by February 2, 2026. 

Conference Organizers

The conference organizers are the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Vytautas Magnus University, and Sugihara Diplomats for Life Foundation. The Kaunas Jewish Community and Kaunas IX Fort Museum are participating as cooperating organizations.

The members of the steering committee include representatives from the following institutions:

• Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

• Vytautas Magnus University

• Sugihara Diplomats for Life Foundation

• International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem

• Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History

• Museum “Jews in Latvia”

• National Library of Lithuania

• Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University

• Binghamton University

The organizers will cover the cost of economy class flights and ground transportation to and from the conference, lodging for the conference’s duration and either a stipend for meals or actual meals during the program. Participants must obtain their own health insurance and visas, if relevant.

The conference will be conducted in English.

Questions should be directed to iaprograms@ushmm.org.

Steering Committee Organizers:

This conference has been made possible through the generosity of Sheila Johnson Robbins*, George D. Schwab, Selwyn Haas, and Arkady Suharenko and The Fund for the Study of the Holocaust in Lithuania.

* Deceased