Call for Papers IHRS and HL-Senteret Conference 2026
by karin.kvist.geverts＠ihrs.se
Call for Papers:
Survivors of the Holocaust. Testimonies, Experiences, Narratives
Stockholm, 12 March 2026
The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies (HL-senteret), Norway, and the Institute for Holocaust research in Sweden (IHRS) cordially invites scholars, curators and educators in the field of Holocaust Studies and Education to the conference Survivors of the Holocaust. Testimonies, Experiences, Narratives in Stockholm.
Although 2025 marks 80 years since the end of the war, to many survivors the Holocaust never ended but continued as an ongoing trauma which they processed throughout their lives. Testimonies were collected already during and after the war, and also later in several collections by for instance the Shoah Foundation, Yad Vashem and Wiener Holocaust Library. In the 2026 conference the IHRS and the HL-Senteret focuses on the survivors and their ongoing survival. This can also include the documentation and testimonies which survived while the authors did not.
We are happy to announce that Professor Malin Thor Tureby of Malmö University will give the keynote entitled “From Milk Cans to Holograms. The Survivors and the Making of Nordic Holocaust Historiography and Public Memory", reflecting on how Holocaust survivors have contributed to documenting and remembering the Holocaust during the last 80 years in a Nordic Context.
We welcome proposals reflecting on the Holocaust from the perspective of the victims, primarily using testimonies but also secondary sources, focusing on surviving deportation and camp imprisonment but also experiences of refuge and exile in Sweden, testimonies and narratives of children who survived in hiding in Norway and Denmark. We welcome proposals which reflects on the early post-war experiences of returning “home” and the afterlives, building a new life dealing with the trauma of the Holocaust. Finally, we welcome proposals on how the testimonies, stories and memories from the survivors can be used in research and how the stories of the Holocaust will be re-told when the survivors are no longer with us, reflecting on for instance the role of children and grandchildren of survivors re-telling family stories, ethical issues, choices of genre, the role of digital technology etc. Our primary focus is the Nordic countries.
We welcome paper presentations or poster options. The paper should present new and original research, whereas the poster could present best practices on how to use artefacts or testimonies relevant to the theme. If you wish to present a paper or a poster, please submit an abstract of 150-200 words and a short bio to the Director of IHRS on e-mail karin.kvist.geverts(a)ihrs.se. Deadline for submission of abstracts is August 31. Confirmation of accepted abstracts will be given end of September. The conference is free of charge. Travel expenses and lodging will be covered for presenters.
On behalf of the organizing institutions,
Professor Jan Heiret Senior Lecturer Lars M Andersson
Director of the HL-senteret Chair of the IHRS
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Karin Kvist Geverts
Docent i historia och föreståndare/Associate professor and Director
Svenska institutet för Förintelseforskning
The Institute for Holocaust Research in Sweden (IHRS)
Phone: +46708990014
E-mail: karin.kvist.geverts(a)ihrs.se
Website: www.ihrs.se<http://www.ihrs.se>
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