"The Joy We Forgot: Rethinking Polish Jewish Life," with Emma Zohar, Tel Aviv University
The history of Polish Jewry is often told through the lenses of antisemitism, poverty, politics, and the Holocaust. This lecture offers a different perspective by exploring how Polish Jews experienced pleasure through their homes, fashion, culinary culture, visits to cinemas, theaters, zoos, and amusement parks, as well as parties and vacations. It argues that even the history of a persecuted national minority can be understood through the prism of joy, and that shared experiences of pleasure played a significant role in forging Jewish collective identity and a sense of belonging in interwar Poland.
Dr. Emma Zohar is a historian of modern Jewish history specializing in the social and cultural history of East European Jewry and the history of emotions. She is Director of the Jewish Project Management Program at the Koret Center for Jewish Civilization at Tel Aviv University and Editor-in-Chief of Yalkut Moreshet: Journal for the Study of the Holocaust and Antisemitism. Zohar is the author of Polish Pleasure: Jewish Enjoyment in Independent Poland, which explores leisure, emotions, and everyday life among Polish Jews.
Katie Jenio
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