The three-day conference ‘Beyond Camps and Forced Labour: Current International Research on Survivors of Nazi Persecution’ is under way in London, running from 7–9 January 2026. Scholars, educators and archivists from around the world are examining the long-term experiences of those who survived Nazi persecution, including issues of displacement, memory and representation.
Taking place at Birkbeck, University of London, and The Wiener Holocaust Library, the event looks at the post-war lives of Jews, Roma and Sinti, political prisoners, forced labourers and other persecuted groups. Panels address themes such as testimony, intergenerational memory and new approaches in research and public history.
Last night delegates attended a reception at the German Embassy in London, where Germany’s ambassador to the UK, Susanne Baumann, stressed her country’s continuing responsibility to confront the legacy of National Socialism. Guests discussed current scholarship and the challenges of Holocaust education in an era of rising disinformation and dwindling survivor testimony.
Professor Dieter Steinert of the University of Wolverhampton reminisced about how the idea for the conference, first held in 2003, came about. Former Wiener Library director Ben Barkow read three poems from his collection Poetry After Auschwitz: Walking in West Cornwall with the Ghost of Great-Aunt Hilde, reflecting on family history and the echoes of trauma.
The conference is organised by:
- Joseph Cronin, Birkbeck, University of London / Leo Baeck Institute London
- Maria Castrillo Llamas, Imperial War Museums, London
- David Feldman, Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, University of London
- Éva Kovács, Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies, Vienna
- Andrea Löw, Center for Holocaust Studies at the Institute for Contemporary History, Munich
- Stephen Naron, Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University
- Christine Schmidt, The Wiener Holocaust Library, London
- Toby Simpson, The Wiener Holocaust Library, London
- Johannes-Dieter Steinert, University of Wolverhampton
- Dan Stone, Royal Holloway, University of London
https://www.lbilondon.ac.uk/events/conferences/beyond-camps-and-forced-…
