Join us for the inaugural Eva Reichmann Lecture: Eva Reichmann: Witness, Historian, Legacy, co-hosted by the The Leo Baeck Institute London and The Wiener Holocaust Library.
This special event celebrates the legacy of Dr. Eva Reichmann, a pioneering historian whose ground-breaking work continues to shape our understanding of Nazi persecution and Holocaust historiography.
Dr Eva Reichmann, Director of Research at The Wiener Library from 1945 until 1959, was a prominent German historian and sociologist who fled Nazi Germany in 1939.
Born in 1897 in Upper Silesia, Reichmann grew up in a liberal Jewish home and was influenced by the family’s rabbi, Leo Baeck. She studied economics in Breslau, Berlin, Munich and Heidelberg where she earned a DPhil in 1921. She married the jurist Hans Reichmann in 1932. Reichmann became an expert for the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith.
Following Hans Reichmann’s release from Sachsenhausen after the events of Kristallnacht (the November Pogrom), the couple emigrated to Britain in 1939. Eva Reichmann’s research on Nazi antisemitism was published in 1950 as Hostages of Civilisation. From 1942-1943, Reichmann worked for the BBC’s German listening service, after which she became the Director of Research at The Wiener Library where she managed the ambitious project to collect more than 1,300 early eyewitness testimonies.
Programme
Welcome & Introduction: Dr. Joseph Cronin (Director, Leo Baeck Institute London) and Dr. Toby Simpson (Director, The Wiener Holocaust Library) will open the evening by reflecting on Eva Reichmann’s enduring connection to both institutions and the significance of the new lecture series.
Roundtable Discussion: An expert panel of scholars will explore Reichmann’s life, work, and impact:
- Christine Schmidt (Wiener Holocaust Library)
- Laura Jockusch (Brandeis University)
- Stephen Naron (Fortunoff Video Archive, Yale University)
- Natalia Aleksiun (University of Florida)
Topics will include Reichmann’s efforts to collect eyewitness accounts, her role in shaping Holocaust scholarship, and the contemporary relevance of her work in understanding antisemitism and historical memory.
Q&A Session (20–30 minutes)
Followed by light refreshments.
This event will be live-streamed and recorded. Attendance is free, but registration is required.
Virtual Event guidelines:
- The Library will send you a Zoom link and joining instructions via email prior to the event. Please check your junk email folders.
- Please try and join 5 minutes before the event start time and we will let you into the room (do try and bear with us if this takes a few minutes).
- If you would like to ask a question during the event, please type your question into the chat function, and we will endeavour to answer as many questions as possible during the Q&A. Your webcam will not be seen during this event.
This event is free, although registration via the link below is required. Please note that our free events are run by staff volunteers. Thank you for your patience should we have any technical or audio difficulties. We will do our best to correct them but this is not always possible.
