Jewish Brazilian Post-Holocaust Fiction: The Body as a Source of Polymorphous Memory Discourse in Cíntia Moscovich’s Por que sou gorda, mamãe?

In this article, I propose a reading of the Brazilian novel Por que sou gorda, mamãe? (2006) through the prism of the body as an oblique signifier of polymorphous post-Holocaust memory discourse. I will be employing the idea of the “strange body” in the following, that is, an experience of estrangement that can arise from trauma-induced conflict or fracture and “is capable of testifying to complexes of social operations and realities well beyond not only a given subject, but also a given generation” (Atkinson 2017, 34). In Cíntia Mos­covich’s novel, this strange-bodiness is articulated through the uncanny presence of an obese Jewish female body; a body which bears witness to a subversive force of trauma and denounces the fascist ideology within the continuities of subtly intertwined European and Brazilian histories. European Jewish life in shtetlech, pogroms, exile, and the Holocaust merge not only with the Brazilian context of Jewish immigration, but also with the history of Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985).

Práticas educativas no ensino de História sobre Judeus/Judaísmo

The theme about Jewish immigration in Brazil gains relevance from the work of the History teacher with themes directly linked to the way of life, adaptation and the result of power relations exercised by the descendents of Jews settled in the city of Ponta Grossa-PR. The educational practices that underlie the teaching of History depend on the historian's ability to contextualize and make references to other themes of interest, in order to allow the student, when inserted in the context, to make readings according to the content of the proposed activities. In a second moment, subthemes such as identity, memory, religion and politics are approached, which interfere in the ways of acceptance by society about historical facts and/or perceptions around the identity of the Jewish community of immigrants and expatriates in Brazil. O tema da imigração judaica no Brasil ganha relevância com o trabalho do professor de História com temas directamente ligados ao modo de vida, adaptação e resultado das relações de poder exercidas pelos descendentes dos judeus instalados na cidade de Ponta Grossa-PR. As práticas educativas subjacentes ao ensino da História dependem da capacidade do historiador de contextualizar e fazer referências a outros temas de interesse, de modo a permitir ao aluno, quando inserido no contexto, fazer leituras de acordo com o conteúdo das actividades propostas. Num segundo momento, são abordados subtemas como identidade, memória, religião e política, que interferem nas formas de aceitação pela sociedade sobre factos históricos e/ou percepções em torno da identidade da comunidade judaica de imigrantes e expatriados no Brasil.

Making sense of the past to understand the present: Attributions for historical trauma predict contemporary social and political attitudes

Research indicates that the memory of collective trauma influences attitudes towards contemporary social and political issues. We suggest that the specific attributions for trauma that members of victim and perpetrator groups make provide a more nuanced understanding of this relationship. Thus, we constructed and validated a measure of attributions for the Holocaust. Then, we ran a preregistered study on representative samples in Germany ( N = 504) and Israel ( N = 469) to examine whether attributing the Holocaust to essentialist or contextual causes influences attitudes towards the immigration crisis and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Results indicated that, among Germans, attributing the Holocaust to German character was associated with positive attitudes to immigration via collective guilt. Among Israelis, attributions to German character were associated with negative attitudes to non-Jewish immigration, a hawkish stance in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, and pro-Israel attitudes via a sense of perpetual victimization. Results reveal how attributions about past trauma affect contemporary social and political attitudes among victims and perpetrators.

The British Role in Facilitating Jewish Immigration and Settlement in Jerusalem During the Period 1917 to 1930

The study dealt with the role played by the British authorities in supporting immigration and the Jewish settlement in the city of Jerusalem during the time period extending from 1917 to 1930, the study also dealt with the measures taken by Britain in this aspect since the beginning of the nineteenth century through the British occupation of Jerusalem in 1917 CE, and its issuance of laws and regulations that created conditions for Jewish settlement in the city of Jerusalem. The study concluded that Britain has an active role in pushing the march of Jewish immigration towards the city of Jerusalem and settlement in it.

The Peacebuilding Endeavours of Daniel Oliver and the Palestine Watching Committee in Mandate Palestine, 1930-48

This paper analyses the peacebuilding efforts of the official British Religious Society of Friends representative in Mandate Palestine, Daniel Oliver, and the Palestine Watching Committee (PWC). Previously unexamined documentation stored in the Friends House library and Haverford College archives details the extensive negotiations by Oliver and the PWC, which he co-founded, to influence British, Arab and Jewish senior political and royal officials. Combining individual and collective Quaker values concerning the Peace Testimony with a deep focus on British government colonial policies proved problematic. Internal fractions developed over the conduct of British forces in Palestine and the issue of Jewish immigration. Oliver defended the British government and continued to press for peace, demonstrating how patriotism significantly influenced his own spiritually guided message, while the PWC reduced its activities and became despondent over their lack of success and the decline of the Mandate.

Khusro’s Fateful Decision

The first decisive moment in the war came in winter 615–16, when Khusro rejected a grovelling plea for peace made by the Senate, based on terms discussed by Heraclius and Shahen at a summit meeting on the Bosporus in 615. This was tantamount to a decision to liquidate the Roman Empire, which made sense in the context of the threat posed by the Turkish khaganate in the east. The following five years saw the Persians take over Palestine (616), raid Asia Minor (617), and conquer Egypt (619). In Palestine they reintroduced controls on Jewish immigration into Jerusalem and designated the Ghassan their chief clients among the neighbouring Arab tribes.

The Dance Hall

Dances were an extremely popular entertainment for immigrants to New York around 1900, including eastern European Jews. Whether in commercial dance halls or neighborhood associations, dancing academies or saloons, writers identified dance spaces with youthful revelry and American capitalism. Yet this pursuit of fun and independence was a complicated endeavor, since leisure culture cost money at a time when working-class immigrants struggled to save their meager resources. Although dances promised romance and flirtation, they often also served as a reminder of the way American capitalist impulses complicated Jewish courtship and marriage patterns. Both Abraham Cahan (Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto, 1896) and Kadya Molodovsky (From Lublin to New York: Diary of Rivke Zilberg, 1942) depict American dance culture ambivalently, whether reflecting on the great wave of eastern European Jewish immigration to the United States from 1881–1924 or American Jewish responses to the Holocaust.