Donnerstag, 8. Mai 2014, 17:30 - 19:00

Dachfoyer des Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchivs 1010 Wien, Minoritenplatz 1

Unlike the common notion, the fact is that on the eve of World War II most of the European Jews were NOT Zionists. However six years later, by the end of that war, most of them, now survivors of the Holocaust, chose to leave Europe and to immigrate to Palestine, later the state of Israel. Between the years 1945 – 1960 more than 500,000 survivors arrived to Israel. At the beginning of the 1960's one of every four Israelis was a survivor: The lecture will try to tell their story. It is an unprecedented one in the history of worldwide immigrations. It is the story of newcomers who came wounded, often traumatized, by one of the major horrors human kind had ever known, and became the backbone of their newly acquired society and state.

The lecture will draw their demographic profile, their human choices after the Holocaust, the many roads they took on their way to integrate into the Israeli society as well as the deep impact they left on Israeli culture and identity.

Hanna Yablonkais affiliated with the History Department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Her research has focused on the cultural and social impact of the Shoah on Israeli society. Today she is the Chair of the Israel Studies department. Among her many affiliations she currently is a member of the Yad Vashem Counsel and was the academic advisor of Yad Vashem's exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. Hanna Yablonka is the chair of Governors of the Memorial Museum of the Hungarian Speaking Jewry in Safed and the Historian of the Ghetto Fighters Museum. Hanna Yablonka is the author of over 40 scientific articles, the editor of four books, and the author of several books including: Survivors of the Holocaust (1999), The History of the War Veterans Association (1999), The State of Israel vs. Adolf Eichmann (2004), The Mizrahim and the Shoah (2008).

Wegen des "Festes der Freude" ausnahmsweise geänderte Beginnzeit!

Die Veranstaltung wird rechtzeitig zum Beginn des "Festes der Freude" am Heldenplatz beendet werden.