A partnership with the Central Archives for the History
of the Jewish People from Jerusalem
by: Miško Stanišić
2020.08.30
In the frames of a broader strategy to strengthen international cooperation and exchange in the fields of Holocaust-related research and education, with a particular focus on Jewish life and culture before the Second World War and during its aftermath, and with aim to promote and amplify archival pedagogy in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with its long-term partner the NGO Terraforming from Novi Sad, the Archives of Vojvodina approached the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People from Jerusalem with a proposition for cooperation.
The first meeting was arranged online on 26th August, with participation of:
- Dr. Nebojša Kuzmanović, Director of the Archives of Vojvodina, in Novi Sad,
- Mr. Alexander Nikolić, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Serbia in Beersheba in Israel,
- Dr. Yochai Ben-Ghedalia, Director of the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, in Jerusalem,
- and as facilitator, Mr. Miško Stanišić, Director of Terraforming from Novi Sad.
It was a cordial and open conversation approached by both sides with sincere interest for finding suitable formats and opportunities for a mutually beneficiary cooperation.
Mr. Miško Stanišić introduced Dr. Ben-Ghedalia with the ongoing international project “The Holocaust, European Values and Local History” run by the Archives of Vojvodina and Terraforming, its goals and current activities, and suggested that the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People could join.
Dr. Ben-Ghedalia found the project concept and its aims very interesting, emphasizing that the workshops planned in the frames of the project would be very useful for his staff, too, in terms of professional development and gaining more knowledge about archival pedagogy.
Dr. Ben-Ghedalia also explained that in the same time the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People could contribute to the project a very much needed Jewish perspectives, as well as its knowledge, experiences and expertise, and last but not least, unique records and documentation preserved in the Archives in Jerusalem, with direct relevance to the ongoing research programs conducted in the archives across Vojvodina within the frames of the joint project. Dr. Ben-Gedalia pointed out that there are several collections in his Archive relevant for the history and culture of Jewish communities in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia before, and Yugoslavia after the Holocaust, as well as the records directly related to the Jewish individuals and communities in Serbia and the region of Vojvodina.
Mr. Alexander Nikolić emphasized the good relations between the Republic of Serbia and the State of Israel, and among others, latest achievements in the fields of culture, in particular the culture of remembrance, as well as the establishment of several new bridges and points of cooperation between institutions from two countries, with the Archives of Vojvodina being one of the most important generator of such initiatives. Mr. Nikolić underlined the importance of already existing understanding and support for such cooperation on governmental and diplomatic level in both countries, and used the opportunity to forward Israeli MFA Balkan Dpt. Manager, Ambassador Dan Oryan’s, best wishes and readiness for further assistance to the partnership.
Dr. Nebojša Kuzmanović was very pleased with the interest of the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People for joining the project “The Holocaust, European Values and Local History”. As a first step, the archivists from Jerusalem will be invited to participate the next webinar that will be arranged in the frames of the project in September. Also, we will coordinate with Dr. Ben-Gedalia about his participation in the expert panel in some of the coming events. Finally, we will continue this direct communication to further explore the ways of deepening this cooperation.
Our mutual goal is to intensify cooperation and exchange between our institutions exploring the ways for a long-term strategic partnership. In the coming months we will have more news about realization of this new partnership.
Additional information:
About the project “The Holocaust, European Values and Local History”: https://terraforming.org/local-archives-and-archival-pedagogy/
The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People: http://cahjp.nli.org.il/
Articles by Dr. Yochai Ben-Gedalia on the National Library of Israel’s blog: https://blog.nli.org.il/en/author/yochaib/