For the second time in three years, the annual conference of WHISC – the Women in the Holocaust International Study Center is being organized in partnership with ShoahLab, the Holocaust Studies Laboratory of the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. This year’s conference, titled Lives Worth Living: The Untold Stories, will take place from October 20 to 22, 2025, at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory in Belgrade. The conference seeks to encourage scholarly dialogue and debate on the divides, connections, and intersections within Holocaust and gender studies, with particular attention to women’s lives and struggles during the Holocaust. Special emphasis will be placed on research into the experiences of women in Yugoslavia, a subject still underrepresented in international academic discourse.

The conference will gather approximately 30 scholars from France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, and the United States, offering a valuable opportunity to exchange academic perspectives, present research findings, and establish new collaborations in the field of Holocaust studies. Over the course of three days, seven carefully curated panels will address topics such as gendered violence, women as doctors during the Holocaust, personal testimonies and life stories, resistance, women in captivity, and women’s artistic and cultural expressions shaped by their Holocaust experiences.

Monday, 20/10/2025

11:00-11:30 Conference opening

11:30-12:15 Keynote lecture (The Palace of Science)

• Milovan Pisarri, Research Fellow, Claims Conference University Partnership in Holocaust Studies Lecturer, “The Liberation of Belgrade“

12:45-14:15 Panel I: Gendered Violence

Chair: Batya Brutin

• Lily Halpert Zamir, David Yellin College, Israel, WHISC

“Enemy or Ally? The Female Body: Gendered Violence – From Scripture to the Holocaust and October Seventh”

• Larissa-Marie Lömpel, University of Haifa, Israel

“Gendered Dimensions of Sexualized Violence in Auschwitz: A Comparative Analysis of Male and Female Experiences”

• Jovana Savić, University of Belgrade, Serbia

“The Voice of Silence: The Novels of Aleksandar Tišma as Testimonies to the Trauma of Forced Prostitution during the Holocaust”

14:30-16:00 Panel II: Women as Doctors

Chair: Dragana Stojanović

• Naomi Kojen, Moshe David Gaon Center for Ladino Culture, Belgrade, Serbia

“Honor the Doctor for Her Service: Life and Legacy of Dr. Roza Papo”

• Victoria Van Orden Martínez, Lund University, Sweden

“”Being a physician was my gun against the Germans’ – Three Jewish Women Doctors During the Holocaust”

• Yoel Yaari, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

“A Doctor in Hell: Enna Weiss and the Ethics of Survival in Auschwitz”

Tuesday, 21/10/2025

10:00-11:30 Seminar: Women’s Stories I

Chair: Lily Halpert Zamir

• Francis-Romeo Behnemann, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany

“Noemi Munkacsi – An Educator dedicated to the survival of Jewish Cultures”

• Tamir Hod, Tel Hai – University on A Rise, Israel

“Miriam Radiwker and the Israeli Police Unit for Investigating Nazi Crimes”

• Katarzyna Taczyńska, Institute of Slavic Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

“’Why is this night different from all other nights?’ Miriam Steiner Aviezer Between Yugoslavia and Israel”

12:00-13:30 Seminar: Women’s Stories II

Chair: Verena Meier

• Marija Ratković, PhD Candidate at the University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia

“Zeugin aus der Hölle and Gorke trave by Frida Filipović: Écriture féminine as a Strategy for Speaking the Unspeakable”

• Natalija Perišić, University of Belgrade, Serbia

“Olga Alkalaj – Screams and Whispers of a Jewish Woman’s Resistance“

• Gideon Greif, Ono Academic Center, Israel, ECPD Belgrade, Serbia

“’Francesca’ – A Courageous Woman”

15:00-17:00 Panel III: Resistance

Chair: Krinka Vidaković Petrov

• Avishag Ben Shalom, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

“Between Identity and Memory: World War II, Two Sephardic Women in the Resistance Movement and Two Nations Remembering Them – The Cases of Olga Alkalaj and Rena Abarbanel”

• Verena Meier, University of Heidelberg, Germany

“Letters to the Nazi-Regime Between Resistance and ‘Madness’”

• Alessandro Matta, Association Memorial of the Shoah, Sardegna

“Sardinian Saviors’ Women During the Holocaust, Between Resistance and Genocide”

• Galyna Kutsovska, Uppsala University, Sweden

“Endurance, Defiance, Resilience, or Resistance: Survival Strategies of Jewish Women During the Holocaust in Kharkiv”

• Miri Nehari, Independent Researcher, Israel

“Women Trailblazers in the Bricha Movement”

Wednesday, 22/10/2025

12:30-14:00 Panel IV: Women in Captivity

Chair: Andrija Mihajlov

• Boris Czerny, University of Caen, France

“Jewish Women in Brest-Litovsk: An Attempt to Reconstruct Daily Life in the Ghetto (1941-1942)“

• Eileen Groth Lyon, The State University of New York, Fredonia, USA

“Life Lived in Honor of Jehovah Witnesses at Ravensbrück”

• Michelle Damm, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany

“Researching Forced Labor in the Ziegenhain Women’s Prison: A Preliminary Report“

16:30-18:15 Panel V: Art and Culture

Chair: Milica Damjanović

• Batya Brutin, Beit Berl Academic College and WHISC

“Female Artists Depict Women and Femininity in the Holocaust”

• Yvonne Kozlovsky Golan, University of Haifa, Israel

“Screening Trauma: Representations of Young Female Sexual Abuse during the Holocaust in Israeli Media Culture between Reality and Myth“

• Ivana Drenjanin Soppe, Akademy Ateneum Gdansk, Poland

“Writing Against Oblivion: Women’s Literary Testimonies of the Holocaust”

• Dragana Stojanović, University of Belgrade, Serbia

“(Un)covering Women’s Lives in Holocaust Memorial Monuments in Serbia: an (In)visible Heritage”