Kolozsvar Holocaust: 1944 Kolozsvar during 1940-1945, and Cluj before and after, this city, the capital of Transylvania, was deeply affected by the Holocaust. Prior to WWII, it was a hub of cultural activity, led by a cadre of Jewish professionals, artists and academics, who wore their Magyarized identity with pride, and imagined this identity to be protective under the fascist, Nazi leaning governance of the Horthy regime. Operation Margharete, the Nazi invasion of Hungary, brought this to an end on March 19th, 1944 and on May3rd the Jewish population ghettoized and then deported on six trains from May 25th till June9th. Some evaded deportation, by escaping over the border to Romania, by utilizing false identities and hiding, or surviving in the Jewish Labor Force, and by 1945, started to return from the camps. This paper analyses the factors which were most in play during the Spring of 1944, offering detailed insight into how the population was tragically decimated by deportations to Auschwitz. In addition, the various means of escape and evasion, the behavior of the general population and the functions of the Jewish Council are scrutinized. Some new population statistics and models are introduced and shed light on elements previous historiography has omitted.

This study examines the student cohorts of the Haifa University International School departments of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies. Specifically addressed will be subject content that is not directly named or expressed within the curricula of courses offered, but nonetheless constitutes approximately 25%-30% of student course time. These are experientially guided encounters dispersed throughout the multiple courses offered, but while unique, this aspect of learning has hitherto remained unidentified, not quantitated, nor in any manner recognized as a significant teaching and learning experience. Underlying the students' encounter with these programs are issues of culture and identity. One way of saying this would be, the study of a moment when Jewish [Israel] peoplehood meets a transnational peoplehood. One of the basic elements guiding the study is the long held belief and conviction that Israel is the land of the Jews from Biblical times onward. Thus the visiting of many sites, monuments, landmarks and even settlements-old and new-is a uniquely different experience from similar activities in other programs and other countries. Here in these study programs which are all within the scope of the discipline of history, the students gain a palpable encounter with their subject matter and during their stay in Israel they are experiencing an annual cycle of holidays and festivals that conform to biblical history as well as the nation building narrative of their host land.

Yad Vashem as one of the first diaries produced by this institution. The English translation was printed 10 years later, in 1974. Since the latter publication appeared, there has been a debate among scholars regarding the authenticity of the diary, especially because it remained in the hands of the mother and her husband, a well-known Hungarian writer Béla Zsolt, all these years. Some suspected that Zsolt might have had a part in refining the work to ensure its publishing success. The work has been out of print for decades, but less than two years ago, it was reprinted in its original Hungarian form in Budapest. The present case study compares the various versions and attempts to show that what appears, as having been altered by a renowned author is actually the result of a well-intentioned translation. The diaries contain some differences, attributable to translation, resulting in subtle alterations. Hungarian is a synthetic and therefore more laconic language than English. Even the best translation may inadvertently affect historiographical interpretation as well as the moral conclusions of the text. Moreover, the idiomatic structure of the average Hungarian's speech, and its simple, colloquial style present an additional challenge to direct translation. This diary may be a singular case of linguistic manipulation, but its implications are relevant on a much wider scale, especially when examining the writings of young victims. Alexandra Zapruder has pointed at a general tendency to elevate young victims' writings to a moral higher ground, specifically because of a desire to present them in a favorable light. Linguistic transmutation is a mechanism that may alter the original content and context. This paper wishes to draw attention to this device, especially when the original works are subjected to representation.

Tiny by physical size, the State of Israel retains some of the world’s most important cultural treasures, along with many other great cultural institutions. Archeological treasures have yielded much information as far as biblical history and have been well adapted to a Zionist narrative by both the Jewish press and international news organizations, such as the New York Times whose archives are replete with reports of Jewish history being dug up by the Jewish people. Once the State of Israel gained independence in 1948, the course was set for the development of historical museums whose discourse would reflect the most significant events in Jewish history, most especially the Holocaust and the state of constant warfare that continues to imbue the cultural consciousness of its citizens. In this paper we outline, through categorization, the various historical museums, which are currently operating. Furthermore, this article hopes to shed some light upon the cultural sensibilities conveyed through these institutions.