Auschwitz Jewish Center Fellows

The Auschwitz Jewish Center Fellows Program is a three week study trip for students who are matriculated in graduate programs or are completing undergraduate degrees in 2020 in Holocaust studies and related fields. The Fellowship will offer up to four Faculty Fellowships in 2020. These Fellowships will be for faculty who teach the Holocaust in any discipline but have not made its history their primary area of study.

 Program dates are still tentative but are anticipated to be June 28 – July 20, 2020

Students of all faiths and ethnicities with an interest in Holocaust studies, Jewish Studies, Polish-Jewish history, memory, or human rights are strongly encouraged to apply. The program covers all costs, including international travel, lodging, room and board, and materials, except travel to the program’s start in New York City.

The AJC Fellows Program provides a unique educational opportunity to learn about the Holocaust in situ in the context of Poland’s history and Jewish heritage. It is the goal of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Fellows Program that Fellows gain not only knowledge of the Holocaust sites they visit, but also an understanding of the legacy of the Holocaust in Poland, its effects on collective memory, and complexities surrounding such categories as victim, bystander, and perpetrator.

After a brief orientation in New York City, the Fellows travel in Poland for three weeks, during which time they visit Kraków, Warsaw, Łódź, Treblinka, and Oświęcim (Auschwitz). The Fellows travel to small towns in the regions surrounding Warsaw and Kraków, as well as through south-eastern Poland to explore the area’s rich Jewish heritage and meet with local leaders to learn about pre-war Jewish life, life under the Nazi occupation and Communism, and the state of Jewish communities and memory in Poland today.

In Oświęcim, the Fellows attend an intensive program at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum where they tour the camps; learn about how the State Museum presents the history of Jewish, Roma, and Polish inmates; and take part in workshops introducing them to the collections and education programs of the State Museum. While in Oświęcim, the Fellows may have the opportunity to meet European students and observe educational workshops at the Auschwitz Jewish Center.

Upon returning home, each Fellow will write an essay reflecting on his or her experience. Selected essays will be published in the Center’s annual journal, Reflections. The 2017 edition can be viewed here.

Applicants are chosen for their focus in the field, academic achievements, and likelihood of academic and professional success. To learn more about past Fellows, bios of recent cohorts can be found here: 2017 and 2018.

The application for the 2020 AJC Fellows Program is available at mjhnyc.org/ajc2020.
The application is due on January 13, 2020. Application information for Faculty Fellows is below.

Please contact Yael Friedman at AJC@mjhnyc.org with any questions.

Faculty Fellows

The Fellowship will offer Faculty Fellowships in 2020. These Fellowships will be for faculty who teach the Holocaust in any discipline but have not made its history their primary area of study. The Auschwitz Jewish Center Fellows Program – Faculty Fellowship is open to professors of all faiths. 

The cost of the program is $5,000 per person, which includes all hotel rooms in single accommodations, meals in New York, materials, international airfare, internal travel in Poland, and entrance fees. The majority of meals in Poland are not included in the syllabus and are not provided.  Past Faculty Fellows have funded their participation through university and department grants and travel funding. If you’d like to speak with previous Faculty Fellows, please let Yael Friedman know at AJC@mjhnyc.org.

The application is available at https://mjhnyc.wufoo.com/forms/ajc-fellows-program-faculty-fellows-2020/.
The application deadline is February 10, 2020. Candidates will be informed of their status by March 9, 2020.

This program is supported in part by a generous grant from the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture.