The Academic Director of the IEAS Represented the Institute at a Conference on Jewish Communities in the Former Soviet Union

On April 27-29, the Inter-University Centre in Dubrovnik, Croatia, hosted the international conference "Jewish Experiences and Post-Socialist Transitions, 1980s – 1990s." The conference was organized by the Nevzlin Research Center for Russian and East European Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Germany, with the support of the European Association for Jewish Studies (EAJS).

The conference gathered historians, sociologists, literary scholars, and cultural experts from Israel, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Romania, and other countries. The event addressed the complex history of Jews in Eastern, Central-Eastern, and Southeastern Europe from 1985 to 1995—a period defined by significant political, social, ideological, and cultural shifts, as well as conflict, violence, and displacement.

Among the speakers was Prof. Zeev (Vladimir) Khanin, Academic Director of the Institute for Euro-Asian Jewish Studies (the research and analytical initiative of the EAJC). His presentation, "Ideology, Community, and Migration: the 'Romantic Period' of the Organized Jewish Life Revival under Perestroika and Early Post-Soviet Periods (1987–1994)," analyzed the drivers and patterns underlying the resurgence of organized Jewish life on the eve of the collapse of the USSR and during the initial post-Soviet period.

Focusing on Jewish figures and communities during the decisive years of post-socialist transition, participants offered new comparative insights into the experiences, challenges, and transformation of Jewish life across the Soviet bloc and post-communist Europe.

Prof. Khanin's presentation drew considerable interest from the audience, as did his remarks during the concluding roundtable discussion. He emphasized the necessity of applying lessons from the "formative" stage of Jewish communal development in the 1990s to reconstruct disrupted communal infrastructure in light of the current military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He further called for a corresponding review of key strategic principles within the global Jewish arena—specifically regarding transnational Jewish organizations and regional umbrella bodies, such as the WJC and the EAJC, in their relations with post-Soviet Jewish communities.