Lecture by Jan Láníček | Holocaust Survivors and Postwar Retribution

We would like to invite you to a lecture by Jan Láníček. It is a part of the series Trends in Contemporary Holocaust Research, organized by EHRI-CZ in collaboration with the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Date: 1 June 2026, 6 PM

Venue: OVK of the Jewish Museum in Prague

The retributive justice system in the Czech lands was among the strictest in postwar Europe. Among those who were held accountable for their wartime actions were those who had participated in the persecution of Jews and Roma. Due to the extraordinary nature of the retribution trials and the limited time available to investigators, survivors played a crucial role in initiating investigations and during the trials. The lecture will focus on the efforts of Jewish and Romani survivors to secure punishment for those who participated in the persecution of their families and communities. The aim is to shed light on the factors that influenced the survivors’ efforts and how the state administration responded to these efforts.

Dr. Jan Láníček is an Associate Professor of Modern European History and Jewish History at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. His research focuses on the history of the Holocaust in the Czech lands and the response to the persecution of Jews in Czech society. He is also working on a project concerning the global history of the Holocaust with a focus on Australia. The lecture is based on the forthcoming book The Holocaust on Trial: Survivors and the Postwar Retribution in the Bohemian Lands (planned for publication by the University of Nebraska Press).

Find more information: https://www.jewishmuseum.cz/program-a-vzdelavani/akce-pro-navstevniky/2130/