Leo Baeck Institute London

On BBC World Service’s Weekend programme, Kinga Bloch spoke about the Library of Lost Books – a project by the Leo Baeck Institutes in London and Jerusalem to trace the fate of books taken from the Higher Institute for Jewish Studies in Berlin after its closure in 1942.

Rather than destroy Jewish libraries, the Nazis used them for their own ideological research. Today, volunteers worldwide are helping to map where these books ended up and to recover their stories.

🎧 Listen here (from 44:35): https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172zw87qd6f3w5 

We’re delighted to share that our Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Monja Stahlberger, has a new article in the Leo Baeck Institute Year Book:

‘I so wanted to be English’: Constructing Identity and Belonging in the Diaries and Memoirs of Kindertransport Refugees

The article explores how Kindertransport refugees reflected on identity, belonging, and memory across their lifetimes – showing that their experiences went far beyond narratives of simple assimilation.

Read it online (paid access): https://doi.org/10.1093/leobaeck/ybaf011 

The Leo Baeck Institute for the Study of the History and Culture of German-speaking Jewry is inviting submissions for its 2027 Year Book Essay Prize. The Leo Baeck Institute Year Book is a fully refereed Oxford University Press journal covering all areas of history and culture. A leading journal in the field, the Year Book has appeared annually since 1956.

The Essay Prize was established in 2011 to stimulate new research on the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry, and to promote young researchers in the field. The essay can be on any topic relating to German-speaking Central European Jewry, and should have a clear focus on the German-Jewish dimension and context.

To mark 70 years of the Leo Baeck Institute, German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk has aired a special feature on its programme Schalom. Jüdisches Leben heute (‘Shalom: Jewish life today’), which offers an engaging portrait of the Institute’s international impact and evolving mission.

Moderated by Micha Guttmann, the broadcast brings together voices from across the LBI’s global network – including Michael Brenner (International President), Doron Rabinovici (keynote speaker at the Berlin anniversary event), and Mirjam Bistrovic (Head of the Berlin Office).

We are very pleased to announce the addition of 100+ Synagogen in Deutschland by Alex Jacobowitz to the LBI London Library. Published by Hentrich & Hentrich in June 2025, this German-language work documents over a hundred synagogues in Germany through photos, historical insights, and the stories of those who keep them alive.

As LBI London Director Dr Joseph Cronin notes, “This book is a significant resource for understanding the resilience and diversity of Jewish communities in Germany.”

Please enjoy these photos of the book, taken by Alice Riegler. We are grateful for this valuable contribution to our collection.

As part of my postdoctoral research into transnational German-Jewish identity, I recently had the opportunity to explore the collections of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC). The VHEC houses a remarkable archive of personal papers, diaries, photographs, and memoirs, offering invaluable insights into the lived experiences of German-Jewish refugees and their descendants.

Last week, the Leo Baeck Institute London hosted a high-level academic workshop centred on a forthcoming monograph by historian and LBI London board member Professor Abigail Green (University of Oxford). Tentatively entitled Children of 1848, the book is an international history of Jewish liberal activism told through families.

Leading historians – including Ruth Harris, Ira Katznelson, Robert Gildea, Adam Sutcliffe, and Derek Penslar – came together at the Institute’s Bloomsbury offices for a day of discussion on the legacy of the 1848 revolutions and their place in modern European history.

The Leo Baeck Institute London held a Fellowship Seminar at Birkbeck, University of London, on 1 and 2 July 2025. The event brought together doctoral fellows and scholars to discuss research in German-Jewish history and culture.

The Leo Baeck Institute London is pleased to announce Angelina Palmén as the winner of the 2026 LBI Year Book Essay Prize for her essay, Rethinking the Jewish Public Sphere: The Case of the Imperial German Trade Journal Der Confectionair. Palmén’s work was published in the 2025 edition of the Leo Baeck Institute Year Book.

The Leo Baeck Institute London is honoured to receive a donation of four books from the personal library of Pauline Paucker, widow of the late Dr Arnold Paucker, who served as Director of LBI London from 1959 to 2001.

These books carry a remarkable connection to the Institute’s origins: several are signed by Robert Weltsch, founding director of LBI London and the driving force behind the establishment of its original library collection. 

The donated books are: