Dr Hannah Holtschneider (FHEA)
Senior Lecturer in Jewish Studies, Director of Research

- School of Divinity
Contact details
- Tel: +44 131 650 8933
- Email: h.holtschneider@ed.ac.uk
- Web: Blog
Address
- Street
-
School of Divinity, Mound Place
- City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH1 2LX
Availability
By appointment.
Background
Hannah Holtschneider joined the University of Edinburgh in 2005, following a post-doctoral fellowship at the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations and the University of Cambridge. She is a cultural historian of twentieth-century Jewish history, with a particular focus on the consequences of the Holocaust, Jewish identities, and Jewish/non-Jewish relations.
Hannah is the author of 'The Holocaust and Representations of Jews: History and Identity in the Museum' (Routledge 2011), 'German Protestants Remember the Holocaust: Theology and the Construction of Collective Memory' (Lit. Verlag 2001), and 'Jewish Orthodoxy in Scotland: Rabbi Dr Salis Daiches and Religious Leadership' (EUP 2019), as well as numerous articles . Recently, she was PI of a major AHRC-funded project on Jewish migration to Scotland (2015-2018).
Qualifications
MPhil (Trinity College Dublin, 1995).
PgDip (University of Oxford, 1996).
PhD (University of Birmingham, 2000).
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (since 2003).
Responsibilities & affiliations
School of Divinity Director of Research (2021- )
Founding co-convenor of the Edinburgh Jewish Studies Network.
Affiliate member of the Centre for the Study of Modern and Contemporary History.
External Roles
Founding committee Member of British Association for Holocaust Studies.
Co-editor of Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History.
Member of the Weinstein Holocaust Symposium, held biannually at Wroxton College, Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Undergraduate teaching
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DIVI10015 Jews and Non-Jews: Co-existence, Conflict, Co-operation
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DIVI10014 The Holocaust in History and Culture
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DIVI10016 Religion and Ethics in Literature
Postgraduate teaching
- BIST11028 Literature and Religion: Exploring the Connections
- DIVI11036 Jews and Non-Jews: Co-existence, Conflict, Co-operation (PG)
- DIVI11037 The Holocaust in History and Culture (PG)
- DIVI11042 Issues of Religion and Ethics in Literature
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
I welcome applications from students with a strong academic background in Jewish Studies or another relevant Humanities discipline.
My own expertise primarily lies in the following areas:
- modern Jewish cultural history with a focus on Germany and the UK
- Jewish migration, religion and culture
- Holocaust history, representation and memorialisation
- Jewish/non-Jewish relations in modern Europe
In addition to these areas of expertise, joint supervision with colleagues in other Subject Areas in the School of Divinity is possible, as well as co-supervision arrangements with colleagues in other Schools of the University. For a list of staff with a research interest in Jewish Studies, see the Edinburgh Jewish Studies Network webpage. The Jewish Studies Network offers opportunities for graduate students to network within the University of Edinburgh, and with staff and students at other Scottish and northern English universities, and participate in a series of events across the academic year.
For more information please see the Jewish Studies research area page.
Current PhD students supervised
- Claire Aubin, From Treblinka to Trenton: Holocaust perpetrators as immigrants to the United States (principal supervisor 70%, Iain Lauchlan 30%)
- Samuel Jacobs, Yoel Teitelbaum and Haredi Jewish identity in relation to the State of Israel (principal supervisor 70%, Joshua Ralston 30%)
- Elisa Koch, Fragile Bodies, Fragile Boundaries: A Comparative Theological Approach to Vulnerability (assistant supervisor 30%, Ulrich Schmiedel 70%)
Past PhD students supervised
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Sophie Bayer, PhD Religious Studies 2023 (joint supervisor)
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Katarina Ockova, PhD Social Anthropology 2019, (assistant supervisor).
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Lizzy Robinson-Self, PhD German Studies 2019 (assistant supervisor).
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Louise Gramstrup, PhD Religious Studies 2017 (principal supervisor).
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Ryan Tafilowski, PhD Theology 2017 (principal supervisor).
- Katie Leggett, PhD Theology 2014 (assistant supervisor).
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Sami Helewa, PhD Religious Studies, 2012 (principal supervisor).
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Ritske Rensma, PhD Religious Studies, 2008 (assistant supervisor).
- Clare Dowling-Macdonad, MSc by Research, Theology 2015 (principal supervisor).
- Maria Güther, MSc by Research, Cultural Studies 2013 (assistant supervisor).
- Konrad Matyjaszek, MSc by Research, Architecture 2012 (co-supervisor).
Research summary
I am a cultural historian of contemporary Jewish history. The focus of my work is the Shoah / Holocaust and its aftermath, particularly the long-term effect of the Holocaust on families, and the representation of the Holocaust and Jews in a variety of cultural media. My wider research interests include early twentieth century Jewish history in Britain and Germany, and Jewish migration history.
Current Research
Personal Archives and Holocaust Historiography
The discovery of the large family archive of Dorrith Sim, née Oppenheim, at the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre is at the heart of this project. The collection extends from the late eighteenth century into the present and contains genealogical information, letters, poetry, recipes, photographs, medical instruments, clothing, medals, cutlery and other ephemera and material objects. The Dorrith Sim Collection is an example of the personal collections which are increasingly coming to light as the generation of refugees and survivors dies and their descendants engage with what is left behind. In this project, I explore whether collections such as that of the Oppenheim family, offer the opportunity to uncover a distinctive perspective on the events of the Holocaust which is seen neither in macro-histories where letters may appear as illustrations of larger processes, nor in post-war testimony which remembers and narrates rescue efforts with hindsight. What is the value of such collections for wider historiographical debates within Holocaust Studies? How does such material relate to other contemporary sources, and to testimony given much later? Do they matter beyond footnotes and illustrations?
Contemporary Jews and Judaism (contracted to Routledge’s Religions in Focus series)
This book explores varieties of Jewish lived realities across the globe at different times. The study of religion is introduced through the study of Jews, uniting a focus on case studies of Jewish culture and religion in particular contexts with reflection on approaches to studying these in the framework of the field of religious studies. Contemporary Jews and Judaism takes a novel approach to the presentation and analysis of Judaism by beginning in the midst of the messiness of the everyday life of Jewish people. From this unique vantage point, more akin to the work of ethnography and anthropology, an analytical framework is developed to allow the interpretation of that which is witnessed. The student of religious studies will thus begin to understand the interplay between the lived reality of a religious tradition and its academic study, by testing both: their ability to access the actuality of a lived tradition and the analytical categories established in the academy to shape and interpret the lived reality of the tradition.
Past Research
Jewish Lives, Scottish Spaces: Jewish Migration to Scotland, 1880-1950 (AHRC funded 2015-2018)
As Jews in Scotland moved between and within, into and out of local and transnational spaces, the objects they saved, used and created reveal how Jews self-identified as they negotiated issues such as antisemitism, assimilation, cultural loss, memory and the Holocaust, nationalism and belonging. The materiality of such Scottish Jewish ‘memory objects’ testifies to the visibility of aspects of the past in the immediate environment of people’s new lives in Scotland. The location and placement of these items within a Scottish landscape offers a rich ground for the investigation of various processes of cultural transition and provides a link to the study of the city and Jewish space, thus making the best use of the available archival resources and material evidence. This project drew primarily on the collections of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre (SJAC), the largest and continually growing repository of items relating to Jewish migration to and life in Scotland. Other relevant primary sources are located in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, the Edinburgh and Glasgow City Archives, the National Library of Scotland and the National Records of Scotland.
For project outputs please see http://jewishmigrationtoscotland.is.ed.ac.uk/
Knowledge exchange
You can find regular updates about my research and knowledge exchange/impact activities here: http://jewishmigrationtoscotland.is.ed.ac.uk/ and at https://jewishstudies.div.ed.ac.uk/projects/.
Affiliated research centres
Past project grants
2015-2018: 'Jewish Lives, Scottish Spaces: Jewish Migration to Scotland, 1880-1950' (PI, AHRC funded).
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Jewish approaches to LGBT+ in texts, culture and ritual
(16 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003286295-27
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
Holocaust representation in the Imperial War Museum, 2000-2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55932-8_19
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (E-pub ahead of print) -
Points of Arrival: A digital resource pack for schools on historical Jewish immigration to Scotland
Research output: › Web publication/site (Published) -
Narrating the archive?: Family collections, the archive, and the historian
In:
Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, vol. 37, pp. 331-360
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sho.2019.0040
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Introduction: Narrative spaces at the margins of British-Jewish culture(s)
In:
Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, vol. 37, pp. 1-18
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Narrative Spaces at the Margins of British-Jewish Culture(s)
(375 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5703/shofar.37.3.0001
Research output: › Book (Published) -
Jewish Orthodoxy in Scotland: Rabbi Dr Salis Daiches and Religious Leadership
(160 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474452595.001.0001
Research output: › Book (Published) -
Introduction: Jews: Movement, migration, location
In:
Jewish Culture and History, vol. 20, pp. 1-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1462169X.2019.1557459
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (E-pub ahead of print) -
Salis Daiches – Towards a Portrait of a Scottish Rabbi
(13 pages)
In:
Jewish Culture and History, vol. 16, pp. 142-156
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1462169X.2015.1084671
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Surfing the Great British Jewish Web: Jewish History Resources Online
In:
Medaon: Magazin für jüdisches Leben in Forschung und Bildung, vol. 9
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Jewish Lives, Scottish Spaces: Jewish Migration to Scotland, 1880-1950
Blog Articles › Other contribution (Published) -
Are Holocaust Victims Jewish?: Looking at Photographs in the Imperial War Museum Holocaust Exhibition
In:
Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies, vol. Supplement 1, pp. 91-106
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Visual Representations of the Holocaust and Religion
In:
The Global Herald
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The Holocaust and representations of Jews: History and Identity in the Museum
Research output: › Book (Published) -
Wie "jüdisch" sind die Opfer des Holocaust?: Beobachtungen in der Holocaust Ausstellung im Imperial War Museum London
(13 pages)
Research output: › Chapter (Published) -
Jews
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
'Zwischen Ausgrenzung und Umarmung: Christliche Theologie im Umgang mit dem Judentum'
(14 pages)
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
Verhältnisbestimmung zwischen Juden und Christen in Deutschland: Auf dem Weg zu einer "realistischen und unbefangenen Beziehung zwischen Juden und Christen"?
In:
theologie.geschichte, vol. 2
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Comment/debate (Published) -
Victims, Perpetrators, Bystanders?: Witnessing, Remembering and the Ethics of Representation in Museums of the Holocaust
In:
Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History', vol. 13, pp. 84-104
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Dabru Emet und jüdische Interpretationen des Christentums
In:
Dialog-DuSiach, vol. 62, pp. 18-41
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)