Joanna Sliwa’s research examines daily life and inter-ethnic relations in extremis. Specifically, Ms. Sliwa’s dissertation focuses on the Holocaust in Krakow, Poland from the perspective of Jewish children’s experiences.
She approaches the topic from multiple angles – the German authorities, Jewish community, gentile neighbors, the Jewish family, and the youth themselves – thus widening the view of Eastern European Jewish life during the Holocaust by giving voice and agency to the youngest victims of persecution.
Drawing upon her language skills in Polish, German, Yiddish, and Hebrew, her dissertation is grounded in a wealth of wartime and postwar sources that she obtained in Israel, Poland, and the United States.
Ms. Sliwa’s research has been supported by the Fulbright Program, Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, and the Hadassah Brandeis Institute, among others. Her dissertation committee includes Professors Debórah Dwork, Jan Gross, and Samuel Kassow.