Science, modernity and Ritual Murder in Central Europe, Talk by Hillel Kieval

Описание: Historian Hillel Kieval introduces his recent book "Blood Inscriptions" and discusses how educated elites took up the accusations of Jewish ritual murder and considers the roles played by government bureaucracies, the journalistic establishment, forensic medicine, and modern legal practices in structuring the investigations and trials.

Hillel Kieval is a historian of Jewish culture and society in modern Central and Eastern Europe (19th and 20th centuries). His research interests range from pathways of Jewish integration to the impact of nationalism and ethnic conflict on modern Jewish identities, and from cross-cultural conflicts and misunderstandings to the discursive practices of modern antisemitism. His books include "Blood Inscriptions: Science, Modernity, and Ritual Murder at Europe’s Fin de Siècle" (2022); "Prague and Beyond: Jews in the Bohemian Lands" (Co-editor, 2022); "Languages of Community: The Jewish Experience in the Czech Lands" (2000); and "The Making of Czech Jewry: National Conflict and Jewish Society in Bohemia, 1870-1918" (1988). In May 2022, Hillel Kieval was awarded the Silver Medal of the Faculty of Arts, from Charles University of Prague.

This event was organized by the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews with support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York, Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in New York, Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association, and the Leo Baeck Institute.

Bohemian National Hall, October 30, 2023