Presenting at the University of Edinburgh

On 9 May 2025, Catherine and I headed up to the University of Edinburgh to share our research at a conference hosted by the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, in collaboration with the HCA 1945 network, which shone a light on underrepresented wartime narratives.

I spoke about Art in Exile, looking at how Jewish soldier-artists used creative practice to navigate trauma and displacement, and what that tells us about identity and military service. Catherine's paper, From the Ghetto to 91 Gower Street, told the story of the more than 200 Jewish-Polish soldiers who risked court martial by leaving the Polish Forces to transfer into the British Army, pushing back against the anti-Semitism they faced within their own ranks.

Before the conference, we spent time in the archives at the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre in Glasgow, going through uncatalogued collections that are already opening up new leads on the wartime lives of the soldiers we're researching. It's been a reminder of just how much is still waiting to be found: every archive we visit adds another thread to the story, and Glasgow was no exception.