International Summer-School 2023: Post-Holocaust-Remedies

Welcome to the website of the Post-Holocaust Reemedies-Summer School 2023, organized by the Chair of Public Law and International Law, Justus Liebig University Giessen, in cooperation with the Law Faculty of Reichman University (Herzliya, Israel), as part of the project “The post-Holocaust Development of Legal Remedies as a Learning Process”. Law students as well as students of related disciplines are highly encouraged to apply for participation in the four-week Summer School from August 18, 2023 - September 15, 2023. For the two-week curriculum on the history and further development of legal instruments of remedies for dealing with the consequences of Nazi crimes, 25 full scholarships are available, each of which will be awarded to ten students from Israel and Germany. A further five scholarships will enable Colombian students to join the program.

The admission criteria include sufficient knowledge of English - which is the exclusive working and conference language.

During the two-week stay in Israel and Germany, the participants will deal with core legal issues relating to restitution instruments for Holocaust victims. In doing so, legal concepts as well as premises and the (quasi-) judicial handling of them in different contexts, both on an international as well as on a national level, will be critically examined. For example, the dynamics of the legal and historical definition of “ghetto” under the Law on the Payment of Pensions from Employment in a Ghetto (German: Gesetz zur Zahlbarmachung von Renten aus Beschäftigungen in einem Ghetto, ZRBG) will be examined, drawing on relevant case law, and the implications of such a definition will be evaluated in light of “transitional justice.” Through an interdisciplinary approach, the courses will ensure the necessary amendment of a purely legal perspective by historical and sociological issues. Therefore, the lecturers also represent an international and heterogeneous scientific commuity, including academics as well as affected persons and practitioners, for example from the judiciary or the archives. This ensures a diversity of perspectives and insights into the topic. The teaching units will be accompanied by excursions to relevant institutions, such as a visit to Yad Vashem and Berlin, where the students will meet with representatives of the German government to exchange ideas.

Applicants who are successful will not only have the opportunity to explore problems and issues related to the topic from an academic, political, social and judicial perspective. They will also network with other participants and stakeholders from academia, politics, and stakeholder organizations from different countries at an early stage of their studies.

The application phase is open. We are looking forward to all interested parties. Online registration is possible until 19.06.2023. The FAQ will inform you about the most frequent and most important questions.

We wish you good luck for your application!