Jewish people who lived in late-19th century Central Eastern Europe experienced oppression on one hand and emancipation on the other hand, depending on the specific time and place. This was the case for Moravian Jews. Those individuals and families that were exceptionally successful in their own business or in the arts participated in the everyday politics and public discussions on the local level and the imperial level. After the First World War they largely showed their loyalty to the Czechoslovak state while preserving their original culture. Featuring a world of fiction and cafés, this presentation will focus on the social life of Moravian Jews in the interwar period and explore a range of Jewish experiences in Central Eastern Europe.

Ivan Puš, Ph.D. (1987) is a Czech social and cultural historian who focuses on Czech-German relations and the history of education in the late Habsburg Monarchy. As a Fulbright Visiting Professor, he has been teaching history and Jewish Studies courses at the University of Houston. He received his PhD from the Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, in 2018. Dr. Puš is a scholar of European nationalisms in the nineteenth and twentieth century with a focus on the Habsburg Monarchy and its successor states. He is particularly interested in the Czech-German relations and the history of the Jews in Eastern Europe. He has previously received fellowships from the University of Vienna and University of Palermo. He has been employed as Assistant Professor of History at the Palacký University since 2019.

The event will be hosted in person. Admission is free and open to the public.

Please note: Face masks are required for all guests ages 2 and up. Complimentary masks are available at the Security desk.