Cameron Kaufman
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Karla Goldman
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Judaic Studies / LSA
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Authors: Cameron Kaufman
Abstract
The topic being researched in this study is the Jewish community of Cincinnati’s reaction to the Holocaust. It investigates how the community handled the tension between the Jewish problem in Europe and the war effort, the power and response of the local community, and how my examination of the local response in Cincinnati compares and contrasts with existing historical accounts of national events and responses from other communities/press. To conduct this study, I used a microfilm machine to scan film of Jewish newspapers from Cincinnati called Every Friday from 1939-44 and transfer them into physical copies where important themes, quotes, and people were highlighted. Additional sources were also used to provide more context about this period of time in the United States, and the information was compiled, uncovering that the community had some knowledge of the events of the Holocaust and took action in a manner that they felt would help mainly by fundraising, contributing to the war effort, protesting, and contacting government officials. So far, information has been gathered about the reaction to the crises in 1939-44, which is in line with the goal of the study.
