Published: June 1, 2018

Image of dance from the Institute for Contemporary Midrash Records

The Program in Jewish Studies and the University Libraries' Special Collections, Archives, and Preservation at the University of Colorado Boulder are pleased to share the progress we have made this academic year processing the Post-Holocaust American Judaism (PHAJ) Collections!

In addition to digitizing many of collection materials and creating finding aids for all collections, we hosted multiple CU students in the collections as they conducted research and learned archival practices. We also welcomed Amy Milligan as our 2017 Jim and Diane Shneer Fellow in Post-Holocaust American Judaism and presented our third biannual Embodied Judaism Symposium: SHE in November 2017.

We invite you to learn more about our exciting progress below and explore the collections on the Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections website.

The work continues! We thank you for your continued support of the PHAJ Collections. Gifts to the collections enable us to pursue digitization and copyright projects, support student fellowships, and create community learning opportunities.

Explore the Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections Read Frequently Asked Questions about the Collections


What's Happening in the PHAJ Collections

Harry W. Mazal Holocaust Collection

Harry Mazal in his home library.The processing of the Harry W. Mazal Collection is nearing completion! The finding aid follows the most current standards for archival description and is now available online. The digital items in the collection, such as computer discs and hard drives, are currently being copied into the University Libraries' digital preservation system. These will soon be included in the same finding aid, which is linked on the Mazal Holocaust Collection page. The monographs and serials are almost completely cataloged and the items with preservation concerns are undergoing treatment.

Explore the Mazal Holocaust Collection
 

Zalman M. Schacter-Shalomi Papers

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi leader services in Los Angeles, CA.

Thanks in part to an Innovative Seed Grant from CU Boulder's Office of Research and Innovation and a gift from the Bender Family Foundation, we have digitized and preserved many of the fragile video and audio materials in the Zalman M. Schacter-Shalomi Papers. Thank you to the University Libraries' Media Auxiliary Service team for their notable work on this project.

A generous gift from the Yesod Foundation this year is supporting student work conducting vital copyright research for the audiocassettes in the Shachter-Shalomi papers.

We have also launched a digital exhibit exploring the life and work of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and his role in shaping contemporary Judaism.

Explore the Schachter-Shalomi Papers

There is still much work to be done with the Schachter-Shalomi Papers. Help us continue our digitization and copyright projects through a gift to the PHAJ Collections!

More PHAJ Collections Updates

Watch Now: 2018 Embodied Judaism Symposium: SHE

Relive the November 2018 Biannual Embodied Judaism Symposium: SHE, exploring the concept of the Shekhinah with presentations by scholars, practitioners, and artists.

Watch SHE Online Today

Finding Aids Available for All PHAJ Collections

Finding aids for all 23 PHAJ Collections are now online! You can use these guides to explore what materials are held in each collection.

View the PHAJ Collections

Learn More About Finding Aids

New Collection! The Vanessa L. Ochs Papers

Our newest collection features unpublished and edited manuscripts from Vanessa Ochs, Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies at the University of Virginia.

CU Archives Celebrates Its 100-Year Anniversary

Join the University Libraries June 6, 2018 for a look at the past 100 years of CU's archives. Chat with archivists working with the collections and learn more about the future of archives.


Students in the PHAJ Collections

2017- 2018 PHAJ Student Workers & Researchers

The Program in Jewish Studies and the University Libraries' Special Collections, Archives, & Preservation offer a number of student work and research opportunities in the PHAJ Collections. A big thank you to this year's student workers, Jacob Flaws, Jordan Klevdal, Ellen Gostling, and Adrian Auchterlorie!

 Flaws, Klevdal, Gostling, Auchterlorie)

Jacob Flaws

Jacob was a graduate student employee in the PHAJ collections throughout the academic year. His graduate research utilizes source materials from three witness groups – German perpetrators, Jewish survivors, and Polish witnesses – to triangulate and re-conceptualize the spatial reality of Treblinka.

Jordan Klevdal

Jordan served as a graduate student employee in the PHAJ collections for the duration of the academic year. Her graduate research interests include textual materiality, manifestations of nostalgia in the 20th century, and the gendering of memory.

Ellen Gostling

Ellen Gostling was the inaugural recipient of a Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections Undergraduate Scholarship. This spring, Ellen created a digital resource and research guide related to conversion practices during and after the Holocaust framed by Harry W. Mazal’s own experience.

Adrian Auchterlorie

Adrian is currently conducting copyright research for the digitized audiocassetes in the Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi Papers, determining potential copyright holders on digitized materials held in the collections. Adrian's work has been supported by a grant from the Yesod Foundation.

Summer 2018 Graduate Fellows

The Program in Jewish Studies, in partnership with the Center for Humanities and the Arts (CHA) and the Department of History, annually provide three graduate student summer research fellowships.

This Summer 2018, Kelly Walsh and Emily Frazier-Rath are recipients of the CHA-Jewish Studies Post-Holocaust American Judaism Summer Fellowship, and Jacob Flaws is the recipient of the History-Jewish Studies Archives Summer Fellowship. In addition to conducting their own original research in the PHAJ collections, these fellows will work alongside librarians and archivists on projects such as researching, designing, and curating digital exhibits. They will present their final PHAJ projects at a Fall graduate symposium.

 Walsh, Frazier-Rath, Flaws)

Kelley Ann Walsh

Kelly, an MFA candidate in Dance, focuses her research on the contributions of Jewish-Appalachians to Appalachian dance and culture and the reasons why Jewish-Appalachian population is declining.

Emily Frazier-Rath

Emily, a PhD candidate in German Studies, is doing research on the intersections between Jewish and Roma activism in post-war Germany that center on remembering the Holocaust/Porajmos.

Jacob Flaws

Jacob, a PhD candidate in History, will be spending time with the Harry W. Mazal Holocaust Collections and will produce a showcase about how the collection contains materials on many diverse topics.

Our 2018 summer fellows' digital exhibits will be available for viewing on the PHAJ Collections website this coming Fall 2018.

Check out now the online exhibits from our past 2017 summer fellows, Adi Nester, Amber Manning, and Jason Hogstad!


The Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections focus on Judaism and the Jewish-American experience from roughly the late 1940s to the present. The material collected sheds light on the religious, cultural, and social movements of American Judaism.