Call for papers for the conference “Ghettos in Central and Eastern Europe: New Spatial and Social Perspectives”, which will be held on October 1 and 2, 2026 at the Shoah Memorial in Paris.

“When we talk about the Shoah”, wrote Dieter Pohl, “the word ‘ghetto’ is among the key terms” [Pohl in Zarusky, 2010]. Yet ghettos have received far less attention from researchers than killing centres and concentrationary systems. Despite some advances in historiography, this observation remains valid today. The first obstacle to an in-depth analysis of the ghetto seems to lie in its very definition. What is a ghetto? What distinguishes it from other spatial structures of confinement? Through the papers that will be offered, this symposium aims to historicize and clarify what the term ‘ghetto’ encompasses, or at least to establish a typology of theses spaces.

Over the past ten years or so, the historiography of the ghettos has been revitalised by new research tools and methods [Knowles, Cole, Giordano, 2014]. Analysis of contemporary documents (administrative sources, diaries, correspondence) reveals that these spaces were porous, with constant interaction with the outside world – both officially (forced labour, work permits) and unofficially (bartering, escapes). Current research is allowing us to approach – but not fully grasp – the reality of the ghettos: the identities of their inmates, daily life within them [Hájková, 2020; Löw, 2024], types of forced labour (German companies, Organisation Todt, farms, army workshops), spatial transformations, and population movements. The ghettos stood at the heart of the war of annihilation and Nazi colonisation in the East, caught between the economic exploitation of Jewish labour and the policy of genocide. The aim of the conference is to revisit fundamental aspects of the history of the ghettos in light of recent historiographical advances.

The two-day event will be structured into four half-day sessions, each dedicated to a theme linked by the common thread of space and spatiality. The first focus will be on the place of ghettos within the geography of the Shoah. We will examine the functionality of the ghettos in relation to the other methods used to enslave and exterminate populations, as well as the characteristics of the spaces in which the ghettos were established. The second focus will explore how the ghettos were integrated into the physical geography of the city or, more broadly, the region (use of existing structures, repurposing of spaces, and natural boundaries such as rivers, lakes, etc.). While the first two sections will examine the ghettos’ relationship with the outside world, the next two will focus on their internal spatiality and social structure. The third will explore the creation or re-creation of sociable spaces based on age, gender, political affiliation, economic status, or other criteria. The fourth will examine the relationship between intimate space (the body) and the space of the ghetto.