On July 3-4, 2025, the British and Irish Association for Holocaust Studies held an international academic conference entitled “Contexts of The Holocaust” at the University of Kent (Kent, UK). Professor Elīna Vasiļjeva and Associate Professor Ilze Oļehnoviča from the Department of Languages and Literature of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences participated in this conference. The results of a long-term research project dedicated to Latgalian Jewish texts and issues of anti-Semitism were presented in this conference. The research has been successfully ongoing for several years thanks to internal grants from DU.

The presentations by DU researchers attracted particular interest because the research material and the historical context differ sharply from the historical situation in Great Britain. Two papers were presented: Revisiting the Holocaust through Film: Latvia’s Cinematic Lens and The Holocaust in Life Stories: to the Question of Jewish Identity.