‘How Can They Find You If You Don’t Exist?’
Strategies of Concealment Among Jewish Refugees to Japan
Thursday, February 13, 2025, 12:00 PM PST | 3:00 PM EST
This talk examines the strategies of concealment described in the USC Shoah Foundation testimonies of Jewish refugees who made the journey to Japan to escape Nazi persecution in the early 1940s. The testimonies discuss acts of self-concealment—through religion, occupation, or name—as well as the hiding of physical objects, such as jewelry, money, gold, and essential paperwork. By closely analyzing these personal narratives, the talk explores the unfamiliar and precarious circumstances faced by these refugees, many of whom were children at the time of their escape from Europe and considers the impact of concealment on their survival and agency whilst on the move.
Niamh Hanrahan is a final year PhD student at the University of Manchester, working within the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute. Her research examines the migrations undertaken by Jewish refugees from Europe to Japan during the Holocaust. Niamh was the postgraduate representative for the British and Irish Association for Holocaust Studies in the 2022/23 academic year. She has upcoming publications in Asian Studies Review, Jewish Culture and History and a book chapter in the volume Older People and the Holocaust. Niamh has been awarded fellowships to conduct research in the USA, Germany, Japan, and Australia, from the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, the Holocaust Education Foundation at Northwestern University, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the National Archives of Australia/Australian Historical Society.
