Vanishing Vienna: Modernism, Philosemitism, and Jews in a Postwar City

The Program in Judaic Studies, the Center for Collaborative History, and the Program in European Cultural Studies invite you to join us for this talk by Frances Tanzer on Thursday, October 30.

Frances Tanzer will discuss her new book, Vanishing Vienna: Modernism, Philosemitism, and Jews in a Postwar City (University of Pennsylvania Press), which traces the reconstruction of Viennese culture from the 1938 German Anschluss through Austrian (re)independence in 1955. The book reveals continuity in Vienna’s cultural history across this period: a framework for interpreting Viennese culture that has relied on antisemitism, philosemitism, and a related discourse of Jewish presence and absence. The reality of Jewish absence in postwar Vienna produced conceptual and practical challenges. Tanzer argues that, in response to these challenges, philosemitism became a surprising but foundational component of cultural reconstruction efforts and postwar Austrian identity, as well as early conceptions of European integration and postwar discourses of cosmopolitanism.

Open to the public. Refreshments will be available.

More about Frances Tanzer

Frances Tanzer is the Rose Professor of Holocaust Studies and Jewish Culture and Associate Professor of History at Clark University in Massachusetts. Her book Vanishing Vienna: Modernism, Philosemitism, and Jews in a Postwar City was published with University of Pennsylvania Press in 2024. She has received support for her research from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Remarque Institute at New York University, and other institutions. Her new project is entitled Klezmer Dynasty: An Intimate History of Modern Jewish Culture, 1880-2019.