The first part was inaugurated with a lecture on the messages in the Ringelblum Archive regarding the issues of mikveh and ritual baths. The second, also based on documents from the Archive, focused on crime and offences - according to the laws in force in the territories occupied by the Third Reich - and their observance by inhabitants of the Ghetto. The third addressed the conflicts between groups being formed in the Ghetto, showing the Archive as the best, if not the only, source that can provide any information regarding this issue today.
In the second panel, the first presentation concerned the comparison of entries from the Ringelblum Archive, relating to the Ciechanów region, with information contained in notes kept by members of the Sonderkommando. The second presentation was devoted to the critical approach of the analyses of texts, their publication and translation. The third, in turn, presented the possibility of using the Ringelblum Archive and accounts of witnesses (including meetings with them) to teach about the Holocaust.
Interesting data was also presented on the level of knowledge about the Holocaust among pupils and students in North America.
The third panel focused, to a considerable extent, on the ongoing project at the Jewish Historical Institute aimed at creating a virtual Encyclopaedia of the Warsaw Ghetto. A great deal of attention was devoted to innovative methods and a new approach to research, the methodology chosen by Emanuel Ringelblum and presented by the Oneg Shabbat group during the creation of the Archive, as well as discussions on whether the documents rescued from the Warsaw Ghetto are “silent witnesses” of the Holocaust and how they can be given a voice today.
The fourth lecture addressed the topic of information contained in the Ringelblum Archive about music in the Warsaw Ghetto, from children’s songs to the propaganda role of music. This presentation focused specifically on children as recipients and performers.
After the lectures, the speakers and listeners were invited to participate in a lecture on digital projects currently conducted at the Jewish Historical Institute. Employees of the Collections Digitalisation Department presented two online portals - Delet and the Central Jewish Library.
The portal Delet, addressed mainly to researchers, educators and students interested in the Archive, was illustrated as a place where one can graphically modify high-quality scans of the entire Oneg Shabbat collection. The CJL (Central Jewish Library) was presented, focusing on the wealth of its resources (including the Judenrat records from various cities) that are a perfect complement to the Ringelblum Archive. The new feature of the portal was also presented - fully searchable, digital, hyper-textual versions of the complete edition of the Ringelblum Archive.
The lecturers and attendees were also invited to visit the permanent exhibition at the Jewish Historical Institute. 'What We Could Not Scream Out to the World' is an exhibition dedicated entirely to the Oneg Shabbat, an organisation thanks to which Emmanuel Ringelblum was able to compile documentation on life in the Warsaw Ghetto. The visitors were particularly impressed by the modern layout of the exhibition and its combination with the classic concept of document presentation.
At the end of the meeting, a curator’s tour was conducted around the temporary exhibition 'Free Bird: Der frajer fojgl. Caricatures from the Jewish Press in Independent Poland'. Here, participants of the conference paid special attention to the multitude of presented works and their diverse character - from illustrations that affect everyday life and current affairs, through the issues of Ali and Palestine, to the broadly understood foreign and domestic policy.