Under the title “Visual Voices”, this year’s Jewish Literary Festival Essen explores Jewish experiences and representations of being Jewish in the graphic medium. Comics and graphic novels on Jewish themes have enriched the cultural canon at least since the publication of Art Spiegelman’s groundbreaking work “MAUS” in the mid-1980s. They help to convey history and politics and are no longer just the favourite literary form of children and teenagers. Today, comics offers an important bridge of understanding in a contemporary form.
On Tuesday, 20 May 2025 at 7:00 pm, Dr Kim Wünschmann will present the Graphic History “Oberbrechen: A German Village Confronts Its Nazi Past” at the Old Synagogue Essen. In her lecture, she will talk about historical research in the graphic medium and the potential of comics to highlight the ambivalences in Jewish/non-Jewish relations before, during and after the Shoah. The event will be moderated by Dr Diana Matut.
Admission is free. Tickets can be ordered by Email: info@alte-synagoge.essen.de
The Jewish Literary Festival Essen will take place from 19 to 27 May 2025.