Olga Kartashova

Junior Fellow (11/2024 – 08/2025)

The International Networks and Jewish Efforts to Prosecute Holocaust Perpetrators in Poland

This project delves into the advocacy efforts of Polish Jews for human and minority rights throughout World War II and its aftermath. It highlights the continuity of activism initiated by Jewish lawyers, community leaders, and individuals from the interwar period, which persisted despite the challenges of war and occupation. Contextualising postwar trials and Jewish investigations within this ongoing activism underscores their organic evolution rather than viewing them as isolated events. Jewish lobbyists played a pivotal role in advocating for minority rights, gathering evidence, and providing testimony in courts, representing the Jewish community as a semi-autonomous entity within the evolving landscape of international criminal law. This study contributes a fresh perspective on survivors' conception of justice, their engagement with Polish and other governments in pursuit of it, and their support for investigations and trials. Utilising extensive international networks for information exchange among survivors, domestic and foreign Jewish communities, and legal entities at national and international levels ensured a wealth of sources and witness testimonies for Holocaust-related trials, thereby enhancing the prospects of holding perpetrators accountable.

Olga Kartashova is a Ph.D. candidate in Hebrew and Judaic studies at New York University, specialising in Eastern European Holocaust history, aftermath, memory, historiography, and trials. With a BA in Polish and Jewish studies from the University of Wrocław, an MA in comparative history from Central European University, and an MA in Holocaust studies from Haifa University, Olga Kartashova brings a diverse academic background. As a contractor researcher at the USHMM Mandel Center, she focused on the legal aspects of Holocaust history. Olga Kartashova has led seminars on East European and Jewish roots of international law and was awarded prestigious fellowships, including from the Saul Kagan Claims Conference Fellowship for Advanced Shoah Studies, and the Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History in Munich.

E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.