Attending the six-day Writing Retreat in July 2025, sponsored by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), afforded me an invaluable opportunity for deep scholarly engagement. The retreat’s competitive selection process meant joining a cohort of Holocaust scholars from a range of disciplines. Conversations during formal workshops and informal gatherings generated new perspectives, potential collaborative projects, and avenues for future conferences or publications. Most importantly, the uninterrupted time during the retreat reinforced habits of concentrated writing. This opportunity has been instrumental in advancing my writing and refining the central arguments of my current research project on the memorialization of the historical persecution of homosexuals by the National Socialists and the ongoing efforts to secure full inclusion for the queer community today.
- Professor Cayo Gamber