Jonathan Kaplan
jonkap.bsky.social
Jonathan Kaplan
@jonkap.bsky.social
Modern History | German-Jewish relations | GDR history | MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow University of Verona | Formerly: University of Haifa, Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum Potsdam, Freie Universität Berlin, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Question: When is the day of reunification?
- Answer: October 7, 2009. On that day the DDR will be sixty years old and can enter the Federal Republic as a pensioner

These and other jokes were published are cited in a 1967 airgram from the US Mission in West Berlin to the Department of State
July 31, 2025 at 12:06 PM
I’m writing an article about German-Jewish exiles in the UK who later helped build the GDR. Many were active in Communist circles and co-founded the FDJ in London. In 1949, Junge Welt, then edited by Hans Jacobus, covered a socialist youth festival in Budapest that included an Israeli delegation
July 15, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Jonathan Kaplan
#Event | Im Rahmen des Seminars “Deutsch-Israelische Beziehungen” spricht Jonathan Kaplan (Università di Verona) über Israelpolitik in der DDR. Ideologie und Diplomatie | Hochschule für Jüdische Studien Heidelberg | Details: www.hfjs.eu/hochschule/p...

In Präsenz | Anmeldung erforderlich
June 18, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Still reflecting on Passover and a recent UK research trip: at the National Archives in London, I came across "With a Strong Hand" (ביד חזקה), published by the Jewish Aid Committee of Britain (JACOB) in 1966, warning that the fascist and Nazi threat in Britain was far greater than many had realized
April 23, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Let the research trip the US begin!
March 17, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Excited to speak at the Jewish History Colloquium at George Washington University!

📅 Wed, March 19, 1 PM
📍 Gelman Library, GWU

If you're around, join us, just be sure to register: calendar.gwu.edu/event/jewish...

Hope to see you there!
March 10, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Some nice discoveries in an antiquarian bookshop in Leipzig
March 8, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Pros: free coffee in the visitor lounge
Cons: 20£ for copying documents!
February 17, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Archive adventures ahead! Kicking off ten days of research in the UK
First stop: The National Archives
February 14, 2025 at 11:59 AM
First visit to the new Stasi archive offices in Berlin. Modern space, Cold War tech policy… still no WiFi?!
February 5, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Jonathan Kaplan
🎗️🙏
#bringthemhome
January 15, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Jonathan Kaplan
Liebe Münchner*innen,
Ich lade euch herzlich zu meinem Buchvortrag nächste Woche ein!
Dienstag, 21.1, 19 Uhr, Historicum 🏛️
January 14, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Save the date: 15. Januar 2025 | 15:15 | Theologische Fakultät | Universität Leipzig

Ich freue mich sehr, meine Forschung im Rahmen des Kolloquiums der Forschungsstelle Judentum an der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Leipzig präsentieren zu dürfen

👉 www.theol.uni-leipzig.de/forschungsst...
January 13, 2025 at 12:00 PM
It’s been a productive week at the Bundesarchiv.

By the way, do you know that incredibly talented colleague?
Here are the cards Otto Winzer, the East German Foreign Minister, received from his coworkers for his 65th and 70th birthdays
January 10, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Jonathan Kaplan
חיפאיות.ים!
‏בשלישי הבא (14.1) נארח מפגש ראשון בסדרת ״צהרי ספר״.
‏איך נולדה המדיניות הישראלית בשטחים? כיצד החלטות שהתקבלו לפני יותר מ-50 שנה הביאו אותנו לאיפה שאנחנו היום? והאם משה דיין מתהפך בקברו או דווקא מתרווח בנחת?
‏בואו לשמוע את ד״ר עמרי שפר רביב ולשאול שאלות על ספרו החדש 📖
January 6, 2025 at 10:15 AM
נס חנוכה!
December 25, 2024 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Jonathan Kaplan
A new Orient.

@amitlevy.bsky.social will present his new book
on Monday, 23 December at the @leobaeckjeru.bsky.social
and on Zoom
leobaeck.org/upcoming-eve...

and one month later, on Thrusday, 23 January 2025, 11 a.m., at the Dubnow Institute in Leipzig
www.dubnow.de/en/event/a-n...
December 18, 2024 at 7:23 AM
Reposted by Jonathan Kaplan
Stop trying to make Bluesky happen. It’s not going to happen
November 18, 2024 at 9:19 AM
Letzte Woche Vorträge auf Hebräisch & Englisch – aber keine Sorge, euch Deutschsprachige vergesse ich nicht!😊
Mein Vortrag zur DDR-Israelpolitik ist jetzt im Podcast Jüdische Geschichte der LMU verfügbar 🎧
👉 delivery-01.itunes.uni-muenchen.de?jwt=eyJhbGci...
November 18, 2024 at 10:10 AM
Ciao Verona! 🥳
I'm thrilled to share that I've been granted the #MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship. I will conduct my research at the Center for European Studies at the the University of Verona, on interactions between Jewish organizations in the western bloc and the GDR
February 27, 2024 at 4:43 PM
91 years ago, February 5, 1933, Walter Steinfeld, a Jewish student from Breslau, was killed by SA members during a against the Nazis. His tragic fate, documented by historian Willy Cohn, marks him presumably as the first documented Jewish victim of the Holocaust.
February 5, 2024 at 8:06 AM
The reading room at the German National Library in Leipzig is under construction. The temporary reading spaces are located in parts of the building I've never seen before...
January 3, 2024 at 1:35 PM
Last day of Hanukkah
December 14, 2023 at 8:44 PM
חנוכייה מעזבונו של אבי סבי שמעון קפלן ז"ל

‏Hanukkiah of my great-grandfather Shimon Kaplan z"l
December 7, 2023 at 8:19 PM