“The Holocaust in Northern Transylvania: The Role of Antisemitism and Other Factors”
Professional Background
Dr. Zoltán Tibori Szabó is the Director of the Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and associate professor of communication sciences at Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj (Romania). He received in PhD in philology, philosophy and history from Babeş-Bolyai University in 2007.
While in residence at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, Dr. Tibori Szabó conducted research on his project, “The Holocaust in Northern Transylvania: The Role of Antisemitism and Other Factors.” He possesses language skills in English, Romanian, Hungarian, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese.
Dr. Tibori Szabό is the author of numerous books and articles on the history of Jews in Transylvania and Anti-Semitism. Together with Prof. Randolph L. Braham he edited A magyarországi holokauszt földrajzi enciklopédiája [The Geographical Encyclopedia of the Holocaust in Hungary] (2007) and Az észak-erdélyi holokauszt földrajzi enciklopédiája [The Geographical Encyclopedia of the Holocaust in Northern Transylvania] (2008), contributing in the meantime to each of these works with several chapters. His books include Teleki Béla erdélyisége [The Transylvanism of Béla Teleki] (1993); Élet és halál mezsgyéjén. Zsidók mentése és menekülése a magyar-román határon 1940-1944 között [Between Life and Death: Escape and Rescue of Jews at the Romanian-Hungarian Border, 1940-1944] (Hungarian edition: 2001; Romanian edition: 2005); Árnyékos oldal. Zsidó identitástudat Erdélyben a holokauszt után [Shadowed side. Post-Holocaust Jewish Identity in Transylvania] (2007); and Zsidlic – A Kolozsvári Zsidó Gimnázium története (1940–1944) [The History of The Jewish High School of Kolozsvár (1940-1944)] (2012).
Fellowship Research
During his tenure as a Judith B. and Burton P. Resnick Invitational Scholar for the Study of Antisemitism Fellow in the Mandel Center, Dr. Tibori Szabó furthered his scholarship into the fate of the Transylvanian Jewish community by examining archival material related to the role of Anti-Semitism within Hungarian and Romanian culture. Specifically, he used this information to ascertain a deeper understanding of the history of the Holocaust within the Transylvanian region.
Dr. Tibori Szabó was in-residence in the Mandel Center from June 1 to September 30, 2015.