It is of great value for the editors of a periodical, which, next to other things, feels especially committed to the history and presence of Jewry in Saxony and wishes to encourage its scholarly reflection to the best of its capacities, that the research surveys and bibliographies of the field published in the 10th issue have found such great attention – if one confers the download statistics and personal feedbacks: The texts by Rotraud Ries, Daniel Ristau and Judith Kessler are amongst the ones most read, which MEDAON has published since its foundation. However, one important contribution remained vacant since the anniversary issue: while the three texts by the afore mentioned authors concentrated on relevant publications, which have been published since 1945 and which focus on the historical periods from the middle ages until 1933 and from 1945 on (on the project and the accounts, confer further the introductory remarks by the editors from April 2012), it was not possible to simultaneously publish the research report on literature from the times of National Socialism. We are happy today that Christine Pieper has taken on the task of examining the comprehensive existing titles systematically and of presenting a perspective on the current works, which bundles their insights, exposes their strengths and at the same time offers a great number of suggestions for further research on Jewish history in Saxony. The accompanying bibliography, which Daniel Ristau has edited, should be of great benefit for this. It encompasses more then 750 titles and constituted the basis for the preparation of the survey. The publishers and editors hope that with the preliminary completion of the project on fundamental research surveys on Saxony, an important (but not final) impulse for following research is given. Of course, MEDAON will still – for established academic research as well as for the meritorious contributions from local researchers – be available as a platform for new and decisive perspectives on regional Jewish History! Contributions by Sebastian Schönemann and Jörn Kreuzer, also in the current issue, clarify this position and our aspirations.
Beyond that we are publishing a number of further articles, while we at this point only want to mention only two “smaller” focal points: From December 2013 until May 2014 the Kunsthaus Dresden displayed the multimedia exhibition Vot ken you mach?, which is here recalled (along with its extensive accompanying program) from different perspectives by Susanne Ritschel, Sebastian Wahren as well as Daniela Hoferer and Lars Hiller: Experiences of accompanying pedagogical praxis stand next to a determination in cultural science of the ambitious project, which deals with Jewish Identity in contemporary Europe.
The focus of the reviews is rather historical: the in this year nearly everywhere central mark of the centenary of the beginning of World War I – not surprisingly – also finds its reflection in the research on Jewish history. A larger number of titles with a corresponding concentration has been published in the past years and recently. With a review of several titles by Christoph Jahr and further individual reviews, MEDAON draws the attention of readers to these titles and will consider further published scientific insights in the coming issues.
We wish you an insightful and pleasant read, of course, with all the other contributions and reviews as well!
And also this issue would not have been possible without the support from our reviewers. Corrections were done by Cathleen Bürgelt, Katherine Ebisch-Burton, Nicola Watson, Maja-Sophie Götting, Phillip Roth and Marcus Schaub as well as Gunther Gebhard and Steffen Schröter von text plus form – the editors thank them sincerely!
Time-conditioned and due to new professional orientation, in 2014 our colleagues Alina Gromova and Kai Drewes sadly had to retire from active editorial work – we thank them both for their longtime cooperation, are happy to remain in touch and wish them all the best!
Three colleagues were admitted to the editorial circle: Since summer 2014 Larissa Bothe has been organizing the education section. Kerstin von der Krone has supported the publication of reviews since the start of the year and will soon be organizing the section with Melanie Eulitz, who has shortly joined the team. All three are already connected through past collaborations. Therefore we are even more delighted about further capable cooperation in a comfortable atmosphere – once again: welcome!
The MEDAON-editors, October 2014.