Dr Michael Abrahams-Sprod

PhD (USyd), MA (UNSW), Grad Dip Ed (UNSW), BA (UNSW)
Honorary Associate



Dr Michael Abrahams-Sprod is an educator at the secondary, tertiary and adult education levels. He currently occupies an executive position at a Sydney high school and is qualified to teach French, German, Russian and history, has held both educational and professional leadership positions and has conducted research, lectured, presented and taught both in Australia and extensively abroad. His PhD dissertation (2006) entitled: Life under Siege: The Jews of Magdeburg under Nazi Rule is currently under preparation for publication in Germany. Dr Abrahams-Sprod also occupies a part-time teaching position in Jewish history and Holocaust studies at The Shalom Institute, UNSW, is Head of Education and Historical Advisor for B’nai B’rith’s Courage to Care program and the Vice-President (NSW) of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies. Dr Abrahams-Sprod’s key academic research interests include: German-Jewish history since its inception, German-speaking Jewry under Nazism and the history of Zionism.

• German-speaking Jewry under Nazism;
• German-Jewish history;
• The Holocaust;
• The history of European Jewry;
• The history of Zionism.

• Preparation of German translation of PhD dissertation (2006) entitled: Life under Siege: The Jews of Magdeburg under Nazi Rule for publication in Germany;
• Preparation of PhD dissertation (2006) entitled: Life under Siege: The Jews of Magdeburg under Nazi Rule for publication in English;
• The history of Zionism in German-speaking Europe;
• German-Jewish refugees in Palestine, later the State of Israel.

• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. “Life under Siege: The Jews of Magdeburg under Nazi Rule (Dissertation Abstract),” Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, Vol. LII, 2007, pp. 307–308.
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. “Reflections of an Accidental Oral Historian,” Voiceprint, Vol. 37, 2007, pp. 8–10.
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. Life under Siege: The Jews of Magdeburg under Nazi Rule (PhD Thesis) Sydney: Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies, University of Sydney and Sydney eScholarship Repository (Weblink: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1627), 2007.
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. Book Review: “Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn,” Australian mosaic, Vol. 16 (The need for vigilance: Issues of prejudice in a culturally diverse Australia), 2007, pp. 41–42.
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. “Coffee and Cake with the Family Beiunsky: An Exploration of the Concepts of Identity and Exile with Respect to Jewish Refugees from Nazi Germany,” in Suzanne Faigan (ed.), Anafim: Proceedings of the Australasian Jewish Studies Forum Held at Mandelbaum House, University of Sydney, 8–9 February 2004. Sydney: University of Sydney, Mandelbaum Publishing, 2006, pp. 175–184.
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. “’But the Jews have to go out!’: The School Experience of Jewish Pupils in Nazi Magdeburg,” Oral History Association of Australia Journal, Vol. 26, 2004, pp. 64–70.
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. “'Australien! Wo ist denn das?’ – The Migration Experience of Jewish Refugees from Nazi Germany,” Australian Journal of Jewish Studies, Vol. XVII, 2003, pp. 9–24.
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. “The Impossibility of Weathering the Storm: Some Reflections on the ‘Reichskristallnacht’,” Zachor: Journal of The Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants Inc., November 2002 (Kislev 5763), pp. 8–9 [also published as “Slow awakening, sudden pogrom,” in Australian Jewish News, Sydney edition, 15 November, 2002, p. 18].
• Abrahams-Sprod, Michael E. “Survivor testimony bringing to life the school experiences of Jewish pupils in Magdeburg 1933–1945,” in Yad Vashem (ed.), The Legacy of Holocaust Survivors: The Moral and Ethical Implications for Humanity. CD-ROM. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2002.

• German-Jewry under Nazism;
• History of German-speaking Jewry;
• Holocaust Studies;
• History of the Jews;
• History of European Jewry in the Modern Period;
• History of Zionism.

• ‘A people that dwells apart? Exploring the boundaries of Jewishness’, 20th Annual Conference, Australian Association of Jewish Studies, Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University, 17–18 February 2008.
• ‘Women in Judaism’, 18th Annual Conference, Australian Association of Jewish Studies, Centre for Jewish History and Culture, The University of Melbourne, 12–13 February 2006.
• ‘Jews as Minority; Minorities Amongst the Jews’, 17th Annual Conference, Australian Association of Jewish Studies, The Shalom Institute, Shalom College, The University of New South Wales, 13–14 February 2005.
• ‘Europe: The Roots of the Problem’, workshop facilitator, ‘International Conference on Antisemitism: 60 Years after Auschwitz: The Menace of Antisemitism – Europe and Australia’, The Shalom Institute, Shalom College, The University of New South Wales, 21 November 2004.
• ‘A History of the Jewish Community of Magdeburg 1933–1945’, Postgraduate Conference, ‘Postgraduate Trends in European Studies at The University of Sydney’, School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Sydney, 12 November 2004.
• ‘Israel and the Diaspora’, 16th Annual Conference, Australian Association of Jewish Studies, Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University, 15–16 February 2004.
• ‘Coffee and Cake with the Family Beiunsky: An Exploration of the Concepts of Identity and Exile with Respect to Jewish Refugees from Nazi Germany’, International Conference, ‘The Poetics of Exile: An International Conference’, School of European Languages and Literatures, The University of Auckland, 17–19 July 2003.
• ‘Jewish Kabbalah, Mysticism and Jewish Thought’, 15th Annual Conference, Australian Association of Jewish Studies, Mandelbaum House, The University of Sydney, 16–17 February 2003.
• ‘Survivor testimony bringing to life the school experiences of Jewish pupils in Magdeburg 1933–1945’, The Third International Conference on The Holocaust and Education. The Prime Minister’s International Conference on the Legacy of Holocaust Survivors: The Moral and Ethical Implications for Humanity’, International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, 8–11 April 2002.
• ‘“Australien! Wo ist denn das?” – The migration experience of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany’, ‘Changing Centres: Migration in Jewish History and Literature’, 14th Annual Conference, Australian Association of Jewish Studies, Melbourne, 17–18 February 2002.

• Head of Education, Historical Advisor, Education Consultant and Steering Committee Member, B’nai B’rith ‘Courage to Care’ (NSW) Inc.;
• Historical Advisor and Consultant, Arbeitsgruppe Stolpersteine für Magdeburg der Landeshauptstadt Magdeburg (Memorial Tablets Committee for Magdeburg), Germany;
• Vice President (NSW), Australian Association of Jewish Studies;
• Member, Academic Advisory Board of Studies, The Shalom Institute, The University of New South Wales;
• Volunteer Educator, Museum Guide and Librarian, Sydney Jewish Museum.