Shared methodological case

The Jewish Community of Corfu: local history, evidence and memory

The Holocaust of the Jewish community of Corfu served as a common demonstration case across the programme: a way to show how historians move from a broad historical subject to focused, ethical and accessible public history.

Why Corfu?

Working with the same case allowed participants to see how different historical methods connect. A photograph raises questions of place and visibility, a military order shows bureaucratic structures, survivor testimony opens another register of evidence and memory; the contemporary city raises questions about absence, commemoration and public knowledge.

The Corfu thread was a learning example. The same method could then be applied to family, local, national, community or transnational histories.

Questions used in the programme included:
What can this source tell us? What can it not tell us? Which voice do we hear? Which voice is absent? What responsibilities come with bringing difficult histories into public space? How does place shape memory?

Public history in practice

Corfu educational event · 27 October 2026

In collaboration with the Second Chance School of Corfu, the project combined historical context, documentary screening, archival sources, testimony and participatory discussion.

Who Owns Memory? educational event at the Second Chance School of Corfu — Public-history discussion and documentary screening, 27 October 2026.

Discussion during the Who Owns Memory? educational event in Corfu — Discussion on memory, testimony and the Jewish history of Corfu.

Documentary & discussion

Selected parts of The Jews of Corfu were followed by discussion with Maria Boua, whose historical research contributed to the documentary, and Nina Vital, who brought a family and community perspective to the conversation.

A public-history question

The evening returned to the project’s central question: Who owns memory? The individual, the community, the historian, the city, or all of us?

From source to public narrative

The Corfu case was used to demonstrate a sequence of historical practice rather than a single story.

Identify a public question

Move beyond “the history of…” toward a focused question about memory, place, responsibility or visibility.

Select and evaluate sources

Photographs, documents, testimony and places offer different evidence and must be read in context.

Recognise missing voices

Ask what is absent, marginalised, mediated or impossible to recover.

Address difficult history ethically

Representation, trauma, consent, dignity and community sensitivity shape how stories are made public.

Choose a digital form

Web story, map, timeline, audio, video or photo essay should serve the historical argument rather than determine it.

Write for a public audience

Clarity does not require simplification. Public history can remain complex, sourced and transparent.