Simo Muir
Biographic Data
| ID | 3787264 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Simo Muir |
| GIVEN NAMES | Simo |
| FAMILY NAME | Muir |
| SIGNATURE | MUIR S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Leeds |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4596-9849 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Tapani Harviainen (1944–2024): In memoriam
An obituary for Tapani Harviainen (1944–2024)
Teater på jiddisch – i Sverige och i världen
Review of Sylvia Sauter & Willmar Sauter: Teater på jiddisch – i Sverige och i världen. Stockholm: Gidlunds förlag, 2023
“The Customs of Our Ancestors Are in Our Hands”: Negotiating Tradition and Change in the Jewish Communities in Finland
The Jewish community of Finland represents a continuum of Eastern European Ashkenazic Orthodoxy that survived the Shoah intact. During recent decades there have been significant changes in the demography of the local congregations, and these changes have influenced the religiosity of the members: while secularism and indifference to religion have grown, many members have turned toward stricter observance of Halakhah. This article looks at these c…
Yiddish and Hebrew in Finland
This article explores the Yiddish and Hebrew languages among Finnish Jews from the second half of the nineteenth century until the present. I examine how the status of the languages and their different varieties have fluctuated and changed over time, including the gradual decline of Yiddish in the pre– and post–World War II era and its presence in today's post-Yiddish Jewish ethnolect. I also discuss how immigration from Israel has led to modern …
Making Holocaust Memory in Finland: The Jewish Community and Conflicting Loyalties, 1944–1950s
This article analyzes how Finnish Jews defined their position during the Second World War when Finland fought against the Soviet Union as a co-belligerent of Nazi Germany. After the Moscow Armistice in September 1944, the Jewish community’s leadership created an official narrative that transformed the community’s travails into a positive experience. They wanted to signal to the Allied forces and Jewish communities worldwide that their rights had …
Turn to Traditions – Calls for Change: Negotiations over Liturgy in the Synagogues of Finland
This article explores how Jews in Finland relate to the musical traditions of their synagogues and the changes that have occurred in the customs over time and as the result of various cultural and spiritual influences. Based on ethnographic data, it focuses on rituals, liturgy, and music as contexts for negotiating relationships between the institution and the individual, memory practices, and contemporary innovation – being and doing Jewish, to …
“Who Will Laugh the Last?”: Jac Weinstein’s Sketches, Poetry, and Songs during Finnish-German Co-Belligerency, 1941–44
This article analyzes Jac Weinstein's (1883–1976) sketches, poems, and songs written in Yiddish and Swedish during 1941–44, when Finland fought alongside Nazi Germany. While satirizing daily life and changing social norms among Finnish Jews, Weinstein's work dealt with the genocide of European Jewry—waged by Finland's de facto ally—and the horror of the war. Weinstein's work challenges postwar narratives that depicted Finnish Jews fighting a "sep…
Jewish archives and sources in the Nordic countries: The current state of affairs and future perspectives
This article aims to give an overview of Jewish archives and archival sources in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Besides describing significant existing collections, the article looks into ongoing archival projects, digitizing and infrastructure programs, and maps out future challenges
Rumkowski’s Scapegoat? The Case of Łódź Ghetto Functionary Maks Szczęśliwy at a Rabbinic/Honor Court in Helsinki, 1949–1953
This article analyzes the honor court trial of Maks Szczęśliwy, former head of the Łódź ghetto Provisioning Department and one of Chaim Rumkowski’s closest associates, accused of “crimes against humanity.” In order to determine whether Szczęśliwy could be accepted as its member, the Jewish Community of Helsinki established a tribunal under rabbinical authority. The tribunal contacted Jewish institutions for assistance and advice in Sweden, Poland…
‘The Golden Chain of Pious Rabbis’: The origin and development of Finnish Jewish Orthodoxy
This article provides the first historiographical analysis of the origins of Jewish Orthodoxy in Helsinki and describes the development of the rabbinate from the establishment of the congregation in the late 1850s up to the early 1980s. The origins of the Finnish Jewish community lies in the nineteenth-century Russian army. The majority of Jewish soldiers in Helsinki originated from the realm of Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) culture, that is, mainly…
Merchants of Helsinki
This article analyses a New Year’s revue from 1929 by Helsinki-born Jac Weinstein (1883–1976) and the image of the Jewish merchant. Many stereotypes concerning ethnicity and gender are at play in the revue and the line between humour, Jewish self-deprecation and antisemitic depiction of the Jew becomes blurred. The questionable business ethics of Jewish merchants is one of the core themes of the revue.The article asks what role ethnic stereotypes…
Three performances, different responses: Bringing early Holocaust commemoration to the stage
This article discusses performances of a pageant called Mother Rachel and her children written by Helsinki-born Jac Weinstein in 1948 as a work of Holocaust commemoration and the radically different ways in which three audiences in the US, UK, and the Czech Republic that viewed the play in 2016 interacted with it during post-performance discussions. Using filmed performances and talkback sessions, the article analyzes the changing subject positio…
Mother Rachel and Her Children”: Artistic Expressions in Yiddish and Early Commemoration of the Holocaust in Finland
The article explores a community that, in large part did not experience the atrocities of the Holocaust, but were nevertheless affected by it. The personal and communal impact of the Holocaust found its expression in a number of cultural ventures. Drawing on previously unused archival material from the Finnish Jewish Archives (found at the National Archives of Finland) and the YIVO Archives, I will demonstrate that, while avoiding the public eye,…
Name changes and visions of ”a new Jew” in the Helsinki Jewish community
This article discusses an organized name-change process that occurred in the 1930s in the Jewish community of Helsinki. Between 1933 and 1944 in approximately one fifth of the Helsinki Jewish families (c. 16 %) someone had their family name changed. We argue that the name changes served two purposes: on the one hand they made life easier in the new nation state. It was part of a broader process where tens of thousands of Finns translated and chan…
Linguistic, cultural and history-related studies on Jews in Finland: A look into the scholarship in the twenty-first century
There has been a significant growth in volume and disciplines working on Jewish history and culture in Finland for the past fifteen years, yet no systematic overview of scholarly efforts have been available. This article aims to fill this gap. Our focus is on the disciplines of linguistics, cultural studies and history. Our overview covers monographs and articles that have appeared in academic publications since 2000, with a focus on Finland. Con…
The Plan to Rescue Finnish Jews in 1944
Finnish memory politics has long been invested in an exceptionalism that presents World War II Finland as a safe haven for Jewish refugees and for Finnish Jews themselves. In fact, Finnish Jewry did perceive grave danger during the war, and geopolitical happenstance rather than deliberate policy alleviated it. The Jewish leadership was aware of the Holocaust and took precautions; when the Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement strengthened Finland's ties with…
Finland's Holocaust
Finland's Holocaust considers antisemitism and the figure of the Holocaust in today's Finland. Taking up a range of issues - from cultural history, folklore, and sports, to the interpretation of milit
Modes of Displacement
Oh, language of exile – woven of sorrow and mockery”: The Kalevala centennial jubilee as a bone of contention between Hebraists and Yiddishists
The article explores contacts between eminent Jewish Zionists and the Finnish cultural and political elite using the Kalevala centennial jubilee as a case study. The article shows how Finnish nationalists sympathised with the cause of Zionists propagating the use of modern Hebrew: members of the Kalevala Society warm‐heartedly invited the Hebrew poet Saul Tchernichowsky from Palestine to the centennial jubilee in 1935. The article also deals with…
Anti-Semitism in the Finnish Academe: Rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki (1937) and Åbo Akademi University (1938) 1
The primary goal of this article is to present anti-Semitism as the underlying reason for the rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki and at Åbo Akademi University in the late 1930s. The article analyzes the different stages of the processes and the ideological background and motives underpinning the rejections. Schur's antagonists were right-wing professors, some of whom sympathized with National Socialis…
Yiddish in Helsinki and its Swedish component
Yiddish has been spoken in Helsinki since 1850s when the Jewish Cantonist soldiers and their families were allowed to settle in the town. The first generations born in Helsinki had the possibility to attend heders and a Talmud-torah where religious subjects were conducted in Yiddish. In the wake of Yiddishizm many Yiddish-speaking societies were founded before and after the First World War. My research attempts an analysis of Helsinki Yiddish and…
Anti-Semitism in the Finnish Academe: Rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki (1937) and Åbo Akademi University (1938) 1
The primary goal of this article is to present anti-Semitism as the underlying reason for the rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki and at Åbo Akademi University in the late 1930s. The article analyzes the different stages of the processes and the ideological background and motives underpinning the rejections. Schur's antagonists were right-wing professors, some of whom sympathized with National Socialis…
Mother Rachel and Her Children”: Artistic Expressions in Yiddish and Early Commemoration of the Holocaust in Finland
The article explores a community that, in large part did not experience the atrocities of the Holocaust, but were nevertheless affected by it. The personal and communal impact of the Holocaust found its expression in a number of cultural ventures. Drawing on previously unused archival material from the Finnish Jewish Archives (found at the National Archives of Finland) and the YIVO Archives, I will demonstrate that, while avoiding the public eye,…
Oh, language of exile – woven of sorrow and mockery”: The Kalevala centennial jubilee as a bone of contention between Hebraists and Yiddishists
The article explores contacts between eminent Jewish Zionists and the Finnish cultural and political elite using the Kalevala centennial jubilee as a case study. The article shows how Finnish nationalists sympathised with the cause of Zionists propagating the use of modern Hebrew: members of the Kalevala Society warm‐heartedly invited the Hebrew poet Saul Tchernichowsky from Palestine to the centennial jubilee in 1935. The article also deals with…
Yiddish in Helsinki and its Swedish component
Yiddish has been spoken in Helsinki since 1850s when the Jewish Cantonist soldiers and their families were allowed to settle in the town. The first generations born in Helsinki had the possibility to attend heders and a Talmud-torah where religious subjects were conducted in Yiddish. In the wake of Yiddishizm many Yiddish-speaking societies were founded before and after the First World War. My research attempts an analysis of Helsinki Yiddish and…
Oh, language of exile – woven of sorrow and mockery”: The Kalevala centennial jubilee as a bone of contention between Hebraists and Yiddishists
The article explores contacts between eminent Jewish Zionists and the Finnish cultural and political elite using the Kalevala centennial jubilee as a case study. The article shows how Finnish nationalists sympathised with the cause of Zionists propagating the use of modern Hebrew: members of the Kalevala Society warm‐heartedly invited the Hebrew poet Saul Tchernichowsky from Palestine to the centennial jubilee in 1935. The article also deals with…
Anti-Semitism in the Finnish Academe: Rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki (1937) and Åbo Akademi University (1938) 1
The primary goal of this article is to present anti-Semitism as the underlying reason for the rejection of Israel-Jakob Schur's PhD dissertation at the University of Helsinki and at Åbo Akademi University in the late 1930s. The article analyzes the different stages of the processes and the ideological background and motives underpinning the rejections. Schur's antagonists were right-wing professors, some of whom sympathized with National Socialis…
Finland's Holocaust
Finland's Holocaust considers antisemitism and the figure of the Holocaust in today's Finland. Taking up a range of issues - from cultural history, folklore, and sports, to the interpretation of milit
Modes of Displacement
Linguistic, cultural and history-related studies on Jews in Finland: A look into the scholarship in the twenty-first century
There has been a significant growth in volume and disciplines working on Jewish history and culture in Finland for the past fifteen years, yet no systematic overview of scholarly efforts have been available. This article aims to fill this gap. Our focus is on the disciplines of linguistics, cultural studies and history. Our overview covers monographs and articles that have appeared in academic publications since 2000, with a focus on Finland. Con…
The Plan to Rescue Finnish Jews in 1944
Finnish memory politics has long been invested in an exceptionalism that presents World War II Finland as a safe haven for Jewish refugees and for Finnish Jews themselves. In fact, Finnish Jewry did perceive grave danger during the war, and geopolitical happenstance rather than deliberate policy alleviated it. The Jewish leadership was aware of the Holocaust and took precautions; when the Ryti-Ribbentrop Agreement strengthened Finland's ties with…
Name changes and visions of ”a new Jew” in the Helsinki Jewish community
This article discusses an organized name-change process that occurred in the 1930s in the Jewish community of Helsinki. Between 1933 and 1944 in approximately one fifth of the Helsinki Jewish families (c. 16 %) someone had their family name changed. We argue that the name changes served two purposes: on the one hand they made life easier in the new nation state. It was part of a broader process where tens of thousands of Finns translated and chan…
Mother Rachel and Her Children”: Artistic Expressions in Yiddish and Early Commemoration of the Holocaust in Finland
The article explores a community that, in large part did not experience the atrocities of the Holocaust, but were nevertheless affected by it. The personal and communal impact of the Holocaust found its expression in a number of cultural ventures. Drawing on previously unused archival material from the Finnish Jewish Archives (found at the National Archives of Finland) and the YIVO Archives, I will demonstrate that, while avoiding the public eye,…
‘The Golden Chain of Pious Rabbis’: The origin and development of Finnish Jewish Orthodoxy
This article provides the first historiographical analysis of the origins of Jewish Orthodoxy in Helsinki and describes the development of the rabbinate from the establishment of the congregation in the late 1850s up to the early 1980s. The origins of the Finnish Jewish community lies in the nineteenth-century Russian army. The majority of Jewish soldiers in Helsinki originated from the realm of Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) culture, that is, mainly…
Merchants of Helsinki
This article analyses a New Year’s revue from 1929 by Helsinki-born Jac Weinstein (1883–1976) and the image of the Jewish merchant. Many stereotypes concerning ethnicity and gender are at play in the revue and the line between humour, Jewish self-deprecation and antisemitic depiction of the Jew becomes blurred. The questionable business ethics of Jewish merchants is one of the core themes of the revue.The article asks what role ethnic stereotypes…
Three performances, different responses: Bringing early Holocaust commemoration to the stage
This article discusses performances of a pageant called Mother Rachel and her children written by Helsinki-born Jac Weinstein in 1948 as a work of Holocaust commemoration and the radically different ways in which three audiences in the US, UK, and the Czech Republic that viewed the play in 2016 interacted with it during post-performance discussions. Using filmed performances and talkback sessions, the article analyzes the changing subject positio…
Jewish archives and sources in the Nordic countries: The current state of affairs and future perspectives
This article aims to give an overview of Jewish archives and archival sources in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Besides describing significant existing collections, the article looks into ongoing archival projects, digitizing and infrastructure programs, and maps out future challenges
Rumkowski’s Scapegoat? The Case of Łódź Ghetto Functionary Maks Szczęśliwy at a Rabbinic/Honor Court in Helsinki, 1949–1953
This article analyzes the honor court trial of Maks Szczęśliwy, former head of the Łódź ghetto Provisioning Department and one of Chaim Rumkowski’s closest associates, accused of “crimes against humanity.” In order to determine whether Szczęśliwy could be accepted as its member, the Jewish Community of Helsinki established a tribunal under rabbinical authority. The tribunal contacted Jewish institutions for assistance and advice in Sweden, Poland…
“Who Will Laugh the Last?”: Jac Weinstein’s Sketches, Poetry, and Songs during Finnish-German Co-Belligerency, 1941–44
This article analyzes Jac Weinstein's (1883–1976) sketches, poems, and songs written in Yiddish and Swedish during 1941–44, when Finland fought alongside Nazi Germany. While satirizing daily life and changing social norms among Finnish Jews, Weinstein's work dealt with the genocide of European Jewry—waged by Finland's de facto ally—and the horror of the war. Weinstein's work challenges postwar narratives that depicted Finnish Jews fighting a "sep…
Making Holocaust Memory in Finland: The Jewish Community and Conflicting Loyalties, 1944–1950s
This article analyzes how Finnish Jews defined their position during the Second World War when Finland fought against the Soviet Union as a co-belligerent of Nazi Germany. After the Moscow Armistice in September 1944, the Jewish community’s leadership created an official narrative that transformed the community’s travails into a positive experience. They wanted to signal to the Allied forces and Jewish communities worldwide that their rights had …
Turn to Traditions – Calls for Change: Negotiations over Liturgy in the Synagogues of Finland
This article explores how Jews in Finland relate to the musical traditions of their synagogues and the changes that have occurred in the customs over time and as the result of various cultural and spiritual influences. Based on ethnographic data, it focuses on rituals, liturgy, and music as contexts for negotiating relationships between the institution and the individual, memory practices, and contemporary innovation – being and doing Jewish, to …
Tapani Harviainen (1944–2024): In memoriam
An obituary for Tapani Harviainen (1944–2024)
Teater på jiddisch – i Sverige och i världen
Review of Sylvia Sauter & Willmar Sauter: Teater på jiddisch – i Sverige och i världen. Stockholm: Gidlunds förlag, 2023
“The Customs of Our Ancestors Are in Our Hands”: Negotiating Tradition and Change in the Jewish Communities in Finland
The Jewish community of Finland represents a continuum of Eastern European Ashkenazic Orthodoxy that survived the Shoah intact. During recent decades there have been significant changes in the demography of the local congregations, and these changes have influenced the religiosity of the members: while secularism and indifference to religion have grown, many members have turned toward stricter observance of Halakhah. This article looks at these c…
Yiddish and Hebrew in Finland
This article explores the Yiddish and Hebrew languages among Finnish Jews from the second half of the nineteenth century until the present. I examine how the status of the languages and their different varieties have fluctuated and changed over time, including the gradual decline of Yiddish in the pre– and post–World War II era and its presence in today's post-Yiddish Jewish ethnolect. I also discuss how immigration from Israel has led to modern …
Judaism (16 works) · History (15 works) · Political science (15 works) · Archaeology (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Art (12 works) · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics (10 works) · Law (10 works) · History (9 works) · Philosophy (9 works)