The Yad Vashem International Book Prize aims to encourage excellent and enlightening research on new topics relating to the Holocaust or those topics needing re-evaluation in light of newly discovered documentation. Research accuracy, scholarship, methodology, originality, importance of the research topic, and literary merit are important factors in the work’s consideration.
The Book Award is presented during a congratulatory gathering of Yad Vashem staff, researchers and invited guests.
Recent Recipients
2024
Professor Hermann H. Beck for his book: Between the Holocaust: Antisemitic Violence and the Reaction of German Elites during the Nazi Takeover. Beck is Professor of History at the University of Miami. He received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Professor Doris L. Bergen for her book: Between God and Hitler: Military Chaplains in Nazi Germany. Bergen is the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies in the Department of History and Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Toronto. She received her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The two additional prize finalists were:
Professor Wolf Gruner for his book, Resisters: How Ordinary Jews Fought Persecution in Hitler’s Germany
Professor Ari Joskowicz for his book, Rain of Ash: Roma, Jews, and the Holocaust
2023
Dr. Laurien Vastenhout for her book Between Community and Collaboration: "Jewish Councils" in Western Europe under Nazi Occupation.
Vastenhout was awarded her PhD by the University of Sheffield, UK in 2019. She is a researcher and MA program coordinator at NIOD, Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam / the University of Amsterdam.
Prof. Edward Westermann for his book Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany.
Westermann received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000. Prof. Westermann is a Regents Professor of History and a Piper Professor of 2023 at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
2022
Prof. Rebecca Clifford for Survivors: Children's Lives After the Holocaust
2021
Prof. Eliyana Adler for Survival on the margins: Polish Jewish Refugees in the Wartime Soviet Union
Dr. Leon Saltiel for The Holocaust in Thessaloniki: Reactions to the Anti-Jewish Persecution, 1942-1943
Read about the 2021 recepients >>>
2020
Prof. Johannes-Dieter Steinert – Holocaust und Zwangsarbeit: Erinnerungen jüdischer Kinder 1938–1945
Dr. Alan Rosen – The Holocaust’s Jewish Calendars: Keeping Time Sacred, Making Time Holy
Read about the 2020 recepients >>>
2019
Prof. Omer Bartov – Anatomy of Genocide: The Life and Death of a Town Called Buczacz
Prof. Joanna-Sabina Tokarska-Bakir – Pod Klątwą: Społeczny portret pogromu kieleckiego
Read about the 2019 recepients >>>
2018
Dr. Daniel Reiser – רבי קלונימוס קלמיש שפירא: דרשות משנות הזעם
Dr. Ion Popa – The Romanian Orthodox Church and the Holocaust
Read about the 2018 recepients >>>
General Information about the Yad Vashem Book Prize
- The primary focus of the book must be about the Holocaust, its aftermath or antecedents.
- A monetary sum is awarded to the winner (s).
- The award ceremony will take place in Israel during which the recipient will present a lecture.
- Flights and hotel accommodations for the recipient will be covered by the International Institute for Holocaust Research.
- A group of Holocaust scholars, chosen by the International Institute for Holocaust Research, make up the panel of judges for the prize.
Submission Details for 2025
- Books, either hardcover or original paperback, published between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024 are eligible for the 2023 prize.
- Books must be in the original language. All other application materials must be in English and must be received by 15 May 2025.
Application Materials
Book Copies:
- Please send a pdf of the book in the original language.
- Two hard copies of the book must be sent to the International Institute for Holocaust Research, see address below.
All other application materials to be sent by email include:
- Application Form * (English)
- A copy of the author’s Curriculum Vitae (English)
- One Page Abstract (English)
- Two letters of recommendation from reputable academics who are familiar with the book’s specific topic. Recommendation letters must be on letterhead with signature. (English)
- Permission Letter to send the pdf of the book for judging purposes. (English)
Once all the application materials are prepared, please send them to: research.applications@yadvashem.org.il.
Please send two hard copies of the book to:
The International Institute for Holocaust Research
International Book Prize
Yad Vashem
P.O. Box 3477 (Mount of Remembrance)
Jerusalem 91034
Israel
Please Note:
- Books submitted must be in the original published language. Translations are not eligible.
- New translations and reissues of previously published books are not eligible.
- Anthologies or works containing articles written by multiple authors are not eligible.
- Hard copies of books received will be retained by Yad Vashem.
