Joanna Zofia Spyra is a historian completing her PhD at the University of Bergen, Norway, where her doctoral dissertation focuses on the intersection of sexuality, health, and philanthropy in 1930s Argentina. She is currently working as a researcher on the Claims Conference-funded project Trawniki: Nexus of the Final Solution at the Centre of Archaeology, University of Huddersfield, UK. Additionally, she serves as an oral historian for the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project. Joanna Zofia holds degrees from Jagiellonian University and the Cracow University of Economics, as well as a Master’s in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University.
CONTRIBUTOR
Joanna Spyra
University of Bergen, Norway
RELATED ARTICLES
Interview
Un Tango Para Rachel: A Conversation with Lea Kalisch
Joanna Spyra and Lea Kalisch
Joanna Spyro and Lea Kalisch discuss Kalisch’s new short film and the histories of Jewish sex work, dance, and Yiddish in Argentina.
Oct 21, 2025
Pedagogy
Frameworks for Teaching Yiddish Oral Testimonies of Holocaust Survivors: Fiszel, Sara, Paja
Joanna Spyra
The teaching guide is designed for university-level history courses as a resource for working with oral testimony.
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Blog
Fiszel, Sara, Paja: Frameworks for Teaching Yiddish Oral Testimonies of Holocaust Survivors
Joanna Spyra
For the Fortunoff/In geveb fellowship, Joanna Spyra is developing a teaching guide based on Yiddish oral history testimonies of Polish-born, native Yiddish-speaking Holocaust survivors who eventually established new lives in distant and initially unfamiliar places like Bolivia and Argentina.
Apr 22, 2025
Review
Review of Polacos in Argentina by Mariusz Kałczewiak
Joanna Spyra
Polacos in Argentina provides a multifaceted perspective on the hybridized identities that transformed Polish Jews into Argentinian Jews and eventually into Jewish Argentines.
Jan 31, 2022