Barnabas Balint received a DPhil in history from Magdalen College, University of Oxford, for his research on Jewish youth experiences during the Holocaust in Hungary. His multi-lingual research (English, French, and Hungarian) combines the history of childhood, gender, and identity to explore the lives of young Jews during the Holocaust. Dr. Balint taught history and held an associate fellowship at the Higher Education Academy. He also led numerous exchange and public engagement projects, organizing conferences, event series, and interviews. Dr. Balint earned a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, where he charted the history of the Jewish Scouts of France during the Holocaust and has been published in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Beyond academia, he served as a communications officer for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and currently chairs their Youth Forum.
Dr. Balint has been awarded several fellowships and research grants, including the 2021-2022 Breslauer, Rutman, and Anderson Research Fellowship at the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research, a 2022 European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Conny Kristel Fellowship at Yad Vashem, a 2023-2024 Scouloudi Fellowship at the Institute for Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London, and the Jean Henderson Prize for the Best Academic Performance in European History.
Outside of academia, Barnabas worked as a Communications Officer for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and served as the joint postgraduate representative for the British and Irish Association for Holocaust Studies. Since 2017, he has convened major conferences and events series for Holocaust Memorial Day, reaching over 2,000 people thus far. In support of Holocaust education and commemoration in the UK, he has organised events, led ceremonies, written blog posts, conducted training sessions, and spoken to UK national leaders including the Chief Rabbi, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, and Prime Minister.
For Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, Barnabas has convened a series of events at the University of Oxford bringing together survivors of the Holocaust and Genocide, leading figures in the fight against antisemitism, public campaigners, and expert academics from across the UK in discussion and reflection. Dedicated to the late Barbara Winton, the series reflects on the history, memory, and contemporary relevance of the Holocaust. All events are open to all; booking is not required but helpful for numbers.
The Programme of the HMD2023 is available below: