The Sarah & Eugene Zinn Memorial Undergraduate Scholarship for Holocaust Studies and Social Justice

The College of Letters and Sciences invites applications for the Sarah & Eugene Zinn Memorial Scholarship for Holocaust Studies and Social Justice. Scholarships will support programs of study, internships, or research projects that apply the knowledge of the Jewish experience, and especially the lessons of the Holocaust, to contemporary society and social justice issues.

This support is made possible by a gift to the College by Harry and Helene Zinn, and their friends and family, in memory of their parents. Students in all majors are eligible to apply as long as the project is focused in some way on Jewish Studies. Preference will be given to Jewish Studies majors or students whose area of study relates to Jewish issues and learning.

Scholarships are open to all UCLA undergraduates. Students must enroll in an SRP 99 course during summer session for two units and pay the campus fee.

Awards will be administered by the Undergraduate Research Center for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences in the UCLA College, and overseen by the UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies and its director, Professor Sarah Abrevaya Stein.

Amount: Up to $2,500 per summer or quarter. The award may affect a student’s financial aid package. Consult your financial aid advisor.

2017-2018 Recipient

Justine McCarthy [History] For my History Honors Thesis, I plan to delve into the Danish resistance to the Nazis in World War II. Germany invaded Denmark on April 9, 1940. From the start of the German occupation, there was substantial Danish resistance to the Nazis. In October of 1943, the Germans set out to capture and deport all the Danish Jews to concentration camps. News of the impending roundup made its way to Danish politicians who alerted local communities. Normal Danish citizens sprang into action to assist their Jewish countrymen, helping over 7,000 Danish Jews flee safely to Sweden. Although around 400 Danish Jews were found and deported by German forces, the Danish operation to save the Jews was an extreme success. My research interests revolve around the topics of justice, opposition, and accountability in the context of the Danish resistance to the Nazis in World War II. I will explore what factors contributed to this unprecedented, nationwide resistance to the Nazi regime. In particular, I plan to examine Danish identity and how it facilitated a national opposition to the injustices imposed by the German invaders. In Copenhagen, I will conduct research at the Danish Jewish Museum, examining photographs from the German occupation and studying interviews from Danish-Jewish survivors and members of the Danish underground resistance. This research will enable me to further explore the Danish resistance against the Nazis during World War II.