Rebecca Clifford

Professor Rebecca Clifford is a leading scholar in Transnational and European History at Durham University, specializing in Holocaust history, childhood studies, and oral history. She holds a professorial position in the Department of History and is a Fellow of the Institute for Medical Humanities. Her research focuses on child survivors of the Holocaust and their post-war lives, as well as broader themes of memory, trauma, and 20th-century social dynamics.

Her major work, Survivors: Children’s Lives After the Holocaust (2020), has garnered international acclaim, winning the Yad Vashem Book Prize and multiple other awards. Previously, she led a Leverhulme Trust-funded project on child survivors’ post-war experiences and co-authored Europe’s 1968: Voices of Revolt (2013), analyzing 1960s activism across Europe. She has also explored Holocaust memorialization in France and Italy, addressing challenges in official commemorations.

Research interests include Holocaust studies, children’s histories, oral history methodologies, and the intersection of psychology with historical trauma. She has supervised doctoral students on topics ranging from Holocaust geographies to gendered healthcare histories in China.

• Awards: Yad Vashem Book Prize (2022), Canadian Jewish Literary Award (2021), Cundill History Prize Finalist (2022), Wolfson History Prize Shortlist (2021), and multiple international recognitions.
• Grants: British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, AHRC-funded projects on post-war child survivors and 1968 activism.

Her interdisciplinary approach bridges history with medical humanities, psychology, and cultural studies. Current projects examine the legacy of Holocaust trauma on child psychoanalysis and the role of oral histories in reconstructing family narratives.