This month, Professor Gilly Carr, our Academic Director in Archaeology and Professor of Conflict Archaeology and Holocaust Heritage, has been undertaking powerful and deeply moving fieldwork in Warsaw. Alongside Dr Britt Baillie, co-tutor on our Diploma in Conflict Archaeology, Professor Carr has been working with Polish colleagues Dr Jacek Konik (Muzeum Niepodległości) and Michał Grabowski (University of Rzeszów) on a series of excavations in and around the former wartime ghetto.
Although the excavation is not affiliated with the University of Cambridge or our Archaeology courses, it offers a valuable glimpse into the meaningful and independent work our tutors lead outside the classroom. These real-world experiences directly enrich the teaching we offer at Professional and Continuing Education, bringing contemporary fieldwork and first-hand knowledge into your learning environment.
Among the discoveries was a delicate perfume bottle still containing traces of liquid found at the site of a tenement building on Dzielna Street. As Professor Gilly Carr reflected, such items serve as powerful reminders of human dignity and resilience:
Finds like this remind us that even in the most desperate circumstances, people held on to fragments of their former lives. For the women who lived through the horrors of the Ghetto, something as simple as a familiar scent could offer a fleeting moment of comfort.
Other notable finds include a decorated fireplace tile, a small ink pot, and Jewish religious items such as a Hanukkah oil lamp, Shabbat candles, and Torah scroll decorations from Anielewicza Street. Each object offers a tangible connection to the lives, identities and spiritual practices of those who endured the Holocaust.
Rain briefly paused excavation work, but the team used the opportunity to explore the Museum of Independence and the Jewish Historical Institute, where Professor Gilly Carr viewed one of the original milk cans used to hide the Ringelblum Archive, an underground collection documenting Jewish life under Nazi occupation. The ink pot found on site also echoed this theme, symbolising the drive to record and preserve history even under unimaginable conditions.
Beyond the excavation, Professor Carr travelled with colleagues from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to memorial sites in Wąsosz, Jedwabne, Radziłow and Szczuczyn—towns that witnessed pogroms during the war. At the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw, she and Dr Baillie reflected on individual memorials and mass graves, connecting their current work with the broader memory landscape of the Holocaust.
Professor Carr also met Mr Alex Schwartz of the Rabbinical Commission for Cemeteries, a leading expert in Halacha (Jewish law) concerning the treatment of the dead. These encounters further illustrate the depth and care taken in this collaborative project.
I believe in research-informed teaching,” says Professor Gilly Carr, “and I like to find out about the latest European excavations, exhibitions and events first hand so that my students can learn at the cutting edge.
If you’ve been inspired by this article, now is a great time to apply for one of our Archaeology courses. Our courses are shaped by academics who are active in their fields, passionate about their subjects, and committed to bringing contemporary, real-world insights directly into their teaching.
Click here to discover our archaeology courses.
To find out more about Professor Gilly Carr and her work, click here.