About OAJA
Official Anti-Jewish Acts (OAJA) is a searchable historical database of official anti-Jewish acts from antiquity to the present. It is intended to provide scholars, students, and general readers with a reliable point of entry into the long history of formal anti-Jewish discrimination, restriction, exclusion, and persecution.
The project was originally initiated by Steven Markoff in 2011. Its guiding idea was that official anti-Jewish acts, unlike the much broader and less clearly bounded sphere of unofficial hostility or anecdotal prejudice, can be identified, dated, sourced, verified, and studied comparatively across periods and regions. The result was the creation of a growing historical corpus centered on formal acts issued by political, judicial, military, administrative, and religious authorities.
Today, OAJA is undergoing a comprehensive scholarly and digital redevelopment led by Dr. Yossi Kugler and the Center for Law and Antisemitism at the Haim Striks School of Law, College of Management Academic Studies. This work is intended to improve the database’s structure, searchability, methodological clarity, and long-term academic usefulness, while preserving and strengthening its original core purpose. It is made possible through the continued financial support of Steven Markoff.
The current public database includes over 3,000 official anti-Jewish acts. Additional materials, and a separate corpus of records, are currently under review and are not yet part of the confirmed public database.
For additional background on the project’s earlier stages, see Sunrise123.org.
Current Team
Dr. Yossi Kugler is a historian of antisemitism, Holocaust memory, Zionism, and Israeli society, and Director of the Center for Law and Antisemitism at the Haim Striks School of Law, College of Management Academic Studies. His research focuses on the history of antisemitism, anti-Zionism, Israeli responses to antisemitism, and the relationship between historical scholarship, law, and public discourse. He leads the current scholarly redevelopment of the OAJA project.
Historical Advisors
Dafna Dolinko holds an M.A. in Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry and is a historian and genealogical researcher. She specializes in archival research and content development, with a focus on verifying historical and legal documentation. In the past, she worked as a historian and educator at Yad Vashem, where she developed courses and educational content on Holocaust history and antisemitism.
Dmitry Kolotilenko is a PhD candidate in the Department of General History at the University of Haifa and a researcher in the Josephus Christianus project. He specializes in anti-Judaism and antisemitism, with a focus on the reception of Flavius Josephus in Greek Christian literature. In the past, he worked as a Holocaust researcher at Yad Vashem.
Research Assistants
Tom Barak is an M.A. student in General History at Tel Aviv University, where he previously completed his B.A. with highest honors. He has worked as a research assistant in military history and strategic studies, and has substantial experience working with primary and secondary historical sources.
Daria-Sophia Pimentel is completing her B.A. in History and Philosophy at Tel Aviv University and is expected to begin a research-track M.A. in General History. Her training has included extensive work with primary and secondary historical sources, including archival research in London as part of a seminar on merchant culture in archives and libraries.
Earlier Researchers and Contributors
The OAJA project has benefited from the work of earlier researchers, legal researchers, translators, student researchers, and pro bono contributors.
Researchers
Michael Bazyler served as Project Editor of OAJA. He is a Professor of Law and the 1939 Society Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at Chapman University in California. He has held fellowships at Harvard Law School, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. He is a leading scholar in the fields of law, the Holocaust, genocide restitution, and human rights, and has played a central role in the scholarly development of the OAJA project.
Isabella Azieb Debas studied History, Sociology, and Political Science at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt.
Mehmet Guclu studied Business at Ansbach University of Applied Sciences and has long-standing interests in historical research.
Dominik Jacobs studied Political Science at UCLA and Psychology at the University of Oregon.
Joan Paez studied Ancient History at UCLA and Classics at the University of California, Irvine, with interests in Greek and Latin language and literature and the late Roman Empire.
Ziba Shadjaani is a writer and filmmaker whose background spans Iran, Germany, and the United States.
Franziska Wagener is a translator trained in Theology and Church History, with particular expertise in early Christian writings.
Legal Researchers
Jennifer Allison is a legal researcher and editor and previously served as librarian for foreign and international law at Harvard Law School Library.
Andrei Bogancha is a Ukrainian attorney and graduate of Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv.
Sherli Frank is an attorney and graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Pepperdine School of Law.
Oleksandr Gladushko is a lawyer specializing in business law, tax law, and natural resource law.
Kate Wraith is a legal researcher trained in sociology and international human rights and humanitarian law.
Pro Bono Research Assistance
The project has also received pro bono research assistance from contributors affiliated with Cooley, Covington, DLA Piper, Goodwin Procter, and Latham.
Additional Student Researchers
McCoy Bradley is an attorney and legal researcher trained at the University of Colorado Boulder and Chapman University.
Arrian Farr is an attorney in California with academic training in history and law from UCLA and Chapman University.