If you’re interested in the history of synagogue architecture and other historic data regarding Jewish built heritage (and Jewish life in general), a search of the National Library of Israel’s huge — and growing — archive of Jewish newspapers can turn up fascinating gems of information.
So far, the archive includes some 132,565 issues of 59 newspapers from various countries, ranging in dates from 1783-2014. There are more than 1,306,600 digitized pages. All pages are fully searchable — by key word, and for articles, pictures and advertisements. In Europe, there are newspapers in Hebrew, Yiddish, Poland, Hungarian and French.
We found an article, for example, on the dedication of the magnificent synagogue in Szeged, Hungary, in 1903 — and we also found an obituary of the synagogue’s architect, Lipot Baumhorn, in the pre-WW2 Hungarian Jewish newspaper Egyenlöseg.
Baumhorn, who died in 1932, was the most prolific synagogue architect in Europe before World War II. The dome of the Szeged synagogue is carved on his gravestone.
2 comments on “Archives: Fascinating finds in National Library of Israel Jewish newspaper archive”
Always worth reminding that this is a tremendous resource for family historians and genealogists. Your family need NOT have emigrated to Palestine for there to be articles potentially of interest, as these historic newspapers – in multiple original languages – include many newspapers from central and eastern Europe and back into the 19th century: WW1 news, Jewish community fundraising for specific causes, families, and even events, and notices and announcements specific to family towns. Be sure to search on your family town(s) and not limit inquiries to just family surnames.
Thanks for the post – a reminder to me that it was time to check in for Rohatyn and see what might be new!