Over the past year, we have posted well over 200 items in our Jewish Heritage Europe News Feed and Have Your Say op-eds.
As 2017 comes to an end, we thought we would draw attention to the three dozen posts that were most shared by our readers this past year (shared directly from the web site, not from the Facebook Page). The list is more or less accurate — we had some technical problems from time to time that affected the share function….
Here they are, in reverse chronological order.….they encompass a remarkably wide range of subjects — and geographical locations. (In fact, we still can’t figure out what makes these the particular posts that were shared the most…..)
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Hungary allocates more funds for restoration of synagogue in Subotica, Serbia
Posted on
The Hungarian government has allocated further funding toward the restoration of the art nouveau synagogue in Subotica, Serbia, which is nearing completion
Will a former synagogue become a Jewish museum in Wales?
Posted on
There are calls to create a Jewish museum in Wales, and — perhaps — to house it in the derelict Old Synagogue in Merthyr Tydfil — the oldest synagogue building in Wales, and a Grade II listed building.
Poland: government to invest €24 million to restore Warsaw Jewish cemetery
Poland is expected to invest 100 million zlotys (approx. €24 million) to restore Warsaw’s main Jewish cemetery on Okopowa st. thanks to a law approved earlier this month.
Further signs of Jewish Heritage cooperation in western Ukraine (crosspost)
A second roundtable of activists, Jewish representatives, NGOs, and local government officials has been held in Lviv to discuss cooperation and strategies on Jewish cultural heritage preservation and research in parts of western Ukraine.
National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah opens, with major exhibition
The National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah (MEIS) is now officially open, following the inauguration this week of a major temporary exhibit on the Jewish experience in Italy from ancient Roman times until the Middle Ages.
Poland: Mikveh in Wrocław under restoration, as both a functioning ritual bath and exhibition space
The Bente Kahan Foundation has begun to restore the more than century-old mikveh in Wrocław, Poland as both a functioning ritual bath and space for a permanent exhibition dedicated to the narrative of the Jewish lIfe cycle.
Hungary: two new “Synagogues of Hungary” postage stamps
The Hungarian post office has issued two more stamps in its nearly decade-long series of stamps portraying Synagogues in Hungary.
Gorizia/Nova Gorica: A unique transborder Jewish cemetery project; Italy and Slovenia
The historic Jewish heritage sites of Gorizia, in northeastern Italy, comprise a relatively rare example of local Jewish sites separated by an international border:
Kristallnacht: Marking the anniversary with wonderful synagogues, 2017 edition
By now it’s a JHE tradition to mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht with images of wonderful synagogues in Europe that still stand today.
Munich’s powerful (& innovative) new memorial to the 1972 Olympics massacre
On JHE we don’t usually post about commemorative memorials per se, but we thought we would take a little time to describe the powerful, and innovative, new memorial in Munich that was dedicated in September,
Manchester Jewish Museum receives large grant
The Manchester Jewish Museum has received a £2.89 million National Lottery grant.
Serbia: Synagogue in Šabac restored; will become Jewish museum
The synagogue in the town of Šabac, Serbia has been renovated and will be reopened November 23 as a cultural space.
Update: Restoration of Great Synagogue in Iaşi, Romania nears completion
The delicate restoration of the elaborately carved and painted wooden Ark, or Aron Kodesh, of the 17th century Great Synagogue in Iaşi is moving forward, and experts expect it to be completed by spring, 2018.
Italy: The Stunning Synagogues of Piemonte and the Challenges of Tourism
Few other parts of Italy (or, indeed, of Europe) provide such a varied and spectacular array of Jewish heritage sites than does Piemonte — Piedmont — the northwest corner of the country along the French and Swiss borders.
The tiny Jewish community in Carpentras, France has issued an appeal for contributions to help complete renovation work on its historic synagogue, which this year is celebrating its 650th birthday.
Ukraine: ancient Buchach Jewish cemetery documented
The Jewish Galicia and Bukovina organization carried out its latest annual Field School session with a thorough documentation of the old section of the centuries-old Jewish cemetery in Buchach, Ukraine.
Lithuania: restoration of Alytus synagogue progresses
The renovation of the century-old synagogue in Alytus, Lithuania, begun last September, is moving forward.
Germany: US Jewish artist creates stained glass windows for church housed in former synagogue
An American Jewish artist is creating new stained glass windows for a church in Germany that occupies a former synagogue.
Poland: archaeologists probe foundations of destroyed New Synagogue in Wrocław
In a plot of land between a kindergarten and a car park, archaeologists in Wrocław, in southwestern Poland, have revealed parts of the foundations of the monumental New Synagogue that was destroyed on Kristallnacht in 1938.
Lithuania: Joniškis White Synagogue reopens; unique Jewish heritage complex restored
The so-called White Synagogue in Joniškis in northern Lithuania officially reopens as a cultural venue next month after restoration, joining the neighboring Red Synagogue, which reopened for cultural use in 2014, to a unique Jewish cultural and heritage ensemble.
Ukraine: Appeal to aid Jewish exhibit in Rohatyn museum
The Rohatyn Jewish Heritage (RJH) group is appealing for aid in helping a new museum in the western Ukraine town develop an exhibit on local Jewish history, culture, and tradition.
The “Preserving Memory” Award, founded in 1998 to honor non-Jewish Poles who preserve, promote, and care for Jewish heritage, marks its 20th edition this year.
Poland: Synagogue complex in Włodawa to undergo restoration
The important synagogue complex in Włodawa, Poland is to undergo restoration.
Greece: Death of Nikos Stavroulakis z”l
We are deeply saddened by the death of our longtime friend Nikos Stavroulakis. (Combined posts)
Italy: Watch restoration of windows in Venice synagogues
Windows in three historic synagogues in Venice — the Scuola Canton, Scuola Tedesca and Scuola Spagnola — have been restored thanks to the World Monuments Fund and partners, with grants from the David Berg Foundation and other donors.
How recognizing the “Jewish country house” expands our understanding of Jewish heritage
Posted May 7, 2017
Have Your Say op-ed by Oxford University Professor Abigail Green.
For Yom Ha Shoah: Names & Memory
Today is Yom ha Shoah, Israel and the Jewish world’s annual day of remembrance of the Holocaust. As we did in the past, we thought it would be appropriate to highlight some of the many monuments and memorials that honor the victims.
Turkey: Synagogue returned to Jewish community
A prayer service was held April 2 to mark the return to the Jewish community of the Abudaram (or Abudara or Parmakkapi) synagogue on Haskoy Mahluk st. in Istanbul, after it had been used since the 1960s as a workshop.
Lithuania: Map of Vilnius Synagogues published
A map pinpointing the location of more than 130 synagogues, shtibls, and Jewish prayer houses that stood in Vilnius before the Holocaust has been published.
Italy: Project launched to digitally reconstruct historic Florence Ghetto
The Medici Archive Project (MAP) has recently launched a major, multidisciplinary project to virtually “reconstruct the architectural and demographic-economic features of the ghetto of Florence, one of the oldest ghettos of Europe.”
Poland: Pre-WW2 Sukkah Saved in Płock
A family’s pre-war wooden Sukkah in Płock, Poland has been saved and will be preserved restored, and displayed as a museum exhibit in Warsaw.
Spain: Jewish community wants “symbolic” return of medieval Toledo synagogue
Six centuries years after the building was turned into a church, the Jewish community in Spain wants a medieval former synagogue in Toledo, currently a museum, returned to Jewish ownership.
Epitaphs: Poignant Connections to a World Now Gone
Posted February 13, 2017
Have Your Say op-ed by Heidi Szpek about how she was drawn to translate the epitaphs on Jewish cemetery gravestones and thus reveal vivid portraits of Białystok’s Jews, their lives, and their community.
Lithuania: Plans for state-of-art Jewish Museum at Šeduva announced
Posted on February 12, 2017
Plans have been announced for a state-of-the-art Jewish museum slated to open in 2019 as part of the “Lost Shtetl” memorial complex at Šeduva, Lithuania.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day: Photo Essay of Memorials
Posted on January 25, 2017
January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, is marked in many countries as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is an occasion for commemorative ceremonies, educational programs, and other initiatives.
BBC calls Birmingham synagogue one of England’s hidden gems
Posted on January 2, 2017
The BBC included Birmingham’s Singers Hill synagogue on a list of England’s “hidden architectural gems” — buildings that “prove the maxim that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”