As we head into 2024, we look back at the most popular news, views, and insights we have posted on Jewish Heritage Europe over the past 12 months.
It was a year marked by the continuing war in Ukraine and the bloody Hamas attack on Israel and ensuing war, but also by major developments in Jewish heritage in Europe. We welcomed many new users, followers, and subscribers to our regular News Feed and monthly Newsletter, as well as to our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds and to our two JHE Facebook groups — in Italian and English.
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MOST POPULAR POSTS
Over the past year, we posted more than 240 items in our Jewish Heritage Europe News Feed and Have Your Say op-eds. As 2023 comes to an end, we draw attention to some that were most popular.
Here are the Top 20 — in no particular order.
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Poland: What is thought to be a large, 14th century synagogue complex is discovered in Wrocław
August 11, 2023
The remains of what is thought to be a large 14th century synagogue complex, including a mikvah, have been discovered during research linked to the renovation of the building that today houses the Historical Institute of Wrocław University.
April 4, 2023
Work is progressing on the meticulous, large-scale restoration of the 17th century Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, a massive project that began in 2017 is planned to be completed late this year. Commissioned by Stichting Onroerend Erfgoed Portugees-Israëlietische Gemeente and coordinated by the Jewish Cultural Quarter, the work primarily concerns a painstaking restoration of the interior of the synagogue and its wooden, brass, and gilt-leather ornamentation and fittings, including its benches and stately wooden Ark. Restoration of the entry porch has also been carried out.
August 16, 2023
Archaeologists excavating at the site of the ancient Greek city of Phanagoria, on Russia’s northern Black Sea coast, have discovered what they believe are the remains of an synagogue from the late Second Temple period that functioned from the first century CE until Phanagoria was sacked and burned by invaders five centuries later.
January 5, 2023
The three adjacent Jewish cemeteries in Siret, in the far north of Romania on the border with Ukraine, form an extremely significant complex of Jewish burial grounds dating back centuries. The elaborately decorated matzevot from the Old Jewish Cemetery (in use most likely from the 16th century until the 19th century) and the “Middle” Jewish cemetery (in use from 1830-1935) have now been fully documented and uploaded for online consultation on the web site of the Jewish Galicia and Bukovina Organization (JGB). (The 20th century New Jewish cemetery is not part of this documentation.)
July 5, 2023
Fragments of the Munich’s magnificent main synagogue, which Hitler personally ordered demolishedin June 1938, have been found in the Isar river, which runs through the city.
January 19, 2023
A tour guide in Krakow who specializes in Jewish history and culture has been tracing the sites on doorposts in the city where mezuzahs were once affixed and has developed a “mezuzah trail” of about 50 of these places to bring them to public awareness.
Jewish Cemeteries Clean-ups 2023 — Round-up #2; more than 70 actions from 16 countries
July 13, 2023
Our second 2023 Round-up of Jewish cemetery clean-up actions in Europe listed more than 70 actions from 16 countries — actions that had taken place since our previous round-up, that were scheduled to take place, that we missed in our previous round-up, and that were (or had been) ongoing. Most were volunteer initiatives, but some were initiatives by Jewish organizations or civic bodies — we also included a volunteer action at a synagogue site. It is so important to emphasize these efforts, as they are largely overlooked (occasional vandalism, however, grabs headlines)!
July 20, 2023
The restoration, a joint project of the Chabad Synagogue on Bronnaya in Moscow and the Moscow-based Shemini Foundation, aimed to bring the long-ruined building back to its original appearance. It will be used both for worship and as a visitors’ attraction.
June 1, 2023
The Jewish Museum in Prague has launched an informative web site with online exhibits about the eclectic material discovered in genizas in a dozen synagogue buildings that have been researched in the country since the 1990s.
August 31, 2023
The Willesden Jewish Cemetery in London called for writers from all disciplines to take advantage of a new program in November — a Writers’ Retreat at the cemetery November 6-9. “Join us for a unique experience at our Writers’ Retreat at Willesden Jewish Cemetery,” the cemetery said on its web site. “Immerse yourself in the tranquil beauty of this historic cemetery.”
Germany: Mapping Memories — a 2-week festival at Frankfurt’s Judengasse — under way
April 14, 2023
“Mapping Memories: Judengasse Extended,” a two-week festival April 13-30, focused on the history of the Judengasse, the medieval Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, and what it described as the way its traces were “violently suppressed” from public space Centerpiece was a pop-up exhibition in the atrium of the Frankfurt Jewish Museum’s Judengasse branch, with archaeological finds from the time of the ghetto plus an “artistic intervention in the current form of the historic site.”
Jewish cemetery 2023 clean-ups Round-up #3 — three dozen actions from 13 countries
September 27, 2023
Our third 2023 round-up of Jewish cemetery clean-up initiatives included three dozen actions from 13 countries — actions that had taken place since our last round-up, that were scheduled to take place, that we missed in our previous round-up, and that were (or had been) ongoing. Most were volunteer initiatives, but some are initiatives by Jewish organizations or civic bodies.
UK: Manchester Jewish Museum wins architecture award; opens time capsule from 1874
June 23, 2023
The Manchester Jewish Museum received one of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) National Awards for 2023. The RIBA National Awards are given to buildings across the UK “in recognition of their significant contributions to architecture.” The museum was one of 30 national winners, drawn from the 138 regional award-winners. The museum reopened in 2021 after being closed for two years for a large-scale expansion and redevelopment that saw the construction of a modern new wing and full restoration of the Grade II listed Victorian synagogue where it has been housed.
January 24, 2023
Remnants of a pre-WW2 mikvah believed to date back to the 18th century have been found during the construction of a parking lot in Oświęcim, the town in southern Poland where the Nazis built the Auschwitz death camp. The discovery was made last week near the Great Synagogue Memorial Park, which is located on the site where the town’s destroyed main synagogue stood before WW2.
November 9, 2023
It’s an annual JHE tradition to counter the memory of destruction of Kristallnacht with images of some of the beautiful synagogues that still stand in Europe — or that have been renovated and refurbished — or that have been newly built. Some are used regularly for religious services; most have been converted for cultural use. But we felt that this year it was particularly important to underscore the survival, revival, and perseverance of these places amid the current spike of antisemitism, which has also targeted Jewish built heritage and monuments, since the Hamas attack on Israel sparked the ensuing war.
Lithuania: Restoration of walls, roof, facades of synagogue in Čekiškė is being completed
July 4, 2023
Restoration of the facades, roof, and walls of the long-disused synagogue in Čekiškė synagogue is being completed, though major work has yet to begin on the interior — which conserves traces of murals, the newly revealed foundations of the bimah, and a marvellous neo-Baroque colonnaded Ark, decorated with paintings. The restoration is being carried out on order of the state Cultural Infrastructure Center (KIC), in cooperation with the Jewish community in nearby Kaunas. It is funded by the Culture Ministry’s Heritage Management Program, with contributions from the Kaunas District Municipality, KIC said.
Lithuania Update: Restored wooden synagogue in Kurkliai officially opened as arts center
June 15, 2023
restored wooden synagogue in Kurkliai has opened to the public as a cultural venue, the regional Anykščiai Arts Center. As we posted earlier, restoration work on the building, listed as a cultural monument, was completed in 2021. The Lithuanian Jewish community handed over the building to the Arts Center.
Lithuania: Jewish museum has opened in the former Telz Yeshiva as a branch of the local Alka Museu
November 2, 2023
A new Jewish museum opened recently in Lithuania, in the building in the town of Telšiai (Telz or Telshe in Yiddish) that once housed the famous pre-war Telz yeshiva. The permanent exhibit on Jewish heritage and culture opened in late September as a branch of the Alka Samogitian Museum in Telšiai.
February 21, 2023
Remnants of a second historic Mikvah have been discovered during construction of a parking lot in Oświęcim, the town in southern Poland where the Nazis built the Auschwitz death camp. This one is wooden — believed unique in Europe — and may date back 400 years or more. The announcement of its discovery came about a month after the discovery of a brick mikvah at more or less the same place. Both discoveries were made near the Great Synagogue Memorial Park, which is located on the site where the town’s destroyed main synagogue stood before WW2.
Senior Job Opportunity: New Director, Galicia Jewish Museum, Krakow
June 13, 2023
Jakub Nowakowski, who had been at the helm of the museum for the past 13 years, was leaving to take up the post of Director of the Holocaust and Genocide Center in Cape Town, South Africa, starting in September. As new Director, the museum was seeking a candidate who will oversee the day-to-day operational management of the museum staff and encourage innovation, growth and high-quality visitor experiences, as well as oversee strategic development and continue to build donor and grant fundings. (Jacek Stawiski was named the new director in October.)