Jewish Heritage Europe

Calendar

Jun
10
Thu
Virtual Reconstructions of Synagogues in Germany @ NS Documentation Center
Jun 10 @ 19:00 – 20:00
Virtual Reconstructions of Synagogues in Germany @ NS Documentation Center | Köln | Nordrhein-Westfalen | Germany

The opening of an exhibition of virtual reconstructions of synagogues destroyed by the Nazis.

It is mounted at the the NS Documentation Center in cooperation with the Technical University of Darmstadt.

The exhibition “Synagogues in Germany – A Virtual Reconstruction” runs from from June 11th to September 19th.

The TU Darmstadt has been working on the virtual reconstruction of synagogues that were destroyed in Germany for 25 years. The initial spark for this long-term project was the attack by neo-Nazis on the synagogue in Lübeck in 1994. In 2019, an attack was carried out on the synagogue there in Halle. With this project, the TU Darmstadt shows the cultural loss, the importance of synagogues in the cityscape and the beauty of the architecture. 

The exhibition also shows synagogues that were built in Germany after 1945. 

Read our article about virtual reconstructions

Jun
13
Sun
Synagogue in Gleusdorf opens @ Synagogue in Gleusdorf, Germany
Jun 13 all-day
Synagogue in Gleusdorf opens @ Synagogue in Gleusdorf, Germany | Untermerzbach | Bayern | Germany

The tiny former synagogue in the village of Gleusdorf, out of use for more than a century, opens as an information center about local rural Jewish life and history.

The inauguration ceremony will be a closed event for invited guests because of COVID restrictions.

The synagogue has been owned since 2016 by the Untermerzbach municipality, which sponsored and oversaw the €174,000 project. Funding included a €87,500 grant from the EU’s LEADER funding program for the development of the rural economy. 

The synagogue will be operated in cooperation with the Friends of the Synagogue association in nearby Memmelsdorf, and the preservation concept accords with that of the Memmelsdorf synagogue –“conservation instead of reconstruction” —  that is, not to reconstruct or restore the building, but to conserve it in a way that shows the history of what it has gone through.

Click to read our article about the restoration and project

 

Jul
11
Sun
“House of Eternity” photo exhibition @ Synagogue in Hagenow
Jul 11 – Oct 17 all-day
"House of Eternity" photo exhibition @ Synagogue in Hagenow | Hagenow | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Germany

“House of Eternity: Jewish cemeteries in the Central European cultural area 2004–2021.”

A photo documentation by Berlin-based Marcel-Th. and Klaus Jacobs.

The 45 black and white photos in the exhibition, featuring Jewish cemeteries  in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and Czech Republic, were taken with an analog Leica camera.

The exhibition was made possible by donations from the Circle of Friends for the Preservation of the Jewish Cemeteries in Central Europe.

Further information abut the project is available at: www.jüdische-friedhöfe.de

 

Jul
12
Mon
Görlitz Synagogue reopens @ Synagogue Görlitz
Jul 12 all-day

The former synagogue in Görlitz reopens after  around 30 years of gradual renovation as the “Kulturforum Görlitz Synagogue.” 

The Görlitz synagogue is the only community synagogue in saxony that survived Kristallnacht in 1938.

According to the city administration, the total cost of the renovation was 12.6 million euros.

 The opening had been postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Aug
24
Tue
The Great Synagogue of Vilnius – Finds from the Past and a Vision for the Future @ Both at Lithuanian Jewish Community Center and on Facebook
Aug 24 @ 18:00 – 19:00
The Great Synagogue of Vilnius – Finds from the Past and a Vision for the Future @ Both at Lithuanian Jewish Community Center and on Facebook | Vilnius | Vilniaus apskritis | Lithuania
Lecture by Dr. Jon Seligman – Archaeologist and the Director of the Excavations, Surveys and Research Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Since August 9 team of archaeologists with led by Dr. Seligman continues the works of previous excavation seasons of Vilnius Great Synagogue and this August plan to fully expose the remainder of the Bimah, the Torah Ark/Aron Kodesh, the floor and the southeastern and northwestern walls of the synagogue.

The lecture will be in English.

Place: Lithuanian Jewish community, Pylimo str. 4., III floor.

The project is partially financed by the Good Will Foundation.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/s/i-the-great-synagogue-of-vilni/267447701552421/

Nov
4
Thu
Orphaned legacy. Jewish cemeteries on both sides of the Oder River @ Berlin City Library - Berlin Room
Nov 4 @ 19:00 – 21:00
Orphaned legacy. Jewish cemeteries on both sides of the Oder River @ Berlin City Library - Berlin Room | Berlin | Berlin | Germany

A conference looking at  the handling of Jewish cemeteries on both sides of the border between Germany and Poland — both in communist East Germany and Poland after WW2 and since 1989 in post-reunification Germany and post-communist Poland. Register by November 2.

Program

Welcome: Dr. Peter Bahl, State Historical Association for the Mark Brandenburg eV, and Dr. Magdalena Gebala, German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe eV

Introductory presentation On the situation of the Jewish cemeteries in the Soviet Zone and the GDR, Dr. Monika Schmidt, Berlin

Presentation of the project Jewish cemeteries in Poland in the areas of the former province of Brandenburg, Dr. Magdalena Abraham-Diefenbach and Dr. des. Anke Geißler-Grünberg, both Frankfurt (Oder)

Documentary film Jewish cemeteries in Poland , director: Dietmar Barsig, 2009, 4:05 min., Broadcast in Kulturzeit on November 18, 2009; with the kind permission of ZDF

Followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Magdalena Abraham-Diefenbach, Dr. des. Anke Geißler-Grünberg, Dr. Monika Schmidt and Andrzej Kirmiel, director of the Museum of the Meseritzer Land, Międzyrzecz / Meseritz

Moderation: Dr. Peter Bahl

The event will be held in German and Polish and will be interpreted.

Important NOTE

Limited places. To participate in the event, a confirmed registration up to and including Tuesday, November 2, 2021 by email to ger.wei@web.de (preferred) or on the telephone number (030) 413 82 19 (with AB) is necessary. Proof of COVID vaccination is required to enter. A minimum distance of 1.5 m must be maintained. Wearing an OP or FFP2 mask is mandatory for all participants.

A cooperative event between the Chair for Monument Studies at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), the Chair for Modern History (German-Jewish History) at the University of Potsdam , the State Historical Association for the Mark Brandenburg eV and the German Cultural Forum Eastern Europe eV

The picture shows: Broken tombstone in the Jewish cemetery in Drossen / Ośno Lubuskie, 2021, © Peggy Lohse

 

Nov
27
Sat
Extermination – Great Synagogue Grodno @ online - zoom, and on-site
Nov 27 @ 18:00 – 20:30
Extermination - Great Synagogue Grodno @ online - zoom, and on-site | Vilnius | Vilniaus apskritis | Lithuania

European Humanities University (EHU) and the Center for Belarusian Community and Culture in Vilnius will host a premiere presentation of “Extermination” — an audiovisual installation about the Great Synagogue of Grodno, which was constructed in the 16th century and was rebuilt many times after devastating fires. 

Kseniya Shtalenkova (lecturer in the Academic Department of Humanities and Arts at EHU, Philosophy PhD candidate) is the project curator and Viktoryia Bahdanovich (fourth-year student of the BA program in Visual Design) is the project production designer and executive producer.

 The “Extermination” audiovisual installation is a monologue on the history of the place as well as an individual experience of a person in time and space.

The installation has been created as a part of the project on “Preservation and Actualization of Former Synagogues in Belarus for the Benefit of Local Communities” by Stsiapan Stureika, Professor of Humanities and Arts at EHU. Project research conducted for the work on the installation was conducted with the participation of EHU students.

The presentation will be delivered in Russian with subtitles in English. 

Register by November 26.

Click here to register on Zoom (or for in-person attendance)

The event will be also streamed online via EHU’s Facebook page.

NOTE: you can attend the event physically at the Belarusian House (Vilniaus g. 20) by pre-registration at the same link to register on Zoom

May
12
Thu
Space and Place in the German-Jewish Experience of the 1930s @ Rostock University
May 12 all-day
Space and Place in the German-Jewish Experience of the 1930s @ Rostock University | Rostock | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Germany

This workshop explores spatial aspects of the experiences of German-Jews during 1930s, in Germany and in transit. In highlighting the convoluted relations between place and identity—and the essential influence of these relations on the history of emotions, thoughts and culture—the workshop focuses on the spaces that shaped German-Jewish self-perceptions in the face of National Socialism. While the workshop discusses specific locations, it also examines the concepts of space and place as analytical tools to enhance the historical understanding of Jewish life under Nazi rule and Jewish responses to Nazi persecution. In so doing, the workshop seeks to scrutinize and complicate recent trends in the study of German-Jewish history.

The Keynote Lecture will be given by Professor Marion Kaplan, a renowned researcher of German-Jewish history in modern times and one of the first to address questions of place and space in the experience of German Jews under Nazism.

Organisers: David Jünger (Universität Rostock), Ofer Ashkenazi (The Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History), Björn Siegel (Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden) und Katrin Steffen (Sussex Weidenfeld Institut of Jewish Studies)

This workshop takes place IN PERSON. To comply with current regulations to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, please register in advance by contacting Dr. David Jünger (david.juenger@uni-rostock.de).

 

PROGRAM

Thursday, 12 May

12:30–13:00
Introduction

13:00–15:00
1. Creating Spaces of Memory

Gerald Lamprecht (Graz)
Entangled Memories. Jewish and non-Jewish Discourses on the Great War in Interwar Austria

Katrin Steffen (Brighton)
East German-Jewish Spaces in Berlin. Jewish Heritage Societies (Heimatvereine) and their diasporic milieu in the 1930ies

Joachim Schlör (Southampton)
Brückenallee 33, Berlin

15:30-17:30
2. Being In-Between

David Jünger (Rostock)
From Myth to Reality. German Jews Discover Palestine (1933–1938)

Charlie Knight (Southampton)
Mapping your coordinates. Space and Transnationality in Refugee Correspondence

Björn Siegel (Hamburg/Graz)
Ships to Nowhere. A Maritime Space and Its Relevance to Decode Jewish Refugees’ experiences in the 1930s

18:00-19:30
Keynote Lecture

Marion Kaplan (New York)
The Emotional Dissonance of Spaces. German Jewish Refugees in Portugal

Hörsaal 218, Universitätshauptgebäude, Universitätsplatz 1

 

 

Friday 13 May

09:00-11:30
3. Vanishing Jewish Spaces

Guy Miron (Jerusalem)
Synagogues, Cemeteries, Sports facilities. Jewish spaces and places in Nazi Germany

Teresa Walch (Greensboro)
Rendering Germany ‘judenrein’: Space, Ideology, and German Jews in the 1930s

Kim Wünschmann (Hamburg)
Filming the destruction of the Munich Main Synagogue in June 1938. A spatial history-approach to the reading of visual sources

Miriam Rürup (Potsdam)
Dejudaization before Deportation. The removal of Jewish traces in urban topographies of German cities

12:00-14:00
4. Visualizing Jewish Spaces

Robert Mueller-Stahl (Potsdam)
Capturing crisis. German-Jewish private travel photography between the Weimar Republic and Nazism

Sarah Wobick-Segev (Hamburg)
Being and Not Being in Time and Place

Ofer Aschkenazi (Tel Aviv)
The Displacement of the Ordinary. The German-Jewish Home in Photography Narratives of Emigration

14:15-15:30
Round table: Final Discussion
with Sandwich lunch

 

May
14
Sat
Space and Place in the German-Jewish Experience of the 1930s @ Rostock University
May 14 all-day
Space and Place in the German-Jewish Experience of the 1930s @ Rostock University | Rostock | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Germany

This workshop explores spatial aspects of the experiences of German-Jews during 1930s, in Germany and in transit. In highlighting the convoluted relations between place and identity—and the essential influence of these relations on the history of emotions, thoughts and culture—the workshop focuses on the spaces that shaped German-Jewish self-perceptions in the face of National Socialism. While the workshop discusses specific locations, it also examines the concepts of space and place as analytical tools to enhance the historical understanding of Jewish life under Nazi rule and Jewish responses to Nazi persecution. In so doing, the workshop seeks to scrutinize and complicate recent trends in the study of German-Jewish history.

The Keynote Lecture will be given by Professor Marion Kaplan, a renowned researcher of German-Jewish history in modern times and one of the first to address questions of place and space in the experience of German Jews under Nazism.

Organisers: David Jünger (Universität Rostock), Ofer Ashkenazi (The Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History), Björn Siegel (Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden) und Katrin Steffen (Sussex Weidenfeld Institut of Jewish Studies)

This workshop takes place IN PERSON. To comply with current regulations to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, please register in advance by contacting Dr. David Jünger (david.juenger@uni-rostock.de).

 

PROGRAM

Thursday, 12 May

12:30–13:00
Introduction

13:00–15:00
1. Creating Spaces of Memory

Gerald Lamprecht (Graz)
Entangled Memories. Jewish and non-Jewish Discourses on the Great War in Interwar Austria

Katrin Steffen (Brighton)
East German-Jewish Spaces in Berlin. Jewish Heritage Societies (Heimatvereine) and their diasporic milieu in the 1930ies

Joachim Schlör (Southampton)
Brückenallee 33, Berlin

15:30-17:30
2. Being In-Between

David Jünger (Rostock)
From Myth to Reality. German Jews Discover Palestine (1933–1938)

Charlie Knight (Southampton)
Mapping your coordinates. Space and Transnationality in Refugee Correspondence

Björn Siegel (Hamburg/Graz)
Ships to Nowhere. A Maritime Space and Its Relevance to Decode Jewish Refugees’ experiences in the 1930s

18:00-19:30
Keynote Lecture

Marion Kaplan (New York)
The Emotional Dissonance of Spaces. German Jewish Refugees in Portugal

Hörsaal 218, Universitätshauptgebäude, Universitätsplatz 1

 

 

Friday 13 May

09:00-11:30
3. Vanishing Jewish Spaces

Guy Miron (Jerusalem)
Synagogues, Cemeteries, Sports facilities. Jewish spaces and places in Nazi Germany

Teresa Walch (Greensboro)
Rendering Germany ‘judenrein’: Space, Ideology, and German Jews in the 1930s

Kim Wünschmann (Hamburg)
Filming the destruction of the Munich Main Synagogue in June 1938. A spatial history-approach to the reading of visual sources

Miriam Rürup (Potsdam)
Dejudaization before Deportation. The removal of Jewish traces in urban topographies of German cities

12:00-14:00
4. Visualizing Jewish Spaces

Robert Mueller-Stahl (Potsdam)
Capturing crisis. German-Jewish private travel photography between the Weimar Republic and Nazism

Sarah Wobick-Segev (Hamburg)
Being and Not Being in Time and Place

Ofer Aschkenazi (Tel Aviv)
The Displacement of the Ordinary. The German-Jewish Home in Photography Narratives of Emigration

14:15-15:30
Round table: Final Discussion
with Sandwich lunch

 

May
23
Mon
5th World Litvak Congress @ various
May 23 – May 26 all-day
5th World Litvak Congress @ various | Lithuania

A gathering of Lithuanian Jews and descendants, which includes an academic conference, a cultural fest, guided tours to Jewish heritage in several towns and cities around the country — Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Šeduva, Pakruojis — and more.

Click here to see the full program

Pre-registration is required by filling out the following form:

https://forms.gle/VJa9nMHaHjH4t5Lf6

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