The annual European Day (or Days) of Jewish Culture kicks off September 1st.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the event — which takes place in hundreds of locations all over Europe.
JHE Director Ruth Ellen Gruber took part in the meeting in Paris in 1999 that established the EDJC, and she will be writing about it in a post on the web site.
A commemoration of Theodor Schreier, the architect of the synagogue in St. Pölten, will include the unveiling of a commemorative plaque to the architect and his wife — both Holocaust victims who died in the Terezin ghetto/camp north of Prague — and a memorial symphonic concert featuring the music of Brahms, Bloch, Dvorak, Janacek, and Schulhoff.
The synagogue is now the home of the Institut für jüdische Geschichte Österreichs — Institute for Austrian Jewish History.
Screening of the film Jewish Routes in Romania, a documentary about Jewish heritage sites in the country.
According to a press release:
Jewish itineraries in Romania is a documentary film that captures a small part of the traces left by the Jewish communities in Romania. From Săpânţa to Ştefăneşti, from Bacău to Siret, the film crew tried to recover the atmosphere in the visited cemeteries and synagogues. Hard to locate, remaining outside the tourist circuit of many localities in Romania, the Jewish cemeteries are in an accelerated process of degradation, although they represent an invaluable heritage. And in the few synagogues that remained functional in Romania, only a handful of people celebrate the old beliefs.
For over 40 minutes, the viewer can admire unique funeral stones or synagogues painted in an impressive manner. Botoşani, Bucureşti, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Fălticeni, Săpânţa, Ştefăneşti, Suceava, Dorohoi, Piatra Neamt, Sighetu Marmaiei, Simleu Silvaniei, Buhuşi, Târgu Neamţ, Sighet, Siret, Rădăuţi and Bacău, are the following localities: they revealed a flourishing world, a Jewish world that used to call Romania’s territory home.
A guided tour of the 17th century Jewish cemetery, which was largely destroyed in early 1960s and then in the 1980s when the Czech TV tower was built there. A large part of the cemetery was dug up, tombstones were knocked down and broken and the rest of the cemetery was filled in a turned into a park.
Though only a small part of the cemetery still exists, it covers a broad range of styles, from Baroque, Empire and Romantic to the common forms of the latter half of the 19th century. In 1999, the Jewish Museum in Prague took over the administration of the preserved part, which is a protected historical monument. Following essential structural repairs and basic restoration work, the cemetery was opened to the public in September 2001. The restoration of the tombstones continued and 164 tombstones and 4 tombs had been restored by the end of 2013.
The tiny rural synagogue in the village of Police u Jemnice, near the border with Austria, will be formally reopened after a two-year restoration carried out by the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic.
The synagogue will house a small exhibition on local Jewish life, and there also will be the launch of the brochure “Rural Synagogues in the Czech Lands,” by Jaroslaw Klenovsky.
For details about the restoration — and photos — CLICK HERE
There will be a live virtual tour of Jewish Timisoara, hosted and broadcast live on the Travel to Live.co.il Facebook page
The guides will include Getta Neumann, author of a Jewish guidebook to Timisoara.
We will broadcast the event live on our Facebook page.
As part of the European Heritage Days, there will be a guided tour of the exhibit Baroque Synagogues in the Czech Lands. The exhibition is complemented by panels mapping the history of Prostějov synagogues and Jewish prayer houses and the Prostějov Jewish community in general. During the guided tour, you will learn more about some of the exhibited objects. For example, part of the rosette stained glass window, which was saved from the destroyed Olomouc synagogue.
The exhibition is organized in cooperation with the Museum and Gallery in Prostějov, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Statutory City of Prostějov, the Respect and Tolerance Association, the Comenius Museum in Přerov and the Hanácký Jeruzalém Association. The guided tour will be the curator of the exhibition Filip Gregor from the Prostějov Museum.
The fourth edition of the Day of Jewish Monuments in the Czech Republic. There is a smartphone app as well as an interactive map on the Day’s web site to help visitors.
More than 50 selected Jewish heritage sites in more than 40 towns in Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia will be open to visitors. They include synagogues, Jewish cemeteries, museums, and other sites. Some of them are generally closed to the public; some have recently undergone extensive renovation or are in the process of restoration.
There are various associated events such as guided tours and concerts.
The event is organized by the Jewish community in Prague in cooperation with Matana, the administrative body for Jewish property, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic and other regional partners.
The annual Day of Jewish Monuments in the Czech Republic opens Jewish heritage sites all over the country to visitors.
(It does not seems to be coordinated within the umbrella of the European Day of Jewish Culture).
On the web site, you can find lists of events and an interactive map with a list of participating sites and opening hours.
This festival features concerts in the synagogues of five towns in western Romania:
The repertoire includes new compositions by the violinist and virtuoso Alexander Bălănescu, who also will perform.
PROGRAM:
Tuesday, September 5th, at 7 PM | Cetate Synagogue in Timișoara
Thursday, September 7th, at 5 PM | “Beit El” Synagogue in Caransebeș
Thursday, September 7th, at 8:30 PM | Neolog Synagogue in Lugoj
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