Jewish Heritage Europe

Calendar

Sep
25
Sat
Exhibit of rescued matzevot fragments @ Huta Bedzin
Sep 25 @ 11:00 – 17:00
Exhibit of rescued matzevot fragments @ Huta Bedzin | Będzin | Śląskie | Poland

More than 1,000 fragments of Jewish headstones that the Communist authorities removed in the 1960s from the Jewish cemetery on Zagorska Street and used to build a railway station platform will be exhibited to the public.

Excavations have been going on for six months to recover them, and they will eventually used to create a memorial.

At 5 pm, at the Muzeum Cafe Jerozolima, there will be a presentation about the history of the cemetery.

 

Mar
20
Sun
80th Anniversary of Destruction of Jewish Rohatyn @ Jewish cemetery
Mar 20 @ 13:00 – 14:00
80th Anniversary of Destruction of Jewish Rohatyn @ Jewish cemetery | Rohatyn | Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast | Ukraine

Commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Jewish Rohatyn.

On March 20, 1942, the largest and deadliest of the Nazi “aktions” resulted in the final liquidation of Rohatyn’s Jewish population. 3,500-5,500 victims, half of which were children, were executed and buried in a common grave in the fields south of city center. Rohatyn Jewish Heritage invites all those who wish to remember the victims on-site at 13.00 on 20 March 2022 for prayer and a moment of silence led by Rabbi Kolesnik of Ivano-Frankivisk.

GPS: 49°24’12.7″N 24°37’39.4″E

(Photo shows longtime local activist, the later Mykhailo Vorobets, at the south mass grave in Rohatyn in 2012. Photo © RJH)

Mar
31
Thu
Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival @ Zacheta gallery Warsaw
Mar 31 @ 18:00 – 19:00
Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival @ Zacheta gallery Warsaw | Warszawa | Mazowieckie | Poland

Opening of the exhibition Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival — showcasing the work of the architect, artist, and researcher Natalia Romik about the places where Jews hid during the Holocaust.

The exhibition will run until July 17, Tuesday-Sunday, 12-8 pm.

 

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

Apr
19
Wed
80th Anniversary Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Apr 19 all-day
80th Anniversary Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

A number of events are marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, including a conference, exhibit, monument dedication, at the POLIN Museum, Warsaw’s Okopowa Jewish cemetery, and elsewhere.

 

 

Oct
4
Wed
“Burning” exhibition by Monika Krajewska @ POLIN Museum
Oct 4 – Dec 18 all-day
"Burning" exhibition by Monika Krajewska @ POLIN Museum | Warszawa | Mazowieckie | Poland

In 2020, we were privileged to host an online exhibition of work by the Warsaw-based papercut artist Monika Krajewska. The pieces were drawn from her extraordinary cycle of papercuts called “Burning,” a commemoration of the physical destruction of the Shoah.

This fall, from October 4 to December 18,  Krajewska’s  Burning cycle will be exhibited at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

The exhibit consists of 31 works in which the artist refers to the objects related to synagogue cult and transfers them to the traditional Jewish paper-cutting technique, painstakingly recreating the symbolism and ornamentation of Jewish art from East-Central Europe—stylised floral decoration, symbolic representations of animals, a repertoire of traditional sacred Judaic symbols (a menorah, Torah and the Tablets of Law, the Temple) and calligraphic quotations from religious texts and prayers.

In order to introduce reflection on loss and destruction, the artist subjects her painstaking work to destruction: she tears apart sections of the works after cutting them out and burns the ends of the sheets. She uses tinted paper as a background for the cut-outs, incorporating the motif of fire, ashes and ruins. In the representations, she incorporates quotations from religious texts or classics of modern Jewish literature, in which there are references to flames and destruction, as well as to the hope of salvation.

 

Jan
14
Sun
The “Burning” Exhibit of Papercuts by Monika Krajewska – now in Radom @ Jacek Malczewski Museum, Radom
Jan 14 – Apr 30 all-day
The "Burning" Exhibit of Papercuts by Monika Krajewska - now in Radom @ Jacek Malczewski Museum, Radom

 “Burning,” an exhibition of paper cuts by Monika Krajewska, is now being shown in Radom, following an exhibit at the POLIN museum in Warsaw. We were privileged to host an online exhibition of some of her works in 2020.

The exhibit consists of 31 works in which the artist, using traditional Jewish paper-cutting technique, refers to objects related to the synagogue, painstakingly recreating the symbolism and ornamentation of Jewish art from East-Central Europe—stylised floral decoration, symbolic representations of animals, a repertoire of traditional sacred Jewish symbols (a menorah, Torah and the Tablets of Law, the Temple) and calligraphic quotations from religious texts and prayers.

In order to introduce reflection on loss and destruction, Krajewska subjects her painstaking work to destruction: she tears apart sections of the works after cutting them out and burns the ends of the sheets. She uses tinted paper as a background for the cut-outs, incorporating the motif of fire, ashes and ruins. And she incorporates quotations from religious texts or classics of modern Jewish literature, in which there are references to flames and destruction, as well as to the hope of salvation.

 

 

Jan
25
Thu
Sataniv: the lost world of the ancient Jewish cemetery @ “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine" Museum
Jan 25 – Mar 3 all-day
Sataniv: the lost world of the ancient Jewish cemetery @ “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine" Museum | Dnipro | Dnipropetrovs'ka oblast | Ukraine

An exhibition of art-enhanced photographs by Dmytro Polyukhovich based on the carvings on the centuries-old matzevot in the Jewish cemetery in Sataniv (which unfortunately has suffered extensive damage in recent years by a self-appointed Haredi man claiming to restore it).

The images for the exhibition focus on specific details of the carved iconography, which combines religious tradition with folk art — floral motifs, animals (and imaginary animals), symbols, religious allegories, and more.

To create the exhibition pieces, Polyukovich manipulated his original photos of the matzevot in Adobe Photoshop, cutting away everything except for the specific detail of the carving  that he wanted to highlight and then adding color.

NOTE: The exhibition will be open every Wednesday and every Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. It is also possible to organize group tours every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

 

Mar
1
Fri
Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival @ Jewish Museum Frankfufrt
Mar 1 – Sep 1 all-day
Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival @ Jewish Museum Frankfufrt | Frankfurt am Main | Hessen | Germany

A multimedia exhibition by the artist, architect and historian Natalia Romik dedicated to the creativity of Polish Jews seeking to survive the Shoah in hiding.

In Poland and Ukraine during World War II, approximately 50,000 people survived persecution by the German occupying forces in hiding. The majority of them were Jewish. They found refuge in tree hollows, closets, basements, sewers, empty graves, and other precarious locations. Natalia Romik’s exhibition “Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival” pays tribute to these fragile places of refuge and explores their physicality. The show poses basic questions about the relationship between architecture, private life, and the public sphere: it addresses the protective function of spaces and emphasizes the creativity those in hiding brought to bear in their attempt to survive.

In a research project extending over several years, Natalia Romik and an interdisciplinary team of researchers consulted oral histories to identify several hiding places, which they explored using forensic methods. The multimedia exhibition “Hideouts. The Architecture of Survival” presents the results of this research. It consists of sculptures bearing a direct connection to the sites and includes documentary films, forensic recordings, photos, documents, and objects found in the hiding places.

“Hideouts: The Architecture of Survival” is presented in cooperation with the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw and the TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art in Szczecin. On the occasion of the show at the Jewish Museum Frankfurt, a catalogue will be published in German and English editions by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

The exhibition was curated by Kuba Szreder and Stanisław Ruksza with the help of Aleksandra Janus (scientific collaboration). For the presentation in Frankfurt, Katja Janitschek, curator of the Judengasse Museum, was responsible for the curatorial project management. We would like to thank the Evonik Foundation for their generous support.

 

Apr
2
Tue
Houses of Eternity – Domy wieczności @ Płońsk Memorial House
Apr 2 – Jun 9 all-day
Houses of Eternity - Domy wieczności @ Płońsk Memorial House | Płońsk | Mazowieckie | Poland

An exhibition about Jewish cemeteries, prepared by the Galicia Jewish Museum.

In many places throughout Poland, Jewish cemeteries or what remains of them are the only visible sign of the centuries-long presence of Jewish communities in a given area. The exhibition “Houses of Eternity” is a reflection on what Jewish cemeteries mean to us today and an attempt to find an answer to the question of what we can learn from them. Its aim is to introduce the topic of Jewish cemeteries to the widest possible audience, help understand how important an element of cultural heritage the preserved Jewish cemeteries are and answer a number of questions related to cemeteries in the context of Jewish history and tradition.

The opening is at 1 p.m., April 2

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