Jewish Heritage Europe

Calendar

Sep
22
Sun
Walking Jewish York @ Museum Gates York
Sep 22 @ 11:00 – 13:00

A walking tour of Jewish York, led by Nigel Grizzard — who organizes Jewish heritage tours in Yorkshire.

 

Oct
3
Thu
House of Life exhibition @ Willesden Library, London
Oct 3 2019 – Feb 16 2020 all-day
House of Life exhibition @ Willesden Library, London | England | United Kingdom

A never before seen showcase of the heritage of Willesden Jewish Cemetery, London’s preeminent Victorian Jewish Cemetery, established in 1873.

The House of Life Exhibition previews new displays of the cemetery’s rich history, ahead of its opening to the wider public in 2020.

The exhibition introduces visitors to the  lives of selected individuals buried there, describes the Jewish approach to death and mourning, and gives a glimpse of the the cemetery buildings and landscape. 
The displays further invite us all to reflect on the people we have lost and how we like to remember them. 

The exhibition is presented by the United Synagogue in partnership with Brent Museum and Archives.

Researched by volunteers and designed by Philip Simpson Design, the exhibition is part of the House of Life heritage project of the United Synagogue, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

 

Jan
26
Sun
Holocaust and Memory. @ Jewish Museum London
Jan 26 @ 14:45 – 17:00
Holocaust and Memory. @ Jewish Museum London | England | United Kingdom

Dr Sofiya Dyak, Nikita Kadan and Professor Philippe Sands  discuss the evolution of the practices of Holocaust remembrance and its public discourse in Ukraine: How are these tragic events remembered across different communities and why? How to deal with histories of lands subjected to multiple occupations and mass murder across communities? How to write a historic narrative for the country, which is still in a state of war?

This event is part of Holocaust Memorial Day.

Dr Sofiya Dyak is the Director of the Lviv Centre of Urban History, a private institution which initiated a number of important initiatives commemorating Jewish community presence in Lviv in partnership with Lviv’s municipality, including the Space of Synagogues memorial. In 2017, the centre hosted the “Un-named” project, reflecting on mass violence in Ukraine between 1931 and 1945. The project included visual work by Nikita Kadan, Ukraine’s contemporary artist. Similarly, Professor Philippe Sands traced his family history back to Lviv, with the city becoming the focus of much of his literary work and intellectual reflection.

Mar
8
Sun
International Women’s Day Tour of Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesden Jewish cemetery
Mar 8 @ 11:00 – 12:30
International Women's Day Tour of Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesden Jewish cemetery | England | United Kingdom

Join curator Hester Abrams for a tour that brings to life the stories of women who made their mark in science, medicine, government, the High Street and the arts, from Rosalind Franklin to H Samuel.

Feb
11
Thu
Virtual Opening of Romaniote Memories: Photos of Vincent Giordano @ Online Zoom event
Feb 11 @ 17:00 – 18:00
Virtual Opening of Romaniote Memories: Photos of Vincent Giordano @ Online Zoom event
The exhibition can be seen at this link: https://scalar.usc.edu/works/romaniote-memories/index
 
In 1999, photographer Vincent Giordano made an unplanned visit to the small Kehila Kedosha Janina (KKJ) synagogue on New York’s Lower East Side. He knew little about Judaism or synagogues, and even less about the Romaniote Jewish tradition of which KKJ, built in 1927, is the lone North American representative. In this he was not alone. Romaniotes are among the least known of Jewish communities. Beginning in 2001 and guided by members of the KKJ community, Giordano documented the synagogue and its religious art of the congregation using film, video, and audio.
 
In 2019 the Giordano family donated the archive of Vincent’s work to Queens College, where it is a major part of the Hellenic American Project and is preserved as part of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library’s Special Collections and Archives.
 
The exhibition is sponsored by the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, Hellenic American Project, and Center for Jewish Studies at Queens College, in partnership with the International Center for Jewish Monuments, an independent non-profit organization.
 
The exhibition includes more than one hundred photographs, presented in ten thematic sections, accessible here.
 
To register for the exhibition’s opening reception on Zoom, featuring a conversation with curators, distinguished guests, and friends go to:
Apr
30
Sat
Open Jewish Homes @ Netherlands
Apr 30 – May 4 all-day

The annual “Open Jewish Homes” Holocaust commemoration event in more than a dozen towns and cities in the Netherlands.

Small-scale, locally organized commemorative events takes place in homes where Jews (or members of the resistance) lived before, during, or just after World War II.

The web site states:

The focus is on Jewish life in these houses beforeduring and immediately after the war. History comes to life during Open Jewish Homes. Direct witnesses, descendants and connoisseurs tell stories about persecution, resistance and liberation on the basis of photographs, films, diary fragments, poems, literature and music. […]

The Jewish Cultural Quarter organised in 2012 the first edition of Open Jewish Homes in Amsterdam. Since then local work groups have been organising Open Jewish Homes in various other cities in the country as well. Everyone is free to initiate Open Jewish Homes in his or her place of residence. 

Home page of the Dutch Interactive Holocaust Memorial 

Open Jewish Homes was conceived as a way to engage “in real life” with the interactive Digital Monument to the Jewish Community in the Netherlands, which personalizes the more than 104,000 victims of Holocaust in the Netherlands. Every victim has a personal page  — with their home address as well as photos and other material. 

Click here to see the program in the various locations

 

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
29
Sat
Open Jewish Houses @ Various towns
Apr 29 @ 17:22 – May 5 @ 18:22
Open Jewish Houses @ Various towns

The annual “Open Jewish Houses/Houses of Resistance” commemorative program takes place in a score of towns and cities around the Netherlands.

Storytellers, visitors and residents share stories in houses where Jews or members of the resistance lived and worked before, during and just after the Second World War. 

Click to see the program

 

 

 

May
21
Sun
Licoricia of Winchester: Heritage and Memory of Medieval Anglo Jewry @ The Arc, Winchester
May 21 @ 13:30 – 14:30
Licoricia of Winchester: Heritage and Memory of Medieval Anglo Jewry @ The Arc, Winchester | England | United Kingdom

A round-table discussion, plus optional walking tours through the “invisible” medieval Jewish history of Winchester. The Roundtable is free, the walking tours — at 10:30-11:30am or 11:30-12:30pm, cost £5. 

The event event focuses on Licoricia of Winchester and the heritage and memory of medieval Anglo-Jewry.

The bronze statue of the remarkable Anglo-Jewish woman, Licoricia, was unveiled in Winchester in 2021. This is the most prominent heritage work carried out relating to medieval Anglo- Jewry. 

The event, through a walking tour (£5) and free round table discussion, will consider the achievements of the Licoricia project, and the challenges of creating heritage in the absence of the built heritage that directly reflects the presence of medieval Winchester Jewry. It will also consider the public and educational issues raised when dealing with questions such as the Jewish role in medieval finance and hostile representations of Jews from the period based on religious bigotry. Addressing the key aims of the Licoricia project, participants will explore the potential of such commemoration to consider the roots of prejudice and discrimination, using this to promote tolerance, diversity, and female empowerment.

Please note that if you wish to attend both the walking tour and the roundtable event, you will need to register for each event separately.

Click here for booking and other details

Click here to read an April 2017  JHE Have Your Say essay about invisible medieval Jewish heritage by one of the Roundtable speakers, Dr. Toni Griffiths

 

Beginnings: The Story of the Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesdan Jewish Cemetery
May 21 @ 14:00 – 15:30
Beginnings: The Story of the Willesden Jewish Cemetery @ Willesdan Jewish Cemetery | England | United Kingdom

Willesden Jewish Cemetery: 150 years of Heritage 1873 – 2023 Guided Walk

As part of the year long celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Willesden Jewish Cemetery, this guided walk will tell the story of the establishment of the cemetery, highlighting the early years of the United Synagogue, the people who made it happen and their role in the community.

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