Jewish Heritage Europe

Calendar

Feb
21
Wed
Slovak synagogues in postcards book launch @ Jewish Culture Museum Bratislava
Feb 21 @ 17:00
Slovak synagogues in postcards book launch @ Jewish Culture Museum Bratislava | Bratislava | Bratislavský kraj | Slovakia

The book “Slovak Synagogues on Old Postcards” will be launched in Bratislava.
The book includes more than 270 old postcards of Jewish places of worship.
Opposite each postcard is a brief history of the Jewish community and synagogue of a particular city or village.
The book is written in English and Slovak. Historical settlement names appear in both Hungarian and German.
***
If you plan to attend the launch, please  confirm your arrival to the contacts in the booking as the number of places is limited.

You can buy the publication directly on the spot, or ordered via the following email address:
jdesbook@gmail.com

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.

 

Mar
10
Sun
Dutch National Holocaust Museum Opening @ National Holocaust Museum, Amsterdam
Mar 10 all-day
Dutch National Holocaust Museum Opening @ National Holocaust Museum, Amsterdam | Amsterdam | Noord-Holland | Netherlands

The new Dutch National Holocaust Museum will be officially opened March 10  by King Willem-Alexander at a ceremony attended by the prime minister and other VIPs. The king will also give a speech at a gathering in the nearby Portuguese Synagogue.

The museum then opens to the public on March 11, from 10 am-5 pm  (almost) daily.

The museum tells the story of the Nazi persecution and murder of the Jews of the Netherlands. 

This is the first and only museum to relate the history of the persecution of the Jews of the entire Netherlands. Including the day-to-day life of Jews on the eve of the Second World War, the liberation as Jews experienced it, and how the Holocaust has been treated in our national culture of remembrance: all this is examined in the museum.

The Museum is part of the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam. Germany and Austria have contributed financially to the establishment of the museum.

(Photo: © Thijs Wolzak/National Holocaust Museum)

Mar
20
Wed
Journeys to Treblinka @ Holocaust Centre North Huddersfield, and online
Mar 20 @ 17:00 – 18:00

Since 2007, forensic archaeological investigations have revealed new evidence of the crimes undertaken at the notorious Treblinka Extermination Camp in Poland.

In this talk, Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls will outline some of the key findings of this research and discuss the ways they have inspired Holocaust survivors and their descendants based in the UK to undertake their own journeys to commemorate their loved ones.

Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls’ pioneering research focuses on the application of interdisciplinary approaches to the investigation of Holocaust landscapes. She conducted the first forensic archaeological investigations at Treblinka Extermination and Labour Camps, the results of which will be presented in her forthcoming book Finding Treblinka. She is also the author of several other books including Holocaust Archaeologies: Approaches and Future Directions (2015), the Handbook on Missing Persons (2016) and ‘Adolf Island: The Nazi Occupation of Alderney (2022).

 

Mar
29
Fri
Jews in 20th Century Italy @ National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah
Mar 29 – Oct 6 all-day

The  exhibit showcases Italian Jewish experience in the 20th century, beginning with the destruction of the ghettos at the end of the 19th century, through the Shoah, and up until almost the present day.

It includes contemporary artworks; photographs from public and private archives; historical documents, and family objects. 

Tempio Maggiore, Great Synagogue, Rome,
Tempio Maggiore, Great Synagogue, Rome, built in 1904 after the opening of the Ghetto

 

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

Apr
5
Fri
House of Eternity – Haus del Ewigkeit @ Capa-Haus Leipzig
Apr 5 – May 26 all-day
House of Eternity - Haus del Ewigkeit @ Capa-Haus Leipzig | Leipzig | Sachsen | Germany
The latest exhibit of black and white photographs from  70 Jewish cemeteries in Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, by by Marcel-Th. and Klaus Jacobs.
 
Short texts explain the local conditions and the backgrounds of the visited cemeteries.
 
An exhibition by the cultural association “Circle of friends for the preservation of Jewish cemeteries in the Central European cultural space, e.V.” in cooperation with CAPA Culture gGmbH.
 
The exhibit opening is April 4, at 7 pm.
 
Hours are:
 
Tuesday-Friday 11am-4pm (except holidays)
as well as Sunday the 21st April and 19th May 2024 11am to 4pm
 
May
12
Sun
Book launch: “The Ancient Jewish Cemetery on the Lido of Venice” @ Venice Jewish Community
May 12 @ 11:00
Book launch: "The Ancient Jewish Cemetery on the Lido of Venice" @ Venice Jewish Community | Venezia | Veneto | Italy

On Sunday, May 12th at 11:00 AM, in the Old Ghetto of Venice, there will be a presentation of “The Ancient Jewish Cemetery at the Lido di Venezia,” curated by Dario Calimani and published by Sillabe. The book includes contributions by Giovanni Levi, Umberto Fortis, and Aldo Izzo, along with a collection of literary excerpts that allow the reader to delve into the history of this special place through the words of noted visitors, starting with Shelley and Byron. The book can also be purchased online on the publisher’s website HERE.

In the afternoon, at 1:00 PM, 2:30 PM, and 3:45 PM, it will be possible to visit the Old Cemetery accompanied by an expert guide. To book, call: +39 041 5246083.

May
17
Fri
(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt @ POLIN Museum, Warsaw
May 17 – Dec 16 all-day
(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt @ POLIN Museum, Warsaw | Warszawa | Województwo mazowieckie | Poland

There were more than a thousand shtetls in today’s territories of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.  The Second World War and the Holocaust obliterated the world of shtetls completely. Today, in Opatów—as well as in tens of other Polish towns—there are no more Jews left.

The OPOLIN Museum’s  new temporary exhibition titled (post) JEWISH… demonstrates that Polish towns hide two parallel histories. The history of their Polish inhabitants is well known and remembered. The one of their Jewish neighbours who are no more is forgotten or left unsaid. 

Guide in the exhibition will be the late Mayer Kirshenblatt, a painter who emigrated to Canada with his mother and brothers as a teenager, in 1934. Mayer recalls the shtetl of his youth, restoring vivid memories of the people, events, daily life and customs. His paintings—full of color, imagination and humor—show us a world that is no more. Looking at them, we learn about our shared Polish-Jewish history.

The exhibition also features a documentation of artistic interventions carried out in today’s Opatów, aimed at discovering and restoring the vestiges of the pre-war Jewish life.

Click here to buy tickets

 

May
18
Sat
POLIN “(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt” exhibit special guided tour
May 18 @ 12:00 – 14:00
POLIN "(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt" exhibit special guided tour

Special guided tour of the temporary exhibition “(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Through the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt” by curators Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett and Natalia Romik.

  • 18 May (Saturday), 12 noon, BUY TICKET →
  • Temporary exhibition “(post)JEWISH… Shtetl Opatów Throught the Eyes of Mayer Kirshenblatt”
  • Tickets: regular 30PLN, reduced 25PLN
  • Guided tour in English

As Mayer Kirshenblatt’s daughter, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will talk about the history of pre-war Jewish towns, about their typical features and the role they played in the Jewish community. While analysing Mayer’s paintings, we will learn about the functions of the selected buildings, about old rituals and Polish-Jewish cohabitation. Natalia Romik, on the other hand, will talk about these towns’ postwar fate. While drawing our attention to the exhibition design and the selected artefacts, she will raise the issue of Jewish property and tell us what happened to it after the Holocaust.

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