Jewish Heritage Europe

JHE Photo Essay: for Tu B’Shvat 2024 — Trees and fruit in Jewish decorative art; in synagogues, on gravestones, and as part of ritual objects

It’s Tu B’Shevat — the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, known as “the New Year for Trees:” the time of year when the earliest-blooming trees in the land of Israel start to flower.  It is the custom to reflect on our … continue reading →

Hungary: The Páva utca synagogue in Budapest turns 100. Designed by Lipot Baumhorn, it now anchors the Holocaust Memorial Center (and is shared by a congregation)

Happy centennial to the Páva street synagogue in Budapest — designed by Lipot Baumhorn, dedicated on January 6, 1924,  and today incorporated into the city’s Holocaust Memorial Center. (A Jewish congregation also shares the synagogue complex.) A series of lectures … continue reading →

Serbia: Serbian government recognises the former synagogue in Apatin as a cultural monument. It has a ceiling painting of the 10 commandments with Hebrew letters mysteriously written backwards

The Serbian government has designated the former synagogue in Apatin a cultural monument, raising hopes that the long-vacant building, in the country’s Vojvodina region, may undergo much-needed restoration work. Built in 1885 for the Neolog community and located in northwest … continue reading →

Poland: 17th century Izaak synagogue in Kraków threatened by serious cracks in the high barrel vault

(JHE) — The structural integrity of the 17th century Izaak Synagogue, a jewel of Kazimierz, the historic Jewish district of Krakow, is seriously threatened by large cracks found in its high barrel vault. In an announcement on Facebook earlier this … continue reading →

Belarus Update: Watch a webinar about the project to created a monument at the Jewish cemetery in Brest, using rescued matzevot

The Brest-Litovsk Jewish cemetery monument design. Image: Brad. J. Goldberg/Together Plan

We posted in October about the project to create a monument at the Jewish cemetery in Brest-Litovsk, using the hundreds of matzevot uprooted from the cemetery. The Together Plan (TTP),  a British NGO dedicated to Jewish community development in Belarus, … continue reading →