Jewish Heritage Europe

Poland: Celebrating the 120th birthday of the grand ceremonial hall at the New Jewish Cemetery in Gliwice, now the Upper Silesian Jews House of Remembrance

The Upper Silesian Jews House of Remembrance in Gliwice, Poland held a celebration this week to mark the 120th anniversary of the building in which it is housed — the pre-burial hall of the city’s New Jewish Cemetery.  The festive … continue reading →

Czech Republic: Restoration of the neo-gothic Ceremonial Hall in Břeclav has been completed

Restoration of the neo-gothic, red brick ceremonial hall at the Jewish cemetery in Břeclav, Czech Republic, has been completed. The building will be opened to the public in the spring and used as a cultural venue. Designed by the Viennese … continue reading →

Kristallnacht anniversary 2023: countering destruction with images of wonderful surviving — and restored — synagogues

The  night of November 9-10 marks the 85th anniversary of the so-called Kristallnacht pogrom — Reichspogromnacht — in 1938, when the Nazis launched coordinated violent attacks on Jews, Jewish property and Jewish places of worship all over Germany and German-occupied … continue reading →

Jewish built heritage and monuments also targeted amid what EU calls “extraordinary” general spike in antisemitism

Amid the general upsurge of antisemitism in the month since the brutal Hamas massacre of civilians triggered the Israel-Hamas war, Jewish heritage sites and Holocaust monuments have been targeted. The European Union mentioned several specific incidents in a statement Sunday … continue reading →

Poland: the Memorial Pillar in the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Białystok has been re-erected after a painstaking restoration. It commemorates scores of victims of a pogrom and massacres in 1905 and 1906

Since June, work has been under way to restore the Memorial Pillar in the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Białystok, which commemorates the scores of victims of bloody anti-Jewish violence in the town: the 1906 pogrom and two massacres in 1905. … continue reading →