Jewish Heritage Europe

Germany: Archaeologists discover foundations of medieval synagogue in Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Archaeologists have discovered the foundations of a medieval synagogue in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in southern Germany, a major center of Jewish scholarship in the  middle ages.  The synagogue was used until a pogrom in 1349 devastated the Jewish community. … continue reading →

UK: the Jewbury Medieval Jewish Cemetery in York – today buried under a car park — is listed as a Scheduled Historic Monument, granting it certain protections

First edition Ordnance Survey map of the Jewbury area of York showing the cemetery site as a parcel of land used at that time as an orchard. (1:10,560 scale, surveyed 1846 to 1851, published in 1853)

The government has designated  Jewbury Medieval Jewish Cemetery in York, which today lies buried under a public parking garage, as a Scheduled Monument on the National Heritage List for England, granting it certain protections from development schemes. Scheduled monuments include … continue reading →

Lithuania: The 2023 documentary film – The Secrets of the Great Synagogue of Vilna – can now be viewed free online

We have posted a number of times about the extraordinary discoveries archaeologists have made over the past few years at the site of the destroyed Great Synagogue in Vilnius, Lithuania. Now the 2023 documentary film about the excavations and discoveries … continue reading →

Poland: Archaeologists uncover the foundations of the pre-burial house in Warsaw’s Bródno Jewish cemetery

Excavations in the Bródno cemetery. Photo: MWKZ

Archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of the pre-burial house in Warsaw’s Bródno Jewish cemetery — the city’s oldest Jewish burial site, which was largely ravaged during and after World War II. The results “managed to capture everything that survived the … continue reading →