Jewish Heritage Europe

Jewish cemeteries: ESJF gets new €1 million grant for mapping in 7 countries; recent desecration in Slovakia is latest in spate of vandalisms, raising concerns and questions

Days after a vandal attack that toppled dozens of headstones in the Jewish cemetery in Namestovo, Slovakia, the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative (ESJF) announced that the European Commission has awarded  €1 million to a consortium it leads to continue the … continue reading →

Hungary: the exterior of Szeged’s majestic New Synagogue was restored two years ago, but continuing water damage threatens the sumptuous interior

The lavishly ornate interior of the grand New Synagogue in Szeged awaits much-needed restoration, two years after the multi-million euro restoration of the exterior of the enormous domed building was completed. On Monday, JHE director Ruth Ellen Gruber toured the … continue reading →

Council of Europe issues far-reaching report, resolution, recommendations on Jewish heritage preservation

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted a far-reaching Resolution and set of Recommendations  that recognize the importance of Jewish heritage and call for local, national, and international efforts to preserve and protect Jewish heritage sites around … continue reading →

CZ: Cobblestones cut from mazevot used as paving in Prague are being returned to Jewish community

The city of Prague is returning to the Prague Jewish community cobblestones cut from Jewish gravestones that the communist regime had used to pave a prominent downtown pedestrian promenade. As we reported in January, the cobbles were used to construct … continue reading →

Ukraine: Fire Guts former Great Synagogue in Illintsi. Had long been used as a carpentry workshop (UPDATE: Much of structure appears to have survived)

The former Great Synagogue in Illintsi, in southwest Ukraine, was gutted by fire this past week, according to local media and video. UPDATE: a picture posted on Facebook after the fire was extinguished showed the at least parts of the … continue reading →