Jewish Heritage Europe

New Have Your Say: In Minsk Hillel’s MEGA project, young volunteers bring lost Jewish cemeteries back to light

  We have a new Have Your Say personal essay up — this one by Alena Kuliounich, director of the Hillel Jewish Students Cultural Center in Minsk in Minsk, Belarus.   For the past seven years, Minsk Hillel has carried … continue reading →

Poland: Long(er) read! Dr. Heidi M. Szpek’s detailed report on the Bagnowka Cemetery Restoration Project’s work in 2022 in Białystok, including recovery of long-buried early 19th century matzevot

In August, members of the U.S.-based  Białystok Cemetery Restoration Project (BCRP), carried out their first field work in the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Białystok Poland, since before the pandemic. We posted earlier about some of the discoveries — particularly of the … continue reading →

Poland Update: Recovery of long-buried matzevot in Białystok is complete: 120 matzevot dating back the early to mid 19th century were discovered

(JHE) — Exciting news — The removal of Jewish gravestones buried under an artificial mound outside the walls of the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Białystok — which we wrote about last week — has been completed, with a remarkable 120 … continue reading →

Poland: an artificial mound outside the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Białystok could cover hundreds of matzevot dating back over 200 years

(JHE) — Excavations have begun at a large, artificial mound outside the Bagnowka Jewish cemetery in Białystok where researchers believe possibly hundreds of historic matzevot uprooted under communism from another cemetery were buried. In an announcement, the US-based Białystok Cemetery Restoration Project … continue reading →

Poland: Archaeology at the site of the Warsaw Ghetto sheds dramatic and poignant light

Memorial and grave of Warsaw Ghetto fighters, at the site of Mila 18

(JHE) — A child’s shoe. Kitchen utensils. Crockery. Books. Ceramic tiles. Corroded tools. Discoveries during archaeological excavations this summer on the site of the WW2 Warsaw Ghetto are shedding dramatic — and poignant — light on the lives of the … continue reading →