Jewish Heritage Europe

100+ Synagogues exhibit opening
2026-03-22 15:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Jewish Museum Franken in Schnaittach, Museumsgasse 12-16, Schnaittach, Germany
The opening of the exhibition 100+ German Synagogues, based on the new book by Alex Jakobowicz..
The exhibition “100 + Synagogues in Germany”presents prayer houses preserved for centuries, synagogues that have found new meanings and yet preserve their history, and new buildings built by the re-emerging Jewish communities of our time.
Alex Jacobowitz is an American and Israeli, xylophone virtuoso, specializing in traditional Jewish music. In 2002/2003 he worked as a cantor for the Jewish community of Augsburg. From 2008 to 2013 he was on the board of the Förderkreis Görlitzer Synagoge e.V.
Registration at schnaittach@juedisches-museum.org
The exhibition is then open to the public from March 28 until November 1, Saturdays and Sundays: 12-17

Houses of Eternity
2026-03-10 - 2026-05-24 | Museum of Mazovian Jews, 7 Kwiatka, Plock, Poland
The exhibition titled “Houses of Eternity” from the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, devoted to the tradition and history of Jewish cemeteries. Taking into account the current state of preservation of most Jewish cemeteries and matzevot, it tries to answer the question about their importance in the heritage of Jewish culture.
Its opening — March 10 at 6 p.m. — is combined with a lecture “Jewish cemeteries and funeral customs” by Krzysztof Bielawski about Jewish cemeteries and funeral customs — the forms and decorations of tombstones, inscriptions and customs related to funerals and the memory of the deceased.
Krzysztof Bielawski is a researcher of Jewish cemeteries, a PhD student at the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw, author of, among others, the book “The Destruction of Jewish Cemeteries” and numerous articles. He works at the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage (FODZ), which owns 153 cemeteries, including the Jewish cemetery in Płock.
The “Houses of Eternity” exhibition at MŻM will be on view until May 24 this year.

Women of Willesden: Guided Walk
2026-03-08 11:00 - 13:30 (Europe/London) | Willesden Jewish Cemetery, Beaconsfield Road, London NW10 2JE, United Kingdom
March 8 is International Women’s Day — on the occasion, the Willesden Jewish Cemetery in London offers a guided walking tour to celebrate some of the women buried there.

Many Jewish women made significant cultural and social impact across a varied landscape over both the nineteenth and twentieth century. The spirit of Jewish women throughout the generations, women who never gave up hope that they could make the world better for their children and their children’s children and for all the children of the world are celebrated in our Women of Willesden guided walk.
We have selected some significant Jewish women who helped change history through their philanthropy, scientific and business achievements. We will share their stories with you, focusing on the lives of these women who have made a significant impact, not only within the Jewish community in Britain, but to British society.

Click here for more details and to book a ticket

Webinar -- Restore a Jewish Cemetery
2026-02-15 19:30 - 21:00 (Europe/Rome) | Online
Restore an Abandoned Jewish Cemetery, Perform a Mitzvah!
Jeffrey Miller has initiated and led the effort to raise funds to help in restoring the Nowogród Jewish Cemetery, and collaborated with others on helping to do the same for other Jewish cemeteries in Poland. He will show us how one can initiate similar efforts in the various shtetls that your ancestors inhabited.
This one-hour program, conducted over Zoom at 1:30 PM Eastern Time (19:30 CET), is free for members of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington.
Nonmembers may register to attend for a fee of $10.
Click here for full details, registration, ticket purchase.

Cork Jewish Digital Archive launch
2026-02-12 16:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Dublin) | Cork Public Museum, Cork, Ireland
The digital archive includes oral histories, essays, poems, stories and photos from over 50 members of the Cork diaspora and their descendants, as well as Cork locals who remember their Jewish neighbours from the 1880s onwards. The archive includes material on Cork’s Jewish built heritage, such as the synagogue, which closed in 2016.
Councillor Kieran McCarthy will launch the archive at Cork Public Museum and guest speakers are Liz Kiely of Oral History Network of Ireland, historian Tom Spalding, and musician/researcher Ruti Lachs. There will be music and light refreshments.
The event begins at 4 p.m. Dublin time.
To book a place fir the event, contact the museum at 021 427 0679 or museum@corkcity.ie
(Photo, Cork synagogue, closed in 2016.)

The Shtetl: Myth and Reality
2026-02-12 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Online
In this online lecture — part of a series celebrating YIVO’s the 101st anniversary — YIVO Visiting Research Historian Samuel Kassow will explore the “real shtetl” and the “imagined shtetl,” which both formed an integral part of Eastern European Jewish peoplehood.
Indeed the “shtetl” meant many things to many people. For many Zionists and Jewish leftists, the shtetl was a pathetic symbol of Jewish backwardness. Others cherished it as a place of real Jewishness, that fixed point that gave Jews in the diaspora the feeling of being home. The destruction of the Holocaust encouraged this nostalgia for the lost shtetl, especially as many Jews in the post-war world, newly comfortable and secure in their new homes, showed a new interest in their ethnic roots.
NOTE: The talk will take place at 1 p.m. New York time, or 7 p.m. CET.
Samuel Kassow, Charles H. Northam Professor of History at Trinity College, holds a PhD from Princeton University and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research. From 2006 until 2013, he was the lead historian for two galleries of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, which opened in 2014. Professor Kassow is the author of Who Will Write Our History? Emanuel Ringelblum and the Secret Ghetto Archive (Indiana University Press, 2007), which received the Orbis Prize of the AAASS; was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award; and has been translated into eight languages. White Goat Press recently published his translation of Warsaw Testament by Rokhl Auerbach, which received a National Jewish Book Award. A child of Holocaust survivors, Professor Kassow was born in a displaced-persons camp in Germany.
The lecture is free but registration is requited — click here to register

Webinar launch of the Thrive web site: Exploring, understanding and celebrating Jewish Intangible Heritage and its contemporary relevance
2026-02-04 15:00 - 16:00 (Europe/London)
CEU Prof. Carsten Wilke is the keynote speaker at a webinar launching the Thrive website and project, which focuses on intangible Jewish heritage.
The webinar will explore the concept of intangible heritage and introduce a new digital space where everyone can contribute their own stories and traditions.
JHE’s Ruth Ellen Gruber is one of the experts associated with the project.
The webinar will take place at 3 p.m. CET, February 4
Click here to register

Distinguished Service Awards presentation, from the Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland
2026-02-01 18:00 - 20:30 (Europe/Warsaw) | Online
The Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland organization presents its second annual Distinguished Service Awards to:
Piotr Puchta, former CEO of the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ)
and Natalia Romik — archirect, scholar, activist, museum and exhibition curator.

Sunday, February 1, 2026 at 12 PM EST, 6 PM Poland Time, 7 PM Israel Time

Piotr Puchta is former Director General (CEO) of the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODŻ, a partnership of the World Jewish Restitution Organization and the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland), owner of 150 cemeteries and dozens of synagogues. Mr. Puchta, also a former Ambassador-at-Large of Poland, is being honored for his exceptional leadership of FODŻ and his work in building partnerships for the preservation and commemoration of sites of Jewish cultural and religious significance throughout Poland.
Natalia Romik is an architect, researcher, and curator whose work explores Jewish survival, memory, and space during and after the Holocaust. She is widely known for her innovative exhibitions centered on Jewish survival. Dr. Romik is being honored for deepening the understanding of the Jewish experience in Poland and ensuring that this history is preserved and thoughtfully presented through her work.
Click here to register for the Zoom event

The City of London’s Jewish Geography
2026-01-28 19:30 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Online
The online launch of the Winter 2026 edition of Jewish Renaissance magazine is a webinar about the history of Jewish life in the City of London’s s0-called Jewish Square Mile, including the medieval Jewish cemetery under the Barbican development. as well as the new Jewish heritage center soon to open at the historic Bevis Marks synagogue.
Speakers include:
Rabbi Shalom Morris, live from Bevis Marks, to discuss the new heritage centre and the Sephardi history of the area; historian Rory MacLellan, who explores medieval life in the shadow of the Tower of London; Jan-Marc Petroschka, architect and trustee of The Jewish Square Mile project, which he’ll tell us more about; and JR’s executive director Dr Aviva Dautch, who follows in the footsteps of Shakespeare to reveal how the playwright drew on the City’s Jewish presence to inform some of his most famous plays.
It will take place at 7:30 PM London time
Click here to find full details and register (it’s free)

The Future of Jewish Museums in Europe
2026-01-22 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/Prague) | Maisel synagogue, Maiselova 10, Prabue, Czech Republic
A round-table that will start the celebrations of the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish Museum in Prague.
Pavla Niklová (director of the Jewish Museum in Prague), Joanna Fikus (head of the exhibition department of the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews) and Barbara Staudinger (director of the Jewish Museum in Vienna) will discuss the role of Jewish museums today, opening a dialogue with the public and preparing exhibitions.
The discussion will be moderated by historian Michal Frankl.
The event will be simultaneously interpreted from English to Czech.
Free admission. Seat reservation required — click HERE to reserve

Synagogues of Middle Europe
2026-01-08 - 2026-03-27 | Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
“Synagogues of Middle Europe” – an exhibition by Pittsburgh-based photographer David Aschkenas featuring photos of synagogues in several European countries.
There will be an opening reception January 12 at 6 pm.
Click here to register

Webinar -- The Szeged New Synagogue through Archival Sources: Community, Memory, and Continuity
2025-12-17 16:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Jerusalem) | Online
This should be a terrific webinar! The Szeged New Synagogue through Archival Sources: Community, Memory, and Continuity
Dóra Pataricza, Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies, Hungary
Click to Join:
https://biu-ac-il.zoom.us/j/85321026568

The grandiose, domed Szeged New Synagogue, inaugurated in 1903, was the masterpiece of the prolific synagogue architect Lipot Baumhorn, who worked closely on its decoration with Rabbi Immanuel Low. The lecture will discuss the synagogue based on documents in the Szeged Jewish community archive.

The talk is a 16:00 Israel time, or 15:00 CET.

Baumhorn letter with drawing of Szeged synagogue. Photo: Szeged Jewish community/Rediscover

Developing the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum
2025-12-12 16:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Vilnius) | European Humanities University (EHU) and online, Savičiaus str., 17, Vilnius, Lithuania
“Developing the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum: Project Concept and Pilot of the Digital Collection (Work in Progress)”
Special event within the Heritage and Civil Society conference.
A dedicated session by the Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center and partners about the Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum and the pilot stage of its Digital Collection. The event explores new approaches to heritage work in conditions of fragmentation, loss, and limited institutional infrastructure.
During this session, the team will present:
• The conceptual framework of the Virtual Museum – its first exhibition concept, architecture, digital strategy, and community-driven approach.
• Completed immersive VR cases – full VR reconstructions of the Wolpa Great Synagogue and the newly completed Ashmyany Great Synagogue, available for viewing in VR headsets throughout the event.
• The pilot Digital Collection – insights from the team.
The pilot tests participatory methods involving civil society as “collectors” and “ambassadors” who help identify, gather, and describe materials, linking institutional archives with family memory and lived experience.
Speakers include:
• Maya Katznelson – General Curator, Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
• Grigoriy Kheifets – Digital Curator, Belarusian-Jewish Cultural Heritage Center
• Professor Claire Le Foll – Academic Curator, University of Southampton
• Coordinators, collectors and community ambassadors involved in the project’s recent pilot phase.
Partners: Goethe-Institut Lithuania, Eastern Partnership program of the German Federal Foreign Office, University of Southampton
Registration required (open to all, conference attendance not mandatory). The event can be attended in person in Vilnius or online. Please indicate your preferred format when registering: https://forms.gle/hLetin1ZNrjqbLjy9

Heritage and Civil Society: Grassroots Memory Practices and Fragile Legacies
2025-12-11 - 2025-12-12 | European Humanities University (EHU) and online, Savičiaus str., 17, Vilnius, Lithuania
Heritage and Civil Society: Grassroots Memory Practices and Fragile Legacies
The conference is an open-format two-day event exploring how heritage can be documented,
reimagined, and cared for in fragile, forgotten, or hard-to-access contexts. The program will feature
grassroots and independent projects that experiment with oral and family history, new curatorial models,
and digital tools that help reconnect dispersed narratives.
One presentation introduces a report that provides the first comprehensive mapping of the non-governmental heritage sector in central and eastern Europe, estimating around 33,500 heritage-oriented NGOs, analyzing their size, types of heritage activities (tangible, intangible, digital), organisational forms, motivations, and sectoral challenges (funding, institutional recognition, generational renewal).
Another session presents the work-in-progress Virtual Belarusian Jewish Museum – a “museum without walls” concept, exploring new approaches to heritage work in contexts marked by fragmentation, loss, and limited institutional infrastructure. The project team will outline the project’s conceptual framework, which combines digital reconstruction, public engagement, and cross-border collaboration to target a heritage landscape largely destroyed during the 20th century, scattered and inaccessible today.
Virtual reconstructions of two Belarus synagogues will also be presented.
Click here to see the program
Click here to register — the conference can be attended online

Jewish Cultural Heritage in Emilia-Romagna
2025-12-10 10:00 - 17:30 (Europe/Rome) | Teatro San Leonardo, via San Vitale 63, Bologna, Italy
“I beni culturali ebraici in Emilia-Romagna tra presente e futuro“ — Jewish cultural heritage in Emilia-Romagna between present and future.
A conference open to the public, organized by the Bologna Jewish Museum.

Rural Judaism conference
2025-11-23 - 2025-11-25 | Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Campus Westend, Norbert-Wollheim-Platz 1, Frankfurt, Germany
International conference on rural Judaism.
Click here to see the program
It will take place at the
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main,
Campus Westend, Norbert-Wollheim-Platz 1
PA-Gebäude (Sunday) und
Casino-Gebäude (Monday/Tuesday)

Le quartier juif médiéval de Rouen. Une relecture archéologique
2025-11-20 12:30 - 14:00 (Europe/London) | Museum of Jewish Art and History, 71 rue du Temple, Paris, France
Le quartier juif médiéval de Rouen. Une relecture archéologique
Lecture — in French — about archaeology in the medieval Jewish quarter of Rouen, France. Talk by Manon Banoun of the Sorbonne university.

Painted Prayers exhibition - synagogue murals in Ukrainian Bukovina
2025-11-20 - 2026-04-20 | University and City Library Cologne, Universitätsstraße 33,, Cologne, 50931, Germany
The exhibition “Painted Prayers” presents the murals in synagogues of the Ukrainian Bukovina and addresses the threat and destruction of cultural assets by the war. It also documents German-Ukrainian cooperation in the preservation of Jewish cultural heritage in Ukraine.
There is also a series of lectures linked to the exhibition.
The exhibition presents murals of selected synagogues in the Ukrainian part of Bukovina. It is based on the long-standing art historical research of Eugeny Kotlyar and on a new photographic and digital 3D documentary, which make visible both the diversity and artistic significance of these paintings and the threat to this significant cultural heritage of the Jewish population in the Bukovina. The historic buildings are presented against the background of the Jewish history and culture of the region.
A special highlight is the 3D recreation of the synagogue in Novoselitza, which was created as part of a documentation project – in cooperation with the architecture institute of the Mainz University of Applied Sciences and the Ukrainian company Skeiron.
Read more

Online book talk: The Posthumous Landscape:Remnants of Jewish Life in Eastern Europe
2025-11-13 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Zoom
A book talk on zoom with David Kaufman, about his new book of photographs of Jewish cemeteries and other Jewish heritage sites in Central and Eastern Europe, The Posthumous Landscape:Remnants of Jewish Life in Eastern Europe.
Kaufman is one of many photographers who have been inspired by these places and published and/or exhibited their work. (To name just a few, Monika Krajewska, Christian Herrmann, Jason Francisco, Chris Schwarz, Simon Geissbuhler. JHE’s Ruth Ellen Gruber…)
Click here to find more info and register for the Zoom – it is at 7 p.m. New York time

Jewish Matera and Basilicata - roots, memories, future
2025-11-09 17:00 - 20:00 (Europe/Rome) | Sala Convegni Camera di Commercio della Basilicata, Via Lucana 82, Matera, Italy
A conference titled Matera e la Basilicata Ebraica – radici, memorie, futuro (Jewish Matera and Basilicata – roots, memories, future) held on the occasion of the launch of a formal Jewish communal branch in Matera.
Talks (in Italian) mainly address the Jewish history and heritage in this part of southern Italy.

Jewish cemetery clean-up in Belgium
2025-11-09 10:30 - 13:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Jewish cemetery in Kraainem, Jewish cemetery, Kraainem, Belgium
If you’re in Belgium, sign up to help clean the Jewish cemetery in Kraainem. Work will be followed by brunch!
The initiative is organized by the Belgian Union of Jewish Students.
Click here to sign up

Christian Herrmann exhibition
2025-11-08 18:30 - 2025-12-21 17:00 (Europe/Berlin) | Cafe Herzhauschen, Mathilde-Herz-Weg 32, Köln, 50827, Germany
The latest exhibition of photos by Christian Herrmann.
The opening will take place at 6:30 p.m. on November 8.
Christian will be presenting his photos and talking about them, and Christoph Wehr will be reading from the novel ‘Shtetl’.

Cemeteries as Part of the Landscape Through the Centuries
2025-11-05 - 2025-11-06 | Academic Conference Center, Husova 4a, Prague, Czech Republic
This conference builds upon a long-standing tradition of International Sessions on the Issue of Sepulchral Monuments, aiming to expand both the thematic and methodological scope of the discussion. This year’s theme is Cemeteries as Part of the Landscape Through the Centuries, focusing on the role of burial grounds in social, urban, and natural environments. The conference seeks to create a space for scholars from various academic fields and methodological backgrounds and to offer a platform for discussing cemeteries’ historical, anthropological, artistic, and social aspects.

Open Doors at the Great Synagogue of Metz
2025-11-02 11:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Paris) | Great Synagogue of Metz, Metz, France
Daylong events celebrating the reopening of the synagogue in Metz after two years of restoration work.
There will be guided tours, a concert, lecture, etc.
The event falls within the European Days of Jewish Culture.
See the program:

Talk in NYC by Karolina and Piotr Jakowenko
2025-10-22 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Bernard Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College, 1 W 4th St, , New York, NY, 10012, United States
The founders of the Brama Zuckerman Foundation – Karolina and Piotr Jakowenko, will present the Foundation’s activities. The event will focus on their newest historical project: Ghetto Fighters’ House in Bedzin.
The meeting will be led by Menachem Z. Rosensaft – general counselor of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and professor – lecturer at the Cornell University Law Department.
The event is co-organized by Polish Cultural Institute New York and Hebrew Union College.
In 1943, the current Ghetto Fighters House in Bedzin was the headquarters of the Jewish Combat Organization, Zionist Youth groups and a center of resistance in the Bedzin ghetto. Thanks to the efforts of Karolina and Peter, this important site of Jewish memory has become a Living Monument to Jewish resistance and a vibrant educational centre, with over 10,000 student visits in 2025 alone.

General knowledge of the Jewish resistance during the Holocaust is usually limited to the history of the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. In their research, the members of the Brama Zukerman foundation focus on other – lesser-known stories of Jewish struggles in the Polish provinces. Their pioneering research explores the themes of various forms of resistance, including that led by teenagers, often young women. Despite their modest means, they fought Hitler by building hideouts – bunkers, organizing escapes, and helping others escape the ghettos and deportation.
During the meeting, Karolina and Piotr will speak about the multifaceted importance this remarkable story can have in the modern fight against antisemitism.
Registration is required — Please send an email to: bartek.remisko@instytutpolski.pl to confirm your attendance.

Jews in Galicia conference
2025-10-20 - 2025-10-22 | Galica Jewish Museum, Dajwor 18, Krakow, Poland
Conference — “Jews in Galicia. “Stories, topographies and texts”

Cemeteries conference Alba Iulia
2025-10-19 - 2025-10-22 | Hybrid, Romania
International conference: Urban and Rural Jewish Cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe: History, Research, and Valuation .
A follow-up to the first conference in Alba Iulia in October 2024, which dealt mainly with urban Jewish cemeteries and whose proceedings will be published by De Gruyter Brill. The thematic scope has been expanded to include rural Jewish cemeteries.
Held at the 1 Decembre 1918 University in Alba Iulia, Romania and online.
JHE’s Ruth Ellen Gruber has one of the Keynote presentations: Jewish Cemeteries: Cleanup and Maintenance, an Overview.

Night of the Open Synagogues, Romania
2025-10-18 19:00 - 23:30 (Europe/Bucharest) | Romania
On the annual Night of the Open Synagogues, many synagogues around Romania are open to the public.
There does not seem to be any comprehensive central web site with all the participating synagogues — but some of them are listed on the web site for the Bucharest events — https://www.sinagogideschise.ro/sinagogi-deschise-2025/alte-orase/

Lost Shtetl Museum opening
2025-09-20 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Lost Shtetl Museum, Seduva, Lithuania
The Šeduva Jewish History Museum, The Lost Shtetl, will officially open its doors to visitors on September 20. The museum’s main exhibition will explore the Jewish community that lived in Šeduva during the interwar period in Lithuania, inviting visitors to discover the culture, traditions, and history of shtetl life.
The museum was designed by the Finnish architect Rainer Mahlamäki. It forms part of a memorial complex that includes the restored Jewish cemetery and several monuments at Holocaust mass graves.

Webinar of note: 60 Years of Littman Library Publications. Shaping Polish Jewish Studies
2025-09-17 20:00 - 21:00 (Europe/Warsaw)
Shaping Polish Jewish Studies:
60 Years of Littman Library Publications
The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization is celebrating 60 years of operation. Over these decades it has published 250 titles, a significant number of which have focused on the Jewish history of Poland.
The annual series Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, now in its 37th edition, is undoubtedly its best-known contribution, but a wide range of other books have made Littman possibly the foremost publisher in the area. Specialist studies have included works on art history, Hasidic life and thought, rabbinic biographies, religious movements, social histories, synagogue architecture, women’s education, and yeshivas.
Professors Natalia Aleksiun, Shaul Stampfer, and Marcin Wodziński, contributing authors and editors of Polin, will join Chief Editor, Professor Antony Polonsky, in a discussion about the impact of the Library’s publications on the development of Polish Jewish studies and its influence on current research in the field.
Connie Webber, the Managing Editor of the Littman Library will deliver welcoming remarks.
– – – – –
Prof. Natalia Aleksiun,
​University of Florida at Gainesville
Prof. Emeritus Shaul Stampfer,
​Hebrew University
Prof. Marcin Wodziński,
​University of Wrocław
​
​IN CONVERSATION WITH
​​
​Prof. Antony Polonsky,
Co-chair of Polin’s Editorial Board,
Chief Historian, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews​
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
11:00 am PDT
1:00 pm CDT
2:00 pm EDT
8:00 pm CET
9:00 pm IST
