Jewish Heritage Europe

Clean-up at Vilna Ghetto Jewish Library building

Often we think of Jewish built heritage in terms of synagogue buildings, mikvaot, Jewish cemeteries, and other sites with religious association. Or Holocaust memorial sites, former ghettos and Jewish quarters, Jewish schools, rabbis’ houses, and the like. Clean-up operations for such … continue reading →

Death of Jakovas Bunka

We mourn the death of a remarkable man, Jakovas (Yaakov) Bunka (Yankl or Yosl Bunk), a renowned folk-style wood-sculptor, World War II hero and passionate keeper of the Jewish flame in his native town, Plunge, Lithuania, who died July 30 at the age … continue reading →

US Commission Chair Lesley Weiss honored in DC

  Mazel tov to Lesley Weiss, the chair of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad,  who was presented with the U.S. annual Jewish Heritage Celebration’s  Jewish Heritage Appreciation Award. U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) presented the … continue reading →

Important new online resource on pre-WW2 Poland, from YIVO

  The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research has launched an important new online resource on Jews and Jewish life in pre-Holocaust Poland: the YIVO Digital Archive on Jewish Life in Poland. The vast online collection, which includes digitized manuscripts, posters, photographs, … continue reading →

MACEVA Lithuanian Jewish cemetery project — 2013 activity report

MACEVA, the Lithuanian Jewish cemetery project, has released its 2013 Activity Report on its efforts to digitally document and preserve Jewish cemeteries in Lithuania. It demonstrates progress — but also underscores the many challenges. There are progress reports on digitization … continue reading →