Jewish Museum London is proud to display a selection of items and images from Holocaust survivor Leon Greenman’s life within the gallery dedicated in his honour at the National Holocaust Centre and Museum. London-born Greenman was a father and a husband living in the Netherlands at the time of Nazi occupation. He was unable to prove his and his family’s British identity and they were first sent to the deportation camp Westerbork and then on to Auschwitz-Birkenau where his wife Else and his son Barney were murdered upon arrival. Greenman survived 18 months of concentration and labour camps and ..read more

The Jewish Museum London is delighted to announce the recent award of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund of £231,000 for our project Jewish Museum London on the Move. This generous grant will support the development of a new operating model for museum activities to be delivered out in the community after relocating from its building in Camden and entering a transition period towards a future museum. The project runs from December 2023 to March 2025 and will support the successful transition and development of learning and collections programmes around the UK to existing and new au ..read more

Like so many arriving through the doors of the Jewish Museum London, I came with questions about family. I came to my collections placement with the aim of finding some evidence of a connection between my relatives and any objects at the museum. Something to bridge the gap between family legend and historical fact. Ideally, this would lead to some evidence of my grandmother’s family within the broader Jewish community in London. The only historical records preserved within the family were my grandfather’s family’s lightermen licenses. We knew that my great-grandfather, Charles ‘Todd’ Carver, h ..read more

We often think of Jewish culture with its most iconic objects such as the Menorah or Torah. However, we seem to underrate the value of Jewish jewellery. You might accidentally pass over them due to their tiny appearance but it’s hard to ignore the impact of these delicate gems. During my placement in the Jewish museum, I noticed that even the tiniest piece of art can reveal a profound story. The museum’s hidden gems hold captivating stories, waiting to be unveiled and shared in diverse ways. Each object provides a glimpse into the past, offering important insights into diverse cultures, belief ..read more

The Jewish Museum London closed to all visitors on 30 July in order to progress plans for a new Future Museum in a more prominent location. Over 400 people came along for a packed day of baking sessions in the community learning kitchen, behind the scenes tours, object handling from the collections and family crafts. We held a Building Closure Ceremony at 4 pm Sunday 30 July with hundreds in attendance to help us celebrate the achievements of the Museum in our Albert Street building before it closed to visitors. Trustee and former Museum Director, Frances Jeens, led the Ceremony remembering t ..read more

As part of my Collections Placement at the Jewish Museum London (JML), I have audited many of the Museum’s prints, plates, and printmaking tools. Among the objects I have been handling and researching have been photographic etching plates; aleph-bet woodblocks; 17th century books; Harry Blacker’s satirical cartoons (as featured in the 2018 exhibition); and tools for printing. I have particularly enjoyed looking into the forms, styles and techniques of letterpress printing and moveable type. Letterpress printing is a relief process: a surface with raised letters is inked and pressed on to a pri ..read more

Grete Glauber’s article, “My First Impression of England, ” is one of the many artefacts that caught my attention during my Collections Placement at the Jewish Museum London. Her positive tone and confident writing form a strong contrast to the circumstances that brought her to England. Grete is one of approximately ten thousand children who arrived in England through Kindertransport, a rescue mission that aimed to evacuate Jewish children from Nazi-controlled regions. With the museum’s extensive collection of letters and correspondence related to Grete, I was able to piece together a com ..read more

Many people like to say that the best medicine is laughter. This begs a couple of questions: firstly, why has laughter often been held in this regard by humanity, especially in Jewish culture? Now, I do not mean to investigate how the brain processes humour; I’m no scientist. Rather, I would like to consider how aspects of one’s life can prompt them to view humour as curative. The second question is: through which techniques does Jewish humour tend to be conveyed? In order to investigate these matters adequately, we will look at two groups of what has been a significant visual medium for Jewis ..read more

Current building to close this Summer as Board develops plans for new museum fit for the future, in more prominent location Activity will continue online and in temporary venues as part of transition plan – with more details to be announced in due course Board’s decision also reflects the need to make the museum more sustainable into the future. Centenary vision to develop a new museum to engage a wider audience with the rich heritage, creativity & hospitality of Jewish culture   Thursday 1 June, London – The trustees of Jewish Museum London today announce that they are preparing to ..read more

The Jewish Museum London wishes to congratulate His Majesty King Charles III on the occasion of his coronation on 6 May. His Majesty has been Patron of the Jewish Museum London since 2008 when we became His Majesty’s first patronage of a Jewish Community organisation with a remit in the United Kingdom. This long standing relationship reflects King Charles’s deep commitment to promoting and preserving British Jewish Heritage and the Jewish faith. The post Coronation of King Charles III appeared first on The Jewish Museum London ..read more