The centuries-old Seder plates photographed by Theodor Harburger in the 1920s may be the only remnants we have of many Jewish families from Bavaria, Germany. Harburger survived the Holocaust and immigrated to Israel, bringing with him his rare collection, which serves as a testament to the lives of German Jewish communities that were plundered and murdered in the Holocaust. These antique Seder plates preserve not only the story of the holiday throughout the generations but also the stories of the families at whose tables they once stood.
Tracking a Child’s Footprint: The Rescue of France’s Jewish Children in the Holocaust
“Colonie Scolaire” was founded years before WWII with the aim of supporting the children of Paris’s poor immigrants. With the beginning of Jewish persecution in occupied France, the organization went underground in order to save as many Jewish children as possible. This is the story of one of those children, told through the organization’s documents…
Revealed: Immigration Documents Filled Out by Austrian Jews During the Nazi Occupation
A trove of documents from Vienna’s Jewish community during the Anschluss period has been revealed to the public for the first time thanks to a collaboration between MyHeritage and the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People at the National Library of Israel. The collection contains 228,250 records, including scanned original documents submitted by Jews hoping to emigrate from Vienna. These documents, available on the Library’s website, provide extraordinary insights into the life of Vienna’s thriving Jewish community in the years 1938–1939
Revealed: Rare Documentation of the Portuguese Inquisition
A recently discovered manuscript documents the first 130 years of the Portuguese Inquisition’s tribunals, mainly in Lisbon. Recorded on the pages are trials conducted by inquisitors and others against newly converted Christians accused of continuing to practice Judaism in secret…
A Rare Glimpse of Jewish Schools in Hungary after the Holocaust
Jewish schools after the destruction: View rare photos smuggled into Israel from post-war Hungary
The Bravery of the Women of the Damascus Affair
A letter sent by the wives of Jewish men imprisoned during the Damascus Affair of 1840 gives voice to the suffering of these women, some of whom were beaten and even forced to provide sexual favors as a result of the blood libel
The Vilna Gaon Makes a Surprise Appearance
Archivists at the Lithuanian State Historical Archives were surprised to discover a famous figure while examining historic 250 year old records from Vilnius
Meet the Jewish Circus Performer Who Could Bend Iron with His Bare Hands
Zishe Breitbart was known as the “Modern Day Samson” and performed all over the world until his untimely death.
How the German-Jewish Refugees Flourished in the Kenyan Farmlands
These rare photos show the story of the Jewish refugees who settled in Kenya in the 1930s.
