Lithuania: Former Anykščiai Synagogue Demolished

Anykščiai, Lithuania. Demolition of former synagogue. Photo from Nyksciai.lt informacija

Lithuania: Former Anykščiai Synagogue Demolished

(ISJM) One line and a few pictures in a Lithuanian online news service reported the demolition of the former community synagogue in the northern Lithuanian town of Anykščiai (Aniksht in Yiddish). The reason given for the demolition of the building on Saltupio Steet, which had been used as a bakery, was a "state of emergency." A new building to house a social services center is planned for the site. In the one picture posted of the standing building it does not appear to have had any surviving identifying or distinctive exterior features, though it looked to be in relatively good condition.

You can read about the Jewish history of the town here.

USA: Newark's Former Oheb Shalom by William Lehman is 100 Years Old

Newark, NJ. Wells Cathedral, former Congregation Oheb Shalom. William Lehman, architect 1910-1911. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber (2006).

USA: Newark's Former Oheb Shalom by William Lehman is 100 Years Old
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) I've previously written about the centennial of the classical-style Temple Concord in Syracuse, dedicated in September 1911. Another impressive (Greco-Roman) Temple-like synagogue building celebrating its centennial this year is the former Oheb Shalom in Newark, New Jersey, designed by Jewish architect William Lehman (1874-1951) and dedicated on September 11, 2011. Since 1958, when Oheb Shalom moved to suburban South Orange, the High Street building has been home to Wells Cathedral, a Pentecostal church.

The building is a an impressive structure with a fine projecting portico of four Ionic columns, and some delicate decoration, including a Jewish Star within a wreath set into the pediment. The entablature carries an inscription in Hebrew, not English an indication that this was a Conservative synagogue, not a Reform. My guess is that this is one of the earliest full-blown classical-style Conservatives synagogues. But then again, most Conservative synagogues did not engage in big building campaigns until after World War I, so Oheb Shalom was prescient in many ways.

According to synagogue historian Mark Gordon, "Oheb Shalom had three locations on one block of Prince Street (rented quarters; 1863-64 frame synagogue; 1884 brick synagogue) before it moved to High Street in 1911. Woodrow Wilson was the keynote speaker at the High Street dedication. During Oheb Shalom’s 150th anniversary celebration in 2010, the congregation visited its extant Prince Street (1884) and High Street (1910-11) edifices in Newark and held an interfaith service with the Pentecostal Church which now owns the High Street building. Several older congregants who participated in the service were quite moved to be standing at the original reading table where they became b’nai mitzvah."

Photos of the building interior can be seen here, together with views of other former synagogues in Newark.

Lehman was apparently Jewish. David Kaufman also has several pages on the 1911 Oheb Shalom in his book on the Jewish Center movement Shul with a Pool. Lehman's New York Times obituary records that he was a trustee of B'nai Jeshurun in Newark, but Oheb Shalom is his only Jewish project that I've been able to identify so far. He appears to have been quite successful in Newark, and designed a lot of movie theaters and some important public buildings. There was/is quite a family dynasty, but one of the Lehman architects are listed in the Who's Who in American Jewry volumes of 1926, 1938-39 or 1972 The New Jersey Historical Society has 5,000 Lehman items in its archive. It appears that nothing significant has been written about Lehman, so his life and work could be a nice M.A. thesis.

Papers of Congregation Oheb Shalom that may relate to the construction of the 1910-11 building are housed at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Slovenia: Jewish Soldiers of the Austria-Hungarian Army On The Isonzo Front

Stanjel, Slovenia. Jewish graves at Austrian military cemetery. Photos: Ruth Ellen Gruber (2003)

Slovenia Exhibition: Forgive Us, Forgive Us O You Dead. Jewish Soldiers of the Austria-Hungarian Army On The Isonzo Front
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) The international exhibition Forgive Us, Forgive Us O You Dead. Jewish Soldiers of the Austria-Hungarian Army On The Isonzo Front will open tomorrow, Thursday, 17^th November 2011 in the Maribor Synagogue, Slovenia. The exhibition theme is part of the ongoing dissertation research by Renato Podbersič, and continues preliminary on-site research begun by my sister Ruth Ellen Gruber, which was published as part of our survey of Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues and Monuments in Slovenia of about a decade ago.

The authors of the exhibition are dr. Petra Svoljšak, Head of the Milko Kos Historical Institute of the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and mag. Renato Podbersič, senior researcher at the SCNR (Slovenian Centre for National Reconciliation).

Maribor, Slovenia. Panel form the exhibition. Photo courtesy of Janez Premk.

Maribor Curator Janez Premk helped with advice and additional material, as did our good friend Ivan Čerešnješ, who provided historical photos of his grandfather and other Jewish soldiers from Bosnia, fighting in the Isonzo front.

Doctor Premk believes the exhibition, which consists of 16 tri-lingual (Slovenian, English, Hebrew) panels, accompanied by rich graphic material and historical documents, is one of the major contributions in contemporary research of the Jewish past in Slovenia and adjacent territories. The exhibit will travel in Slovenia and plans are being made to then send it abroad.

UK: Last East London Jewish Hospital Demolished

From The Forward

October 31, 2011, 1:47pm

Last East London Jewish Hospital Demolished

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Despite opposition, the last remaining Jewish hospital building in London’s East End will be torn down to make way for a five-story housing development. The Tower Hamlets council agreed for the Jewish Maternity Hospital on Underwood Road, Whitechapel, to be demolished because it does not have landmark status. It is neither listed by English Heritage, nor does it fall within a Conservation Area, according to a report in the East London Advertiser.

Those opposed to the demolition, including cultural and political leaders, are especially upset that the cottages next door to the hospital are also set to be taken down. They say that they are large single-family homes in good shape. “The Director of Jewish Heritage UK, Sharman Kadish, also wrote to Peabody [the real estate developer], saying the social and historic significance of the cottages next to the main hospital building have been overlooked while urging the trust to convert the cottages into residential use,” the article in the Advertiser said.

The developer contends that keeping the cottages would negatively affect the number of housing units needed to be built and would make its plan financially unfeasible.

The Jewish Maternity Hospital operated between 1911 and 1947 and had an attached midwifery school. It was built as a two-story building containing three maternity wards, an operating theater and several annexes and offices. Of its 12 beds, 4 were reserved for patients who could not pay for medical care. The building quickly became too small, and eventually additional wings were added on. The hospital also added on many other services, including pre-natal and post-natal care clinics.

Since WWII, and after the hospital moved to another site, the building has served as a nursery and childcare center, and more recently as a family welfare association for local residents in Tower Hamlets.

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/145268/#ixzz1d19IBqYk