Online Event by Moreshet Network in cooperation with Bente Kahan Foundation
November 7, 2023, 18:00-19:45 CET
Discoveringand Commemorating Jewish Heritage
Part 1: Remains of the medieval Jewish community in Wroclaw
Wrocław, alongside Prague and Krakow, was one of the most important homes for the Jewish community of Central and Eastern Europe in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries.
Despite good knowledge of the preserved medieval architecture of Wrocław as a result of many years of archaeological research, no material remnant of the oldest synagogues in Wrocław had been discovered.
The renovation of a building at Szewska 49 street has dramatically changed that. When ancient brick walls, vaults, and buttresses began to emerge, it became more and more apparent that the site may actually be the remains of a synagogue of the very first Jewish community in Wrocław.
Pawel Duma Phd, is an archeologist from University of Wroclaw with responsibility for the coordination of these archeological excavations. He will share with us his insights into this process of historical investigation, explaining the origins of the building and the importance of these remarkable findings.
Part 2: Unfinished Lives
Unfinished Lives is an innovative multimedia project by the Bente Kahan Foundation presenting European Jewish artists who tragically perished during the Holocaust. Amid the horror, artists continued to express themselves through literature, music, visual and performing arts. European Jewish art before World War II was multilingual, multicultural, and diverse, both thematically and stylistically. The project started as a permanent exhibition at the White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw, Poland. Together with the exhibition, the Foundation has also produced a concert entitled Unfinished Lives. www.unfinishedlives.eu
Bente Kahan is a Norwegian-born Jewish singer, actress, musician, director and playwright. She received formal training in Tel Aviv and New York and has been working as an artist since 1981. Her career began at Israel’s national theatre Habima, and continued in Oslo, including at the Norwegian national theatre. In 1990, she founded her own production company “Teater Dybbuk – Oslo”. In 2001, Bente Kahan moved to Wrocław, where in 2005 she created the Center for Jewish Culture and Education in the White Stork Synagogue. In 2006, she established the Bente Kahan Foundation responsible for the Cultural Center and the restoration of the Synagogue complex. In 2017, she was recognised as “Honorary Citizen of Wrocław”. Today, Bente Kahan Foundation focuses most of its work on Jewish heritage in Lower Silesia, Holocaust education and promoting “Unfinished Lives”.
All images: (c) Bente Kahan Foundation
November 7, 2023, 18:00-19:45 CET
Program
18:00: Introduction: Tomasz Wlodarski
18:10: Dr. Pawel Duma: Remains from the medieval Jewish community in Wroclaw
18:40: Discussion
19:00: Bente Kahan: Presentation of “Unfinished Lives”
19:15: Discussion
19:30: Wrap Up by Lucia Conte Aguilar
Please register for the event here (link to the Google Form) – https://forms.gle/XZhhqLrw13jrzQ9h6
The Zoom link will be sent through to you just prior to the event.