Hungarian Exhibition ‘Synagogues of East-Central Europe, 1781-1944’ opens in Sarajevo on 10 February under the auspices of the Embassy of Hungary in Sarajevo and the Jewish cultural-educational and humanitarian society ‘La Benevolencija’ Sarajevo. József Négyesi, Ambassador of Hungary, and Jakob Fici, President of the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with author Professor Dr. Rudolf Klein will open the exhibition at 7 pm on 10th February 2015 at Galerija „Novi Hram” (M.M. Bašeskije 38, Sarajevo). Dr. Klein is currently working as Professor of modern architectural history at the Miklós Ybl Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering of the Szent István University in Budapest; the exhibition is based on his award-winning books.
“The synagogue is not simply a sacred space. It is the core of Jewish intellectual, spiritual and communal life, a symbol of the coherence of a community and its élan vital. Synagogues embody values, identity, and dreams in stone and brick. In East-Central Europe, particularly as of mid-19th century, Jewish assimilation and social modernization began to become visible in architecture. This exhibition is a journey in space and time, displaying aspects of Jewish life and its economic and cultural flourishing within multinational empires. It offers a panoramic view of important shifts that took place as Jewish came to play increasingly prominent and vital roles in the economic and cultural life of Europe, and it makes one stand dumbfounded once again at the incomprehensibility of the Holocaust, when these communities were all but destroyed within the space of only a few years.”
“The exhibition provides images of an array of synagogues that are still in use and synagogues that are virtually in ruins, reminding us of the immeasurable cultural loss. The mission of the Hungarian Jewish Association and the Hungarian State is to preserve and present this heritage to the wider public. However, the purpose of this endeavor is not only cultural-historical: we also seek to remind future generations of the immense responsibility to ensure that no such disaster ever befalls humanity again.” – Peter Kirschner President of the Hungarian Jewish Association
Visit the exhibition in Sarajevo until 24 February free of charge. The exhibition opens in Banja Luka at the “Arie Livne” Jewish Cultural Center on 26 February.
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