The latest news from Bardejov and the BJPC is here!

Happy Purim! Purim is one of the happiest holidays in the Jewish tradition. It was widely celebrated in Bardejov before WWII with costume competitions, parties, and "Purim Spiel"

"Purim Queen of the year 5689”   A ballot paper for a competition in 1929, organized in Bardejov by the local office of Keren Kayemet LeIsrael--the Jewish National Fund. Purim in Bardejov in 1889 The photo was sent by Leah Klapholtz [Please click on the image(s) to enlarge]

Girls in costumes Purim in Raslavice pre WWII

JUNE 2019: Yearly Memorial Ceremony

Our yearly Memorial Ceremony will take place on June 19 2019 . The Memorial Ceremony will include the lighting of the Memorial Candles, reading, and music. We will also announce the winners of the 2019 Essay Competition and the winners of the Art Competition . Following the Memorial Ceremony, we will hold an event in the Old Synagogue which will include installing  Mezuza and unveiling a Parochet  on Aron Hakodesh. More details will be coming soon. We hope to see you in Bardejov in June!

Beith Hamidrash Restoration Project News

Our team of architects and conservators is finalizing the architectural details for the Jewish Museum and Cultual Center in Bardejov. We plan to have the first public display of the detailed architectural plans for our event on June 19th.

A Surprising Find

We were thrilled to come about an interesting find in Janovce, a small village 9 miles away from Bardejov. A Hebrew prayer book was found in the attic of an old, recently renovated house. The first owner of the house—where the book was found—used to work for the local Jewish families Ziegler and Treuhauf who lived in this village from the 19th century until WWII.  The Ziegler and Trenhauf families were the founders of the local grocery store and the local pub. Indeed, the village used to have a small Jewish community before WWII and additional interesting remnant of Jewish life in Janovce is an underground freezer that can be still seen today. The freezer was built to store the fresh kosher meat from the kosher slaughterhouse.

The old prayer book, with Hebrew writing, was found in an attic in Janovce - a village which is 9 miles away from Bardejov and used to have a small Jewish community.

Life Cycle It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Rita Spiegel, daughter of Abraham and Edita Spiegel Z"L, and sister of Thomas Spiegel--one of the sponsor of our Bardejov Holocaust Memorial. Abraham Spiegel and Edita, married in 1940, were Holocaust survivors. In 1944, the couple and their 2-year-old son Uziel were shipped to Auschwitz. The parents survived, but their son perished. Abraham and Edita Spiegel arrived to United States in 1947 where they built new life and had two children Rita and Thomas. They were big philanthropists and supporters of Jewish life in the United States and Israel. Among their major legacies is the Children’s Memorial at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Following her parents, Rita was a major supporter of Beit Hatfutsot- the Museum of the Jewish People located in the campus of Tel Aviv University in Israel, Yad Vashem, and many other American and Israeli institutions. May God comfort Rita’s sons Barak Diskin and Ron Diskin, her Brother Thomas, their family and friends during the time of their bereavement, amongst the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

PLEASE SUPPORT US

Our mission is to preserve Bardejov’s Jewish Heritage, memorialize and honor Bardejov Holocaust victims, and conduct educational outreach to school and community groups to teach tolerance and diversity. The Bardejov Jewish Preservation Committee is not funded by any grants and depends solely on the support of generous individuals.

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150 S. Los Robles Ave., Suite 480, Pasadena CA 91105; 626.773.8804; Web: www.bardejov.org