Memory Objects: Judaica Collections and Global Migrations

Over five hundred ritual objects, books, and manuscripts, acquired half a century ago in 1968 from the Siegfried S. Strauss Collection, comprise the foundational Judaica collection of The Magnes today. Memory Objects: Judaica Collections and Global Migrations brings these materials to light comprehensively for the first time, and also interrogates the formation of private and public Judaica collections in Europe during the great refugee crisis of the interwar period. The First World War uprooted millions across Europe, and beyond. Many Jews left Eastern Europe, bringing with them prized personal and communal belongings. In an attempt to rescue precious heritage from imminent destruction, objects often ended up with museums, collectors, and art dealers in the West.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.