THE EXHIBITION "THE JEWISH STREET - A RECONSTRUCTION" WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED AT THE REGIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM - SOFIA
A large audience gathered at the Regional History Museum - Sofia on March 9, 2023 for the opening of the "The Jewish Street - a Reconstruction" exhibition. The exhibition is one of the many initiatives initiated and organized by the State Cultural Institute within the framework of the Strategic Cooperation project between Bulgaria and Norway in support of Bulgaria's international commitments to combat anti-Semitism and the preservation of Jewish heritage". The exhibition is also part of the National Program of events and initiatives to mark throughout 2023 the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during the Second World War and in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
The event was opened by the host and director of the Regional History Museum - Sofia, Prof. Veneta Hadjiyska, who emphasized the role of the museum in preserving the memory of the dramatic events of the Second World War and the opposition to the plans to destroy our Jewish compatriots. The Chairman of the State Agency "Archives" Prof. Dr. Mihail Gruev also gave welcoming remarks. The director of the State Cultural Institute, Mrs. Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, thanked the Institute's team for the hard work in creating the exhibition and the partners from the Bulgarian museums and teachers at the National Art Academy - authors of the exhibition design and multimedia. The curator of the exhibition, Ivanka Gezenko, an expert from the State Agency "Archives", also expressed her gratitude and shared her satisfaction with the successful implementation of the project, which contributes to the preservation of the Bulgarian cultural heritage and the contribution of the Jewish community in its diversity and wealth.
The exhibition is a reconstruction with the help of artifacts and digitized materials of everyday life on the Jewish street and cultural heritage created by the community in Bulgaria. Included are photographs and objects related to Jewish culture and history stored in the State Agency "Archives", the National History Museum, the Regional History Museums in Sofia, Pazardzhik, Kyustendil, Plovdiv, the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore with an ethnographic museum and the National Archaeological Institute with Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Historical Museum - Samokov. The visualized samples of Jewish material culture are divided into six main themes that trace the formation and life of Jewish communities in Bulgaria, the role of the family in preserving identity and age-old traditions, participation in the economic and cultural life of Bulgaria, the shadow of the dramatic events that the inhabitants of the Jewish streets experienced in the years of the Second World War. In chronological terms, the exhibition examines the period after the Liberation of Bulgaria. The daily life of the community in many Bulgarian cities is mirrored.
In the History Museum of Sofia, the exhibition can be viewed until April 19, 2023.