Marc Chagall frequently painted his wife, Bella; her cultural contribution, though, is not so well known. In her two posthumously published works, the world of her youth, her Hasidic upbringing in pre-war Vitebsk come to life, noisily and brightly, through the eyes of a girl jostling for a better view in the women’s gallery of … Continue reading Bella Chagall – a String of Pearls and the Golden Chain

Directed by Ken Hughes, who was ‘fascinated by Jews and Jewish culture,’ The Small World of Sammy Lee ‘is one of the few overt attempts to put British Jewish life on screen’ (Andrew Pulver, The Guardian, 2016).  Adapted from an original BBC television play, this gritty black and white crime film follows hustler and strip club compere, … Continue reading The Small World of Sammy Lee

  Tracing their legacies back to the golden age of circus, this talk charts the successes of the Jewish circus families, their tours and their specialty acts, painting a vivid picture of their legacies. Together we will discover their fates, as people and as businesses, throughout the years of the Nazi regime. Telling these stories … Continue reading Circus Jews under National Socialism