The Jewish refugees who helped shape NI - including Derry

Project director Steven Jaffe said that most of the first generation of Jewish people to come to NI were refugees, adding that today’s Ukrainian refugees could similarly enrich the new pastures they have been forced to seek.

The map highlights over 60 locations across the Province with a Jewish story to tell. For example, the Jewish community in Derry was established in 1893. A number of Jewish families gathered at the home of Mr Welsky at 17 Harvey Street and agreed to form themselves into a congregation under the authority of the Chief Rabbi in London. By the following year, the first synagogue was opened at 18 Abercorn Road. There were about 43 Jews living in the city.

In 1929 a new synagogue was acquired at 4 Kennedy Place.

During the war the Jewish population rose to over one hundred. Refugees from Nazi persecution found work in the shirt factories. Amongst those who assisted their arrival were Professor Paul Finegan, president of Magee College, and Mr Archie Halliday, who ran a private business school. The interactive map (www.belfastjewishheritage.org) allows users to select a location and reveal historic information, photographs and videos.

Cecil Bloch was born in Derry in 1908. He claimed descent from generations of Lithuanian rabbis. He went into the ministry and served congregations in Manchester and Portsmouth, was an army chaplain in Burma and Malaya, and after the war was minister in Swansea and South East London.

Steven said: “The map shows refugees, like the Bloch family, can contribute to the country they settle in. I think that’s the Jewish story.

“You’ve got an earlier generation of Jewish refugees who came from Russia, that would be in the early 20th century. They may have come not being able to speak English, being very noticeably foreign, but you look at their children and their grandchildren and the contribution that they’ve made to Northern Ireland, in terms of commerce, retail, consultants in hospitals.

“And also on the culture. There was a lady Helen Lewis, she was a survivor of Auschwitz, she came to Northern Ireland after the war. She was a pioneer of modern dance.

“The Jewish community in NI never numbered more than 1,500. But people will be amazed by the variety and depth of the Jewish experience.”

Other stories include the Belfast-born Jew Benjamin Glazer who won an Oscar at the first-ever Academy Awards in 1929. There is also the future President of Israel, Chaim Herzog, whose father was rabbi in Belfast.

Asked if he saw similarities with refugees fleeing Ukraine, he said: “Refugees can make a huge impact on the places they go. That’s the parallel.”

Steven added: “Many people aren’t even aware of the existence of Northern Ireland’s small Jewish community because of the dominant Protestant and Catholic traditions. This map will change perceptions.”