For the first time more than 75 years after the discovery and transfer to the judaic Historical Institute. Emanuela Ringelblum is presented an iconographic archive of the pre-war judaic Museum in Berlin – a unique collection of visual materials documenting the life and culture of Jews just before the Holocaust. The fresh temporary exhibition can be seen from April 10 at the Emanuel Ringelblum judaic Historical Institute.
The exhibition restores the memory of the institution's discontinued activities and asks questions about the function of images – photography, graphics and reproduction – in building cognition about the past and identity of the judaic community.
The exhibition is simply a uncommon witness to the world, which has mostly disappeared. Photos, graphics and reproductions preserved in the archive paper the lives of Jews before the Holocaust, perpetuating paintings of works of art, places and communities that frequently no longer exist.
Title Identity images They encourage visitors to view pre-war judaic culture not only as a lost heritage, but besides as an crucial part of past that inactive shapes our knowing of the past.
The central point of the exhibition is an iconographic archive presenting various manifestations of judaic culture – from the form of spiritual and intellectual life to artists and creators of popular culture. The collection includes photographs of spiritual sites, Christmas scenes and everyday life, as well as material documenting popular culture, including images of artists and entertainers.
The exhibition besides presents works of judaic art. any of them were preserved only in the form of photographs – frequently the last trace of works destroyed during the war. Next to them you can besides see first drawings, sketches, aquaforts and woodcuts of pre-war artists from various parts of Europe.
The archive papers not only the achievements of judaic culture, but besides the realities in which the judaic community in Europe functioned. The collection contains materials showing social tensions, prejudices and force – including engravings relating to ritual execution charges, trial photographs and anti-Semitic caricatures.
The exhibition “Identity Image” tells not only the communicative of the collection itself, but besides the destiny of the institution that created it, and the postwar circumstances of uncovering and preserving its fragments. At the same time, it allows us to realize the realities in which the postwar collections of the judaic Historical Institute were created. Emanuela Ringelblum – during the chaos, movement of objects and reconstruction of cultural institutions after planet War II.
The exhibition will present first boards from the iconographic archive, negatives and diapositives, as well as papers related to the activities of the judaic Museum in Berlin. The exhibition is complemented by selected works of art linked to the past of the institution and archival materials documenting the destiny of the collection after its closure in 1938.
The collection was created in the 1920s and 1930s, during the dynamic improvement of photography and reproduction of images. Materials – photographs, engravings and various visual papers – were systematically collected, catalogued and placed on cardboard boards, creating an organized compendium of images concerning the life, culture and past of Jews.
The exhibition is accompanied by:
– movie essay Wege zur Kunsterziehung / The Way of Artistic Education/ A Guide for Art Education directed by Yael Vishnizki Levi, who studies cracks in the collection past and how they reflect in its fragmentary form;
– Catalogue containing technological articles, explanation essays and reproductions of materials from the collection.
Exhibition: Identity Images. Collection of the Prewar judaic Museum in Berlin
Place: Emanuel Ringelblum judaic Historical Institute, Warsaw
Date: April 10 – November 30, 2026
Curator of the exhibition: Marta Kapełus
Arrangement design: Aneta Faner
Film: Yael Vishnizki Levi
