Project Description
'Shalom Sussex - The Jewish Community in World War One' is a project that ran between March 2019 and March 2020, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It documented and commemorated the contribution made by Jewish people in Sussex during the First World War - both on the home-front and abroad on the battlefield. 'Strike a Light – Arts & Heritage CIC', in partnership with the Centre for German-Jewish Studies, Jewish Care and the Jewish Historical Society of England facilitated the project, which sought to uncover these hidden yet significant histories of Jewish lives between 1914-1918. This was done by chronicling family experiences, cultural traditions and religious memories, whilst the project team also conducted research into military service through archival publications - such as the British Jewry book of Honour - to ensure that their stories were not lost. The project accordingly provided insight into Jewish life in Sussex at a key moment in its history, through explorations into internment, women in domestic and military life including nursing, military experiences, and keeping kosher during a particular time of hardship. Our series of activities and events helped to celebrate Judaism during this period, as well as giving those interested in this heritage access to a greater number of and collated sources, for personal and social exploration. Project investigations allowed us to explore the lives of fascinating individuals such as Florence Oppenheimer who trained as a nurse (later to be a celebrated Jewish cook) at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in 1914, and who received a citation from Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War during the conflict. Our main project output was the creation of a community history website, which now hosts a series of eight digitally downloadable case studies celebrating and profiling key figures within the Jewish community in Sussex during the First World War.
Organisation
Organised by
Strike a Light - Arts & Heritage
Region
South East England
Location
BN2 4EX
Event
Focus and Research
Resources used for research
We consulted a number of sources for our research, including the Jewish Chronicle archive, Jewish Care archives, conscription and hospital documents as well as synagogue records. We additionally participated in a guided visit of the Grade II*-listed Synagogue in Brighton with Godfrey Gould, a committee member of the Jewish Historical Society of England, to look at the memorial board for those local Jewish soldiers who died in the Great War. Some of our project partners have family members listed on this memorial who served or died during the war, which gave us a strong personal connection. We held a bespoke talk at a local Sussex venue on 'The Brighton Jewish Community 1910 – 1920' to mark one hundred years since the end of the conflict by Michael Crook, Chair, Sussex Branch of the Jewish Historical Society of Great Britain. A visit was organised to the National Archives at Kew for volunteers and project participants to explore the vast array of historical resources about Jewish people relating to World War One, alongside encouraging individual learning around archival usage and research skills. We then held two Researcher and Project Participants Study Days with training elements at 'The Keep' in Brighton, in addition to a guided visit and viewing of collections held at the Centre for German-Jewish Studies in Brighton. All project volunteers, participants and related partners were invited to attend our Study Days, which were designed to provide contextual information and new historical perspectives. The project latterly organised a visit to the Imperial War Museum to research the 'We Were There Too' collection about London Jews during the First World War, and spent time in the IWM Research Room consulting journals not available elsewhere. As the project progressed, we organised an accessible community heritage conference as a way of sharing findings, making new connections, encouraging new participants and volunteers to get involved, as well as to network different groups. Speakers included the Shalom Sussex project manager, volunteer researchers sharing their findings and Dr Gideon Reuveni of the Centre for German-Jewish studies who has completed extensive research into Jewish people during the First World War.