Object Days
Memorabilia and Migration Stories – Portraits of Jews Living in Germany
“Show us your story!” – Beginning in 2017, the Jewish participants in the Object Days project have answered this invitation by recounting their migration stories to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The objects they took with them to Germany – photographs, letters, ceremonial items, dishes, clothing, etc. – illustrate their very personal stories and connections to Judaism.
Object Days have been held in Dresden, Regensburg, Kassel, Düsseldorf, and Berlin, and so far more than 70 individuals have participated. They range in age from their twenties to their late nineties. As a result of the conversations in familiar settings, the participants have contributed to, and been integrated into, the documentation of the recent past. As experts on their own histories, they have not only shared their migration narratives, but also illustrated those narratives’ complexity.
In recent years, many museums have begun addressing the topic of migration. The Jewish Museum Berlin intends to acquire more objects related to migration because it has been a constitutive element of the Jewish community in Germany since 1945.
Meet the participants and read about their stories! Some of the objects presented here are shown at our permanent exhibition.
This article was first published in 2018 in issue 18 of the print edition of the JMB Journal.
The project was continued until 2024 and concluded with a publication.
Citation recommendation:
Alina Gromova, Tamar Lewinsky, Theresia Ziehe (2018), Object Days. Memorabilia and Migration Stories – Portraits of Jews Living in Germany.
URL: www.jmberlin.de/en/node/5528
Object Days: Regensburg (9)
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Regensburg
Jews in Regensburg tell their migration story
Object Days: Dusseldorf (2)
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Dusseldorf
Jews in Dusseldorf tell their migration story
Object Days: Berlin (7)
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Berlin
Jews in Berlin tell their migration story
Object Days: Dresden (7)
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Dresden
Jews in Dresden tell their migration story
