The Jewish Museum in London shut its doors to the public for the last time on Sunday after nearly three decades at its Camden site.

The closure was marked by speeches and a closing ceremony with Jewish community leaders, volunteers and visitors voicing their sadness at the loss of the physical space, which housed approximately 40,000 artefacts of cultural and artistic value to the community. 

Approximately 300 people turned up for the poignant closing ceremony, during which four Holocaust survivors - Else Shamash, Eve Kugler, Bea Green and Mala Tribich, took turns to light a candle and to share with the packed room what the museum had meant to them. 

Bosses also invited visitors on the day to write and submit “memory cards” about their own highlights and memories of the museum, take part in family-friendly arts and craft activities as well as bake challah bread in the Community Learning Kitchen. 

Behind the scenes tours were also offered and there was a suggestion box where visitors were invited to share what they would like to see in a future premises.  

Final blessings sung in the Jewish Museum London before it closes its doors for the last time, led by Rabbi Geoffrey Shisler pic.twitter.com/S9aMmUsfXc

— Daniel Ben-David (@DannyBenDavid) July 30, 2023

Frances Jeens, who sits on the Board of Trustees, said it was “lovely” to be amongst “so many familiar faces" and that the survivors present had inspired “a generation of young people within this building.” 

She said the goal of the space was always “to connect and to educate, and in that capacity the museum has welcomed hundreds of thousands of people through these doors.” 

Jeens stressed that over the next six months, museum leaders would “start to think about moving out” and what a museum of the future would entail. 

Shamash said she had “thoroughly enjoyed all the time spent talking to young people and answering their questions”, and looked forward to the museum’s next iteration. 

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The closing event attracted a large turnout (Photo: Daniel Ben-David/Jewish Chronicle)

Meanwhile, long-time volunteers and visitors old and new huddled and reflected on their memories, sharing highlights and anecdotes with one another.

One man, Ben, who had travelled from Brighton, said it was with “tremendous sadness” that he walked slowly through the museum for the last time, having come for many years with his parents when they visited London. 

Rabbi Geoffery Shisler, who led the day’s blessings and the visitors in prayer, thanked the museum’s administrators, staff and volunteers for giving “a deeper insight into the Jewish people and their contribution to the world.” 

“Now we look forward toward the future in great excitement and anticipation as the museum begins a new chapter in its history,” Shisler said. 

Else Shamash, Eve Kugler, Bea Green and Mala Tribich

Four Holocaust survivors - Else Shamash, Eve Kugler, Bea Green and Mala Tribich (Photo: Daniel Ben-David/Jewish Chronicle)

The museum’s vast collection, which is the second largest collection of Judaica in Europe, includes a ceremonial art exhibit, prints, drawings, objects reflecting everyday home and working life, photographs, oral history archives and more.  

Museum chair Nick Viner said bosses remain “adamant” that the museum’s collection, the majority of which will be housed in special museum conservation storage facilities to keep them intact, will continue to be used to educate the public in the coming months.

The Jewish Museum London was founded in 1932 by Professor Cecil Roth, Alfred Rubens and Wilfred Samuel. It was originally located in Woburn House in Bloomsbury before moving to it's current Camden Town home in 1994.