On 29th February, we were invited to attend the launch of Hidden Histories: Scotland’s Former Jewish Communities, a new exhibition at the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre.

At this event, we were warmly welcomed and encouraged to look at the displays which celebrate Jewish communities throughout Scotland. Jewish immigrants first began to settle in Scotland in the 1800s, mainly in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Throughout the next century, communities were established in Dundee, Greenock, Inverness, Ayr, Falkirk and Dunfermline. Although there are no longer synagogues in these places, the exhibition is testament to the thriving Jewish population that once lived, worked and worshipped there.

Supported financially by the Institute, the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre is an excellent place for school visits, not least for educating children and young people about Jewish religious life and culture, but their study centre also provides artefacts which tell the stories of refugees in Scotland.

Using real documentary sources, young people can trace the lives of Jewish children who came from Europe as refugees fleeing the Holocaust via the Kindertransport in the 1930s and 40s, and see how they grew up in Scotland and became part of our communities.

As trade unionists and educators, we know that it is vital that we always keep at the forefront of our consciousness, that immigration, refugees and people of all faiths (and none) are entwined
in Scotland’s rich – but often hidden – multicultural history.

The Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre is an ideal place to do just that.

Home – Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre (sjhc.org.uk)

School Visit – Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre (sjhc.org.uk)