23) ISRAEL & HOLOCAUST

The Hall of Names, Yad Va Shem (Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust), JERUSALEM.

For countries visited 22 to 18 we didn't focus on the Jewish angle, yet in the blog we will cover Holocaust and it's impact on these nations.

22) FRANCE & HOLOCAUST

 

The Eiffel Tower of Paris, France.

21) SPAIN & HOLOCAUST

The Puerta de Europa Towers of Madrid, Spain.

20) SLOVENIA & HOLOCAUST

Cobbler's Bridge, Ljubljana-the Capital of Slovenia.

19) LUXEMBOURG & HOLOCAUST

18) VATICAN & HOLOCAUST

17) NORWAY & HOLOCAUST

Norway suffered the heaviest among the Scandinavian countries in the Holocaust. An estimated 45% of its Jewish population (762 out of 1700) perished in the Holocaust. I will be discussing the Jewish holocaust memorials and sites from Oslo, Trondheim and Tromso.

The Oslo Synagogue (1892)

The Trondheim Synagogue (1925)

Holocaust Memorial in Tromso for the 17 Jews deported to Auschwitz in 1942.

16) SWEDEN & HOLOCAUST

Sweden was perhaps the safest place for Scandinavian Jews during the Holocaust. I will include Jewish sites in Stockholm and Gothenburg in the blog.

 The Great Synagogue of Stockholm (1870).

The Gothenburg Synagogue (1855)

15) DENMARK & HOLOCAUST

An estimated 60 out of 7800 Danish Jews lost their lives in the Holocaust. A brief visit to Copenhagen's Jewish site(s) will be discussed in the blog. 

The Great Synagogue of Copenhagen (1833).

14) FINLAND & HOLOCAUST

Finland was one of the safest place for Jews during Holocaust. Out of the pre-war 2000 Finnish Jews, 7 lost their lives in the Holocaust. I will include Helsinki's Jewish sites.

Helsinki Synagogue (1906).

13) NETHERLANDS & HOLOCAUST

Netherlands was once considered as the safest haven for European Jews, yet Holocaust was more devastating for the Dutch Jews. Out of the 140,000 Jews who lived in Netherlands in 1940, about 102,000 died in the Holocaust. I will be discussing bout the Jewish sites and monuments of Amsterdam in the blog.

The famous Anne Frank House, Amsterdam. An estimated 75,000 Jews lived in Amsterdam before the Nazi occupation. After the war, hardly any Jews were living in Amsterdam.

12) HUNGARY & HOLOCASUT

Hungary suffered one of the heaviest and fastest Jewish losses in the Holocaust. 596,000 out of 825,000 Hungarian Jews died in the Holocaust. I will include Budapest for Hungarian Jewry in the blog.

The Shoes on the Danube Bank Holocaust Memorial, Budapest. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 Hungarian Jews were brought to the Danube river and shot. Budapest’s Jewish community was the largest in Europe outside Poland. Around 85,000 Budapest Jews were murdered during the Holocaust

11) CZECK REPUBLIC & HOLOCAUST

Czechoslovakia was annexed as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia by the Germans in 1939. Out of the 118,310 Jews who lived in Bohemia and Moravia before war, an estimated 78,000 died in the Holocaust. The Jewish sites of Prague, the capital of Czech Republic will be discussed in the blog.

The Old New Synagogue of Prague-Europe's oldest active synagogue (1270). There were close to 56,000 Jews in Prague before war; around 51,000 perished in the Holocaust.

10) SLOVAKIA & HOLOCAUST

Out of the 89,000 Jews in Slovakia in late 1938, at least 70,000 died in the Holocaust. I will discuss about Bratislava's Jewish community.

Replica of Bratislava's Old Synagogue. Bratislava’s Jewish population numbered 15,000 at the end
of 1940; only a small number survived the Holocaust.

9) AUSTRIA & HOLOCAUST

Austria had a Jewish population of 185,000 before the war. An estimated 65,000 died in the Holocaust. Although, Austria accounted for only 8% of the Third Reich's population, one-third of the key personnel involved in the preparation of Holocaust was from this small country (including Hitler himself, Eichmann and Amon Goeth). I will include Vienna's Holocaust memorial in the blog.

Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial in Vienna, There were around 50,000 Jews in Vienna at the outbreak of the war, less than 6,000 survived the Holocaust.

8) LITHUANIA & HOLOCAUST

Lithuania suffered the heaviest loss in the Holocaust than any other nation in Europe; with more than 95% of it's Jewish community wiped out. It is estimated that 200,000 of the 220,000 Jews in Lithuania were murdered in the Holocaust. I will be discussing the Jewish sites in Vilnius (Vilna), Ponary (Paneriai) and Kaunas (Kovno).

 Site of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius (1572).

Ponary Massacre Site. It is estimated that 100,000 people were killed here between 1941 and 1945; out of which 72,000 were Jews.

The Ninth Fort of Kaunas. It is estimated that at least 50,000 people died here, more than 30,000 of them Jewish.

7) LATVIA & HOLOCAUST

There were 93,479 Jews in Latvia by the time of the 1935. Out of which 80,000 perished in the Holocaust. I will include the Jewish areas from Salaspils, Rumbula, Bikernieki and Riga in the blog.

Ruins of the Great Choral Synagogue (1871) of Riga. It was burned down by Nazis in 1941. Half of Latvia's Jews lived in Riga before war (about 43,000), but after the Holocaust only 150 were left alive!

Salaspils Concentration Camp. An estimated 6,000 to 20,000 (including children) passed through this camp; several thousand died.

Rumbula Massacre Site. At least 25,000 Jews were murdered at Rumbula in just 2 days (November 30 and December 8, 1941).

Bikernieki Forest; It is generally believed that up to 40,000 Jews were shot at Biķernieki forest between 1941 and 1944.

6) ESTONIA & HOLOCAUST

Out of the 4,500 Jewish community members of Estonia before war, about 2,000 were murdered in the Holocaust. I will discuss Tallin, the capital city of Estonia in the blog.

Old Cantonist's Synagogue (1870), Tallin.

5) GREECE & HOLOCAUST

Greece was home to Europe's oldest Jewish community (4th Century BC). There were 77,380 Jews in Greece at the beginning of the Second World War. More than 67,000 died in holocaust which amounts to 87% of the pre-war Jewish population in Greece. The Jewish Greece in this blog will include sites from Thessaloniki (Saloniki) and Athens. 

Holocaust Memorial of Thessalonikki. About 96% of Thessaloniki's Jewish community perished in the Holocaust. Out of the 50,000 Jews of pre-war Thessaloniki, only 2,000 survived the Holocaust.

Holocaust Memorial of Athens. Out of the 3,500 Athenian Jews in 1940, an estimated 1,690 were deported to concentration camps.

4) BELGIUM & HOLOCAUST

Belgium had a Pre-War Jewish population of 66,000 (1940), out of which 28,902 (45%) perished in the holocaust. Following photographs depict the major areas that would be covered for the Belgian Jewry.

 Belgium's National Holocaust Memorial.

Holocaust Memorial, Ghent. The small Jewish community of Ghent had an estimated 300 Jews in 1939.

Holocaust Memorial, Antwerp.

3) ITALY & HOLOCAUST

Although, Italy had a fascist regime during World War II, it had one of the highest Holocaust survival rates (85%). Out of the 45,200 Jews in Italy during the war, 6,800 died in the Holocaust. Following are the areas we covered for Italian Jewry.

The Great Synagogue of Rome (1870). Roman Jewish community is more than 2200 years old! There were around 12,000 Jews in Rome in 1943; about 1,800 were deported and killed.

Canton Synagogue of Venice (1531). Shylock, one of the most infamous fictional characters from Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice' was a Venetian Jew. Out of the 1,200 Venetian Jews (1943), 205 were deported to Extermination Camps.

The notorious Platform 21 (Binario 21) of Milan from where an estimated 850 Jews were deported to the gas chambers.

The Great Synagogue of Florence (1882). There were 3000 Jews in Florence in 1931, of which 230 died in holocaust.

Pisa Synagogue (1595). There were 535 Jews in Pisa in 1931, at least 38 died in holocaust.

2) GERMANY & HOLOCAUST

Holocaust was initiated, planned and organized in Germany. Surprisingly, the survival rate of Jews were higher in Germany. Out of the 566,000 Jews in Germany in 1933, 200,000 (36%) died in holocaust. Thanks to pre-war emigration around 300,000 survived! Below are the photos representing the areas in Germany which will be covered in the blog.

BERLIN

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The memorial in the form of  2,711 large concrete blocks are arranged in 4.7 acres in central Berlin. In 1933, there were 160,000 Jews in Berlin, by 1945 their numbers dwindled to around 8,000. 

WANNSEE

The site of the notorious Wannsee Conference of 20 January 1942 at which the ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Question’ was discussed.

BUCHENWALD

Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps was active from 1937 to 1945. An estimated 50,000 lost their lives and around 250,000 people had passed through this notorious camp .

SACHSENSHAUSEN

It is estimated that 200,000 people passed through Sachsenhausen (active from 1936-1945); around 30,000 died.

MUNICH

Ohel Jakob Synagogue in Munich. In 1933 there were around 10,000 Jews in Munich, by 1944 only 7 remained!