Exhibition of the National Archives of Finland opend on September 9th 2009 at the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv. It will be on display until December 31, 2009.
The aim of the exhibition is to give a multifaceted picture about the history of the Jewish community in Finland. The community has its roots in the tsarist recruitment policy: first Jewish soldiers arrived in Finland in the 1830s and with their families they laid the foundation for the Jewish communities in Helsinki, Turku and Vyborg. The exhibition will present (1) the history of the formative years of the Jewish community, (2) the time of the Finnification process in the beginning of the 20th century, (3) the World War II period and the Holocaust, and finally (4) the history between Finland and Israel.
The exhibition is a production of the National Archives of Finland, Helsinki. It was exhibited at the National Archives of Finland in 2006, when the Synagogue of Helsinki celebrated its 100 years anniversary. The current version is a co-production between the National Archives of Finland, Helsinki and Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, Tel Aviv.
Most of the material for the exhibition has been obtained from the Finnish Jewish Archives at the National Archives of Finland, Helsinki and from the Jewish Community of Helsinki. Material has also been received from the Jewish Community of Turku; the Jabotinsky Institute, Tel Aviv; Hessisches Staatsarchiv, Darmstadt; Bundesarchive, Berlin; the Helsinki City Museum; the Crime Museum, Vantaa; the Photo Archives of the Finnish Defence Forces, Helsinki; the Research Institute for Languages of Finland, Helsinki; and private archives and collections.
All artefacts included in the exhibition are from the collections of the Finnish Jewish Archives at the National Archives of Finland, Helsinki; the Jewish Community of Helsinki; and from private collection in Paris.
The exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of: the National Archives of Finland; the Jewish Community of Helsinki; the Jewish Community of Turku; the Finnish Jewish Cultural Heritage Foundation; the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland; the Embassy of Finland, Tel Aviv; the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem the Finnish Branch; Mr. Poju Zabludowicz; Dave and Leo-Dan Bensky, Finland; Molok Israel Ltd.; Bazan-Oil Refineries Ltd., Haifa-Israel.
Curator: Simo Muir, The National Archives of Finland, Helsinki
Coordinator: Christina Forssell, The National Archives of Finland, Helsinki
Exhibition design: Simo Muir and Hennu Kjisik, Harris – Kjisik Architects, Helsinki
Graphic design: Timo Tervoja, Both Design Collective, Helsinki
English translation: Sheryl Hinkkanen, AS-English Specialists Oy, Espoo
Curator in charge: Geula Goldberg, Beth Hatefutsoth
Director, Development and External Relations, Israel& Europe Desks: Enia Zeevi Kupfer, Beth Hatefutsoth
Hebrew translation: Ruth Spira
Initiated bringing the exhibition to Israel and fundraising: Shulamit Shapira
