Jewish Museum, London

The Jewish Museum London explores British Jewish life, history and identity. It was founded in 1932 in Bloomsbury and moved to Camden Town in 1995. The museum’s collections include Jewish ceremonial art, Holocaust survivor testimony and archives of photographs from the early 20th century. A notable piece is the Lindo lamp, an early British Hanukkah menorah. The museum’s Holocaust Gallery featured items and filmed testimony from Leon Greenman, one of the few British subjects interned at Auschwitz. Its Judaism: A Living Faith gallery displayed a collection awarded “designated” status for outstanding national importance. The museum also held exhibitions on Jewish life in England, supported by diverse objects and militaria from the former Jewish Military Museum. The museum’s programmes aimed to provoke questions, challenge prejudice and encourage understanding. It ran education programmes for schools, community groups and families, with King Charles III as its patron. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it reopened briefly in 2021 but closed its Camden site in 2023. Since then, it has operated as a Museum without Walls, lending collections to other heritage organisations and leading learning programmes in the local community. In 2026, it opened Two Rooms, an interim exhibition space at JW3 in north London, while continuing its search for a new permanent home. Visitors to the museum’s past Camden premises found a row of listed buildings in Albert Street. Inside, galleries included Judaism: A Living Faith and the Holocaust Gallery. The museum also hosted exhibitions on topics such as LGBTQ+ Jewish stories, women in Yiddish theatre and the life of René Goscinny. Its collections featured paintings, prints, drawings and photographs, including work by Dorothy Bohm and Judah Passow. Temporary exhibitions ranged from the history of Jewish football fans to the art of Abram Games. The museum’s programmes and exhibitions continue at partner venues across the United Kingdom.