Jewish people first came to settle in Wales from Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and the Ukraine in the eighteenth century. Since then Jewish immigration into and emigration from Wales has been a continuing feature of Welsh history and is essential for understanding Welsh identity in the twenty first century. That is why a project in 2010 enabled the local Jewish population and the wider Welsh public to explore and uncover local history and their part in it.

Jewish communities and the wider general public learnt about Jewish history in north Wales by participating in a touring exhibition held at university and public venues across Bangor, Llandudno, Flint and Wrexham. They visited artefacts including the interior of the now defunct Bangor Synagogue, and at each destination visited, the group participated in a workshop which included talks about Jewish history as well as oral history techniques. The participants ate Jewish foods, and listened to a collection of oral history interviews and took part in recording memories. The exhibition also involved a showing of the 1998 film Solomon and Gaenor, which details the relationship between a Welsh/Jewish couple in the south Wales coalfields during the turbulent years preceding the First World War.

The Project was delivered by Bangor University academics Dr Nathan Abrams and Dr Sally Baker and PhD student Jennifer Krase, as well as the curator of Gwwynedd Museum, Esther Roberts. Dr Nathan Abrams is a specialist in Jewish scholarship and an expert in local Jewish history. He said:

‘History is not just something that happens to someone else, nor does it only involve ‘important’ or ‘famous’ people, people are involved in creating local histories themselves. The study of history is ‘for the likes of us,’ and indeed is ‘about people like us’.

‘One aim of the project was to introduce greater awareness of Jewish history in North Wales and to emphasize the contribution of Jews to local history by engaging members of the public, both Jewish and non Jewish alike. The project allowed people to get involved with the researching and writing of local history as well as in oral history collection.’

One of the reasons that Dr Abrams thought that this project was important was that Jewish history in north Wales has often been understudied and undervalued. Through his work he aims to reach new audiences, both Jewish and none Jewish, who fall outside of academia. In this project particularly, links were developed between Bangor University and the wider community, which meant that local people had the opportunity to work with academics, and people who had not had previous contact with a university began to realize that universities are not unapproachable ivory towers.

Audience members included older people, school children, university students and staff and the project reached out to a wide audience, some of whom were already well informed about jewish people and Judaism, and others who were not. During the touring exhibition Dr Abrams felt that he managed to challenge issues surrounding the stereotyping of minority groups, and that all parties learnt from the experience. He felt that his own research was enriched, and that the attitude of his team towards public engagement became more positive.

In the future Dr Abrams hopes to extend the focus of the exhibition to include the whole of Wales rather than just North Wales, and also to other geographical areas that have seen significant emigration from Wales, such as Liverpool, London and Manchester. He would also like to involve other institutions such as the Manchester Jewish Museum, the Jewish Museum in London, and the London Metropolitan Archives. Finally he would like to widen the impact of the project further, by developing material for a future radio or television documentary.

Lead: Dr Nathan Abrams, School of Creative Studies and Media, Bangor University