Monthly Archives: April 2014

New Upload! Jewish Institutions

by Sarah Glover

The Lowcountry Digital Library has recently uploaded almost 150 postcards featuring a variety of Jewish institutions, including colleges, yeshivas, Talmud Torahs, orphanages, old age homes, and hospitals. The majority of these institutions are located in major American cities such as Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Baltimore, St. Louis, Denver, and Philadelphia. A smaller number of these institutions are located abroad in Israel, Poland, and Germany. Several postcards feature charitable funds and institutions of the Deutsch-Israelitischer Gemeindebund.

Below is a sampling of some of the recently uploaded items. For more postcards of Jewish institutions, search the Lowcountry Digital Library: William A. Rosenthall Judaica Collection – Postcards.

Mount Sinai Hospital, New York

Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York

Hebrew Orphans Home, Atlanta

Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged, Chicago

Jewish Orphan Asylum, Cleveland

Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati

Jewish Home for the Aged and Infirm, Cincinnati

Jewish Widows and Orphans Home, New Orleans

Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society, Denver

Yeshivat Lomza, Petah Tikva, Israel

Talmud Torah, Łódź, Poland

Fürsorgeerziehungsanstalt für schulentlassene israelitische Mädchen, Cöpenick, Germany

Jüdische Arbeiter-Kolonie, E.V., Weissensee

Highlight Reel #3

by Sarah Glover

In a portfolio of miscellaneous prints, sandwiched between engravings of the Jewish priest Mattathias and posters of artwork commemorating the Holocaust, we found this handmade tribute to Hungarian merchant and philanthropist Philipp Schey von Koromla (in Hungarian, Schey Fülöp). Philipp Schey von Koromla was born on September 20, 1798, in Güns (Kőszeg); he died on June 26, 1881, in Baden bei Wien. He holds the distinction of being the first Jew in Hungary to be made an Austrian noble. His patent of nobility references his benevolence “toward suffering humanity, regardless of creed.”

Philipp Schey von Koromla

In addition to the photograph of Philipp Schey von Koromla in the center, this page includes photographs of the great contributions that he made to the town of Kőszeg. The photograph on the middle left shows the synagogue in Kőszeg, which can be seen in the center background. The Gothic Revival synagogue was built between 1858 and 1859 with donations from Philipp Schey von Koromla. A painting inside the cupola bears the words “in Ehre Gottes gebaut von Philipp Schey von Koromla” (built in praise of God by Philipp Schey von Koromla). The building still stands, but it has been deserted since the Jews of Kőszeg were deported in 1944.

This postcard from the Rosenthall portfolios gives a clearer view of the synagogue in Kőszeg.

This postcard from the Rosenthall portfolios gives a clearer view of the synagogue in Kőszeg.

The photograph in the lower center shows the Albrechtinum, which served as a house for the poor. The building was made up of living units for up to 15 people; the rooms were given out to the poor regardless of their religious confession. The building that housed the Albrechtinum is still standing and is today a residential building.

The photograph on the middle right is the Elisabethinum, a kindergarten built in 1868 with the support of Philipp Schey von Koromla. Children were admitted here regardless of religious confession. This building is no longer standing.

At the bottom is an excerpt of a poem by Hungarian poet Dániel Berzsenyi:

“A derék nem fél az idők mohától:
A koporsóból kitör és eget kér,
Érdemét a jók, nemesek s jövendő
Századok áldják.”

And the text of Psalm 37:37:

“Figyeld meg a feddhetetlent
nézd a becsületes,
Mert az ilyen ember jövője:
boldogság!”