Background
Similar to their fellow City merchants, numerous Jews purchased houses in the countryside for relaxation. In the 1720s, Daniel Defoe observed that Jews appeared to favour residing in Highgate and Hampstead. Eliezer Isaac Keyser retired to Hampstead in 1812 until his death in 1820, leaving behind a collection of letters detailing his life in the area. While there was no designated place of worship during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, occasional Jewish names were recorded.
A more significant wave of Jewish settlement occurred from 1870 onward. The newcomers were served by St. John’s Wood synagogue on Abbey Road, located just south of the parish, from 1876 until the opening of Hampstead synagogue in 1892. Hampstead became a favoured destination for Jewish scholars and intellectuals during the 1880s and 1890s. Simultaneously, many Jews from the City began moving to Kilburn in the 1880s, following the expansion of construction northward and westward. Beginning in 1905, Kilburn was catered to by Brondesbury synagogue on Chevening Road in Willesden.
The period between the World Wars witnessed an influx of Jewish refugees from Europe, particularly in Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead. As a result, several congregations established their own synagogues in these areas.
Due to the significant influx of German refugees escaping the Nazi terror, North London became home to a large number of individuals. The impact was so profound that even the bus conductors began referring to Finchley Road as ‘Finchleystrasse!’ This poignant exhibition, hosted at the German Embassy, showcases the works of around thirty highly influential émigré artists, including paintings, etchings, and graphics.
Dr. Anthony Grenville crafted a map depicting Finchley Road, highlighting the various refugee-owned shops, restaurants, and institutions that thrived in the area between Swiss Cottage in the south and Arkwright Road in the north during the post-war years. This map was specifically designed for the Continental Britons exhibition held at the Jewish Museum in 2002, organized by the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR).
Route 1: Historical figures
Route 2: Heritage preservation
Blue Plaque System
Throughout Greater London, an abundance of blue plaques can be discovered, serving as markers that indicate the residences and workplaces of noteworthy individuals from history. These plaques play a vital role in connecting the past with the present.
Since the inception of the scheme in 1866, over 900 official plaques have been erected by English Heritage and its predecessors across London. While not always circular and blue, you can identify them by the name of the organization responsible for their installation.
The London blue plaques scheme has been run by four bodies – the Society of Arts, the London County Council, the Greater London Council and now English Heritage. Additionally, numerous other organizations, including local councils, install commemorative plaques throughout London, employing diverse criteria for their selection.
English Heritage
20 Maresfield Garden (Sigmund Freud & Anne Freud)
It’s unusual for houses in London to bear two official plaques, but there are currently 18 cases of double commemorations. Examples include 20 Maresfield Gardens (Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud) and 29 Fitzroy Square (George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf). In recent years the rule has been only one plaque per person.
Because blue plaques celebrate the relationship between people and place, English Heritage only awards them if there is a close link between a person and a surviving building. Previously, some plaques were placed at the sites of demolished houses. However, the belief now is that if the building no longer stands, the meaningful connection between the person and the place has been lost. Although blue plaques do not offer legal protection to buildings, they play a crucial role in raising awareness about their historical significance and can contribute to their preservation.
The Association of Jewish Refugees
50 Willow Road, Hampstead (Milein Cosman artist and illustrator 1921-2017 and Hans Keller musician and writer 1919-1985 lived here 1955-1967)
Milein Cosman, born into a Jewish family in 1921, grew up in Düsseldorf. She attended school in Switzerland and moved to England in 1939 to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in Oxford. In 1945, she settled in London and established herself as a talented freelance artist, taking on projects for the Radio Times and various national and international publications. It was during her work at the Radio Times in 1947 that she met Hans Keller, a writer and broadcaster. They eventually married and made their home in Hampstead, London.
Born in Vienna in 1919, Hans lived with his family in Döbling until the Anschluss forced him to immigrate to London in 1938. After the war he established his reputation as a remarkable musical writer, notable particularly for his combination of music and psychoanalysis, and his polemical defence of the musicians he most admired. From 1959 to 1979 he held several senior positions at the BBC and became a frequent and popular broadcaster. He died of motor neurone disease in 1985.
Route 3: Everyday Heritage
Bagels
Bagels are believed to have originated from Eastern Europe. Rumour has it that the hole in the middle of bagels allowed bakers to thread them onto dowels when they walked the streets selling their freshly baked bread.
There are many bagel shops in the East End from the time that the area was mainly Jewish, including the famous Beigel Bake on Brick Lane. This shop is open 24 hours and produces 7,000 bagels every day.
COVID-19: Classed as an essential business, bakeries were allowed to stay open throughout each lockdown, and benefited from being able to sell takeaway coffees and snacks to people out on their daily walks.
Go for a try other Jewish bakery shops if you like,
- Karma Bread (13 S End Rd, London NW3 2PT)
- Roni’s Bakery – Hampstead (44 Rosslyn Hill, London NW3 1NH)
Challah bread (pronounced “hallah”) is an extremely important food to the Jewish community. Not only is it a taste sensation – blessed with a buddy-buddy ratio of crust to crumb – but the wonderfully bronzed loaf also holds a weighty historic and religious symbolism. Challah signifies tradition and culture in Judaism – and, as such, eating challah bread on Shabbat (the Sabbath) and special festivals is seen as a Mitzvah (a good deed or commandment). For many Jewish people, challah bread is symbolic of Shabbat and the day of rest – a delicious physical embodiment of cherished time spent with family and friends.
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