Meeting with Voices
Meeting with Voices Tuesday, September 30 at 6 pm We invite you to the opening of the current audiovisual exhibition of letters from the Holocaust, which will be on view at the Little Mehrin until December 18, 2025. Don't miss learning about the voices that represent five Moravian stories processed with the help of AI technology. You will have the opportunity to meet not only the creators, but also the descendants of those who once wrote the letters. The author of the whole project, historian Táňa Klementová, will be present and František Floder will talk about the intricacies of AI processing. At the same time, you will be able to see original personal correspondence, even those that did not fit into the exhibition. Admission is voluntary.
Guided tour of the permanent exhibition in Malý Mehrin
Guided tour of the permanent exhibition in Malý Mehrin Wednesday, September 10 at 5 p.m. Our permanent exhibition, which is dedicated to Jewish history in Moravia, is hidden in the basement of 14 Vídeňská Street. If you want to expand your knowledge of this history, or learn more about the circumstances and details of the exhibition's creation, here is your chance. Martin Reiner, Director of the Mehrin Foundation, will lead a guided tour expanded with information not mentioned in the exhibition. Admission is voluntary.
Opening of the exhibition Voices
Opening of the exhibition Voices Thursday, 4 September from 2 to 6 p.m. Come and listen to the "voices of letters", which the much discussed artificial intelligence helped us to process. Let the stories of real people, who coped with the period they found themselves in their own way, have an impact on you. See original letters and documents written nearly a century ago. With a glass of good kosher wine, which we will be offering on this day, you can pause, reflect, and maybe even sort out the thoughts that are sure to come up as you experience other stories... Admission is voluntary.
Disappeared neighbours or Following the traces of Jewish inhabitants of Židlochovice
Disappeared neighbours or In the footsteps of the Jewish inhabitants of Židlochovice Sunday 15. June from 14:00Židlochovice, meeting in front of the book booth on the lower side of the square Disappeared Neighbours or Following in the Footsteps of the Jewish Residents of ŽidlochoviceRemembrance of the Burian, Kosin, Kraus, Steiner and Stiasny families, Oskar Kohn, Bedřiška Schäferová, Otto Fischl, Eliska Morgenstern and others, with a commentary on the historical context of the persecution of persons designated as Jews and Jewish miscegenates in Židlochovice by the Nuremberg Laws, t.The guided walk is organized by the Židlochovice Homeland History Association in cooperation with the Moravian Museum and the Mehrin - Moravian Jewish Museum.
Daniela Grollová-Spenser: Dispersed times, dispersed lives
Daniela Grollová-Spenser: Dispersed Times, Dispersed Lives Wednesday 11 June at 6 pm Historian Daniela Grollová-Spenser, who lives in Mexico but comes from Prague, will present her latest book entitled Dispersed Times, Dispersed Lives. She had originally intended to write her mother's biography, but her mother's story gradually grew - first into a narrative about her entire Jewish family, then into a historical context and reflections on it. All the characters in the book went through the dramatic vicissitudes of 20th-century history: Ruth and her father Wilhelm fled from the Nazis to Great Britain, where she eventually joined the British army and eavesdropped on German pilots in the rear. Her mother Anna was trapped in the Protectorate and went through the hell of the Holocaust. Ruth's future first husband Kurt fled to Palestine and joined the Allied forces, but soon ended up in German captivity. Even after returning to post-war Czechoslovakia, there was no shortage of dramatic twists and turns in the family's life. The book is also about the author's father and his family from Wallachian Meziříčí. Only recently did she discover the monument on which his name is engraved. In June, she will visit the archives in Vsetín to further investigate the fate of this part of the family, and we will be among the first to know the results of her research. The discussion with the author will be led by Eva Kopečková. Admission is voluntary.
Stories of Jewish owners of art collections and the search for their confiscated property
Stories of Jewish Owners of Art Collections and the Search for Their Confiscated Property Wednesday, June 4 at 6 p.m. The lecture will include the stories of three prominent Jewish businessmen who had art collections in pre-war Czechoslovakia. One of them was the Brno textile industrialist Johann Bloch. When he wanted to travel abroad with his wife, he had to donate part of his art collection to the state. He lost paintings, sculptures, furniture, textiles and antiques. The lecturer will explain how the search for the confiscated property was carried out and will explain what helped to return at least part of the art collection to Johann Bloch's descendants. The lecture by art historian Lucie Němečková and historian Vojtěch Řapek from the Centre for Documentation of Property Transfers of Cultural Property of World War II Victims, o.p.s. is thematically related to the lecture "What happened to confiscated Jewish property during and after the war?" held in Malý Mehrin in March this year.
My Moravian family heritage
My Moravian Family Heritage Public Discussion Series with Dr. Ann M. Altman Ph.D.May 19-23 Ann Altman was born in 1947 in Bristol. Her mother, Edith Löwy, came from Znojmo from the Wotzilk brewing family. Her father Štěpán Körner came from Ostrava. Relatives on both sides lived in Třebíč, Brno, Žarošice, Velké Meziříčí and Vienna. While Ann's parents fled Czechoslovakia, all four of her grandparents perished during the Holocaust. Nine discussions for the public and students about Dr. Ann Altman's Jewish roots, the impact of the Holocaust on her family, and her own interesting life will be held in English. The program will be moderated by historian Tanya Klementová. Many thanks to the co-organizers for their invitation.
Cardinal Michael Czerny - A priest with Jewish roots
Cardinal Michael Czerny - A Priest with Jewish Roots Wednesday, May 28 at 5 pm Kino Art Cihlářská 19 Brno Festive screening of a twenty-five minute film documentary about the eminent Brno native Michael Czerny, a close collaborator of Pope Francis and head of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development. Camera and editing by Jakub Fišer, sound by Jiří Hruban, subject and direction by Martin Reiner. The film was co-produced by the Mehrin Foundation and Czech Television. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Cardinal Michael Czerny and the filmmakers. Michael Czerny was born in 1946 in Brno into a family of a Jewish woman and a Brno German. His parents and grandparents were Catholic, which did not prevent the Germans from murdering part of the family in the extermination camps. His mother, Winifred Czerny, spent almost two years in Nazi prisons and concentration camps in Leipzig, Hagibor and Terezín during the war. In late 1948, the family emigrated to Canada with their sons Michael and younger Robert. At the age of seventeen, Michael Czerny joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest ten years later. In October 2019, Pope Francis named him a cardinal. The cardinal's great-great-grandfather, Michael Hayek, co-founded the Starobrno brewery in 1873. The entrance fee of 50 CZK/person, which is intended to cover the costs associated with the screening, can only be paid directly at the Cinema Art box office before the screening
Ann Altman: Moravian Roots and the Story of My Family
Ann Altman: Moravian Roots and the Story of My Family Friday 23 May at 5 pm Arnoldova vila Drobného 299/26 Brno As part of the May series "The Weight of Memory, the Power of Hope", Arnoldova vila and Malý Mehrin invite you to a discussion with Ann Altman, who will focus on her Moravian Jewish roots, the impact of the Holocaust on her family and her own fascinating life. She was born in 1947 to Czech Jewish parents who fled to England before World War II. While they survived, all of her grandparents perished in the Holocaust. Ann Altman was educated at Cambridge and received her PhD from Yale University. She has worked as a scholar, politician, and researcher, and in addition to her academic career, she has worked on democratization projects in Mongolia. Come hear a story that blends science, politics, and deep personal experience with historical memory. Moderated by historian Tanya Klementova. The program will be in English without interpretation. The programme is held in cooperation with the Brno City Museum. Entrance fee 70 CZK.
Brno Museum Night
Brno Museum Night Saturday 17 May from 6 pm to midnight During Brno Museum Night you can not only visit all our current exhibitions, but we have also prepared two lectures for you: 7 pm: Judita Kopotová: Judaism and Love. What are the rules for cohabitation between a man and a woman in Judaism? What is the role of a woman and her main duties in a Jewish marriage? 10 pm: Tanya Klementova: Do not be afraid of Mehrin! Where is the place of the Moravian Jewish Museum among Czech memory institutions? A reflection on the contemporary museum scene.
