Who We Are

1996: The first doors open

The origins of AEPJ can be traced to Alsace, a region whose towns and villages preserve an exceptionally rich Jewish heritage. Many of its synagogues, cemeteries, ritual baths and former community buildings remained little known to the wider public. Some were difficult to access, while others faced neglect or abandonment.

Mrs. Claude Bloch had long believed that opening Jewish culture to others was essential. A meeting with Catherine Lehmann of the Bas-Rhin Tourism Development Agency brought together this vision and the practical means to act. With the involvement of the René Hirschler Association of B’nai B’rith and a dedicated group of volunteers, an inventory of local synagogues and cemeteries was prepared, and the first open day was organized.

In September 1996, eighteen Jewish heritage sites opened their doors. Thousands of people came, despite the rain, to discover places that were often close to home but absent from public awareness. The response revealed both a strong curiosity about Jewish history and a wider need to reconnect this heritage with the places and societies to which it belongs.

From a local initiative to a European idea

The success of the first open day encouraged its organizers to continue. The initiative soon expanded from the Bas-Rhin to the Haut-Rhin, Baden and Basel, reflecting the historical connections of Jewish communities across today’s national borders.

By 1999, sites in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain were taking part. This geographical expansion was accompanied by an evolution in the program itself. The initiative was no longer limited to providing access to historic buildings. Concerts, exhibitions, lectures, guided visits and educational activities began to present the diversity of Jewish culture and its contribution to European life.

The open doors had become meeting places. Through them, visitors could encounter not only monuments, but also traditions, music, languages, memories and contemporary Jewish voices.

The European Days of Jewish Culture

In 2000, organizations from eleven additional countries joined the initiative, which became known as the European Day of Jewish Culture. Its coordination, led by Claude Bloch and François Moyse, the current president of AEPJ, brought together B’nai B’rith Europe, the European Council of Jewish Communities, the Red de Juderías de España and the Bas-Rhin Tourism Development Agency.

The model was European but remained firmly rooted in local participation. Communities, associations, municipalities, museums and volunteers developed their own programs while sharing a common theme and a collective European identity.

By 2001, the initiative was being promoted in twenty-two countries and had attracted audiences on an unprecedented scale. What had begun as an open day in Alsace had become an annual European celebration, bringing Jewish culture into the public space and creating encounters between Jewish and non-Jewish audiences.

This combination of local initiative and European cooperation would become one of the defining principles of AEPJ.

The creation of AEPJ

As the European Days continued to grow, their partners recognized the need for a permanent organization capable of supporting the network and developing a broader vision for Jewish heritage.

AEPJ was formally established in Luxembourg in 2004. Its purpose extended beyond coordinating an annual cultural event. The new association sought to support the preservation of Jewish sites, improve public access to Jewish history and culture, connect organizations across borders and encourage the development of Jewish heritage routes throughout Europe.

From its beginnings, AEPJ brought together a particularly diverse network. Jewish communities and organizations worked alongside heritage professionals, tourism bodies, museums, public authorities and cultural associations. This diversity reflected the understanding that Jewish heritage is simultaneously local and European, Jewish and shared, historical and living.

Creating a European Cultural Route

The experience of the European Days also inspired a more permanent way of connecting Jewish heritage across Europe. If the Days invited people to discover this heritage at a particular moment each year, a European route could connect places, stories and organizations over time.

The European Route of Jewish Heritage was created and certified as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe in 2004. The Route placed Jewish heritage within a wider European cultural landscape, highlighting centuries of Jewish presence, mobility, creativity and exchange.

It also introduced a new way of experiencing this history. Rather than presenting Jewish heritage as a collection of isolated monuments, the Route reveals the relationships between places, communities and historical experiences across the continent. It supports local routes while connecting them to a shared European narrative.

Through this approach, Jewish heritage becomes a means of travelling through Europe’s diversity and of understanding how Jewish and non-Jewish histories have shaped one another.

From an association to a European platform

Over the following two decades, AEPJ grew steadily, and from a coordinating association it developed into a European platform for heritage, culture, education and cooperation.

The European Days of Jewish Culture continued to grow, with annual themes encouraging communities and cultural organizations to explore Jewish life from different perspectives. The European Route of Jewish Heritage expanded into a network of local and national routes, each rooted in its own territory while contributing to a common European story.

Alongside these flagship programs, AEPJ started organizing training, research, capacity building and international cooperation projects. It created opportunities for heritage professionals, communities, municipalities and civil society organizations to exchange knowledge, develop new skills and test innovative approaches.

This development did not replace the organization’s original purpose. It gave that purpose new forms. Opening physical doors evolved into opening access to knowledge, professional networks, cultural participation and European cooperation.

A living network

AEPJ’s history has been shaped by the commitment of many people and organizations. Volunteers, community leaders, heritage professionals, public authorities and cultural institutions have all helped protect sites, recover stories and make Jewish heritage visible.

Their work has also changed the way this heritage is understood. Jewish sites are not only remains of communities that once existed. They can be active cultural spaces, educational resources and places of encounter. Jewish heritage includes buildings and archives, but also music, languages, traditions, personal memories and contemporary cultural life.

In January 2025, AEPJ celebrated its twentieth anniversary at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The occasion recognized two decades of work connecting cultures and generations and reaffirmed Jewish heritage as an integral part of Europe’s shared history.

The story continues

The scale of the network has changed considerably since 1996, but its founding principle remains remarkably consistent: opening doors.

Doors to places that might otherwise remain unseen. Doors to stories that deserve to be heard. Doors between communities, generations and countries. Doors that allow Jewish heritage to be preserved while continuing to generate new knowledge, experiences and relationships.

This is the history on which AEPJ continues to build, connecting the inheritance of the past with the possibilities of Europe’s shared future.