Jewish Museum of Rhodes

The Jewish Museum of Rhodes was established in October 1997, in the first two rooms of the former women’s prayer rooms of the Kahal Shalom Synagogue.
Founder of the Museum is Aron Hasson, a lawyer and a third generation Rhodian from Los Angeles who noticed the lack of awareness about the unique history of the Jewish community.
It started as an exhibition of photographic material that was collected from Rhodian Jews of Diaspora, documenting prewar Jewish life on Rhodes. Gradually, with the motivation and the economic contribution of the Community and individual donors, the Museum expanded to all the rooms of the ex-women’s section. Since June 2002 with the cooperation of the Jewish Museum of Greece, a permanent panel exhibition was put on display. More renovations followed. In 2006 the Museum reopened with more informative panels and artifacts in display. The artifacts have been donated to the Museum by diaspora Rhodians, such as Judaica artifacts, historical documents, religious books, costumes and domestic textiles. Today, the Museum is under the auspices of the Jewish Community of Rhodes.

In 2018, the German Embassy of Athens approved a grant fund to the Jewish Museum of Rhodes. The purpose of the grant was, to sponsor the creation of a mobile phone application that will offer our visitors, an audio-visual tour of the synagogue and the Museum. The project was completed at the end of 2019. From 2020 our visitors are able to use it on android and iPhones.
In November 2019 we became members of the Association of European Jewish Museums (AEJM). We hope that our accession will benefit us in the future in terms of support, exhibit preservation, and museum presentation, given the fact that they have the know-how and will be able to join European programs.

Our museum wishes to stimulate and strengthen public appreciation, knowledge and understanding of Jewish culture, heritage and history, not only to the wider public but mainly to the youngsters.
During the off season, tours of the synagogue and museum are offered to local students. Presentations are organized on the Holocaust and Judaism. We support teaching of the Holocaust in local schools, providing information, related documentaries and giving access to our library.

The Jewish Museum of Rhodes is open for visits daily from April 1^st to Ocrober 31^st, providing also tours of the Synagogue, the Museum and the Jewish quarter.
For the rest of the year, an appointment is needed for a visit. The museum and the synagogue are being visited by more than 20,000 visitors every year.