Jewish East End Celebration Society
4A Cornwall Mews South, London, SW7 4RX
[email protected]

 

 

From Clive Bettington, JEECS chairman

 

1. Isaac Rosenberg Statue


I continue working on the above project as I want to ensure that the statue commemorating Rosenberg, the acclaimed East End artist and poet who is recognised as one of the finest poets of the Great War, is erected this year. JEECS has to continue until the project is completed. We have reverted to the original sculptor, Etienne Millner, one of Britain's foremost figurative sculptors who, among other project, has completed two statues of the Queen.

He is keen to assist us and is creating a maquette free of charge. He will also be creating up to 10 more maquettes, which we are hoping to sell for about £5,000 each. These superb works of art will be real collectors’ pieces. If you wish to purchase one, please contact me by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 07941 367882.


I also implore you all to send donations to the fund and to send me any ideas you have on how we can complete the project. Once I commission the statue I become responsible personally for any shortfall

2. Walks

I have two fascinating guided walks through the East End coming up shortly. Do come, and bring your friends and family.

(a) Sunday January 27. Theme: The Jewish East End, World War Two and the Holocaust.
I shall discuss the situation in the Jewish East End during the war and how the Jewish East End had important links to the Holocaust itself. You are also invited to attend the Holocaust Memorial event at the Nelson Street Synagogue after the walk
We meet at Aldgate Tube at midday.
The walk is free, but you are requested to purchase one of our Cable magazines and/or to make a small donation to the Rosenberg statue fund.
Booking is essential. Phone me on 07941 367882 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


(b) Sunday March 31. Theme: The Whitechapel of Isaac Rosenberg.
The walk will mark the 101st anniversary of the disappearance of Isaac Rosenberg on the Western Front and will look at how Whitechapel influenced his life and works.
We meet at Aldgate tube at 11am.
We are asking participants for a minimum £10 donation.
Booking is essential. Phone me on 07941 367882 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


3. Montefiore drinking fountain, Stepney Green

I have raised £6,000 towards the cost of the refurbishment of this drinking fountain but, very disappointingly, members of the Montefiore family have resolutely refused to make any donations. If the drinking fountain is not restored shortly it will be demolished – it has become a real eyesore. Soon there will be nothing left to remind people of the very rich contribution of the Jewish community to the area
If anyone wishes to donate anything or knows of a member of the Montefiore family who might wish to help please contact me.

 

Latest news

  • Stories from the Jewish East End

    What should be a fascinating evening is coming up next Tuesday (December 10) at Sandy’s Row Synagogue when the celebrated writer Rachel Lichtenstein presents Stories from the Jewish East End: an illustrated talk exploring a lost landscape. Read More
  • More emerges about H Lotery and Co

    A while back, we had a reader asking if anyone had any information about a company his mother had worked for in the East End and which she remembered as being called Lottries. The inquiry sparked some fascinating replies, which identified the company as H Lotery and Co, and we've just had a response from the grandson of the company's Read More
  • Project seeks material and memories from the legendary Yiddish poet A.N. Stencl

    Did you know or do you have material from the Polish-born Yiddish poet Avrom-Nokhem Stencl (also known as A. N. Stencl) who was once famous in east London for selling his celebrated Yiddish magazine Loshn un lebn (Language & Life), for running his Friends of Yiddish Saturday afternoon literary society and for his many acclaimed publications of Yiddish poetry? Stencl Read More
  • Two great East End events

    Two great East End related events take place next month. First, Tower Hamlets Local History Library in Bancroft Road, Mile End, has what should be a fascinating free talk on Thursday, 5 September (18.30 - 20.00hrs) entitled “The Petticoat Lane Foxtrot”. The next day, September 6, sees the opening of a great exhibition at the Brady Arts and Community Centre, 192-196 Hanbury Read More
  • East End playwright, novelist and poet Bernard Kops dies aged 97

    Bernard Kops, the great East End playwright, novelist and poet, and honorary president of JEECS, has died at the age of 97 The son of Dutch-Jewish immigrants, Bernard was born in 1926 and brought up in Stepney Green Buildings in a world whose frontier was Aldgate East tube station, a world in which clothing from the Jewish Board of Guardians Read More
  • Seeking the human being within, behind the cloak

    Bernard Kops, the great East End playwright, poet and novelist has died at the age of 97. Honorary life president of JEECS, he was an astute observer of both the old Jewish East End and the modern world. The interview below is from the JEECS magazine The Cable in 2006 and is being republished as a tribute to a great Read More
  • A fresh look at the Siege of Sydney Street

      The Siege of Sydney Street is the subject of a new book published on March 1 that provides a thrilling account of this iconic East End event. Read More
  • From Polish immigrant to East End artist: the lost Whitechapel boy

    Morris Goldstein, a near forgotten member of the remarkable group of artists and writers that flourished in the East End in the early part of the last century, deserves wider recognition. RAYMOND FRANCIS, his son, gives us a taste of his story in this extract from his book about his father's life. This article was published in JEECS's magazine The Read More
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

For the old Jeecs site, visit www.jeecs.org.uk/archive