Bratislava/Pressburg Returns to the Map of Jewish Europe

Bratislava, long known also as Pressburg, was for centuries an important center of Jewish life and learning which was virtually destroyed in the Holocaust and the post-war Communist period. Today it contains a vibrant Jewish community celebrating the rebirth of its cultural heritage. Dr. Maros Borsky, Director of the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center in Bratislava, will join us to discuss the significant events that are contributing to the community’s revitalization: the long-awaited opening of a new Jewish Community Museum in the city’s only extant synagogue, of which he serves as director and curator; the 250th anniversary of the birth of the prominent Bratislava rabbi and scholar Chatam Sofer whose burial site is an architectural landmark; and the Lost City project, the creation of a giant model of the Neolog synagogue which was demolished in 1969.

A native of Bratislava, Dr. Maroš Borský studied art history and Jewish studies in Bratislava, Regensburg, London, Jerusalem and Heidelberg. From 2001 to 2006, Dr. Borský was the curator at the Slovak National Museum-Museum of Jewish Culture, where he founded and oversaw Synagoga Slovaca, the documentation project of synagogue architecture in Slovakia. Since 2006, Dr. Borský has been the Director of the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center in Bratislava. Dr. Borský is the vice president of the Jewish Community of Bratislava and founder of the Jewish Community Museum in Bratislava.