Jewish Museum of Rhodes

The Museum was established in October 1997 as an exhibition of photographic material that was collected from Rhodian Jews of Diaspora, documenting prewar Jewish life on Rhodes.

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. Today, the Museum is under the auspices of the Jewish Community of Rhodes.

Gradually, with the motivation and the economic contribution of the Community and individual donors, the Museum expanded. 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 The artifacts have been donated to the Museum by diaspora Rhodians, such as Judaica artifacts, historical documents, religious books, costumes and domestic textiles.

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.

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.