Today the Marais is one of the historically rich and also chicest neighbourhoods of Paris. One of the former homes of Paris’ Ashkenazi community, many traditional Jewish shops and restaurants have been replaced with trendy boutiques, though the district retains many key historic Jewish sites and spirit. We highlight a few sites of interest here.
Rue des Rosiers
Nicknamed the Pletzl, Yiddish for “little square”, this mostly pedestrian street was once lined with Jewish shops and restaurants. A few of these remain, like several bookshops and some kosher food shops, so be sure to come hungry. Within this later category is the Sacha Finkelsztajn bakery which dates back to 1947 and a number of Israeli street food venues including the mouth-watering L’As du Fallafel, which claims to have the world’s best falafel sandwiches and the more modern Miznon, located around the corner on rue des Ecouffes. Also of note on the street is the École de l’ORT (4 bis rue des Rosiers), a philanthropic Jewish trade school opened in 1852 which is still training young people.
École des Hospitalières Saint-Gervais. VVVCFFrance / CC
École des Hospitalières Saint-Gervais
10 rue des Hospitalières-Saint-Gervais, 75004 Paris
Just up from rue des Rosiers is the city’s first Israelite school. Founded in 1819, it moved to this location, a former butcher’s shop, in 1846. It was transformed into a state school in 1880, although most of its pupils were still Jewish and thus it would close on Saturdays when other French schools were open. A plaque on the outside commemorates the tragic disappearance of 165 of its pupils during the “Vel’d’Hiv” roundup of Parisian Jews on 16 July 1942. The square in front of it is also named in honour of the children of the area deported during WWII. You can see more of these commemorative plaques attached to buildings throughout the neighborhood.
Agoudas Hakehilos Synagogue
10, rue Pavée, 75004 Paris
Sitting nearby on rue Pavée is this beautiful synagogue designed by Hector Guimard, the architect behind Paris’s iconic Art Nouveau métro entrances. Built by the Hassidic Jewish community of Russian origin and inaugurated in 1914, the synagogue took only a year to complete thanks to its use of modern building materials, namely concrete. It was the only religious building designed by Guimard. You can notice some Art Nouveau details on the building’s facade and further details common of the style can be seen on the long interior which is closed to the public save for the faithful attending worship.
Tournelles Synagogue
21 bis Rue des Tournelles, 75004 Paris
On a street east of Place des Vosges is this imposing synagogue, the second largest in Paris. Inaugurated as a consistorial temple in 1876, it was designed by Marcellin-Emmanuel Varcollier, a student of Baltard, the architect of the since demolished historic market buildings of Les Halles. Roman-Byzantine in style, the facade has a very French rose window above which are sculptures of the Tables of the Law. Since 1963 the synagogue has been allocated to Algerian Sephardic community.
The Museum of Jewish Art and History (MahJ)
71 rue du Temple, 75003 Paris
Located in a historic 17th-century mansion, the Hotel Saint-Aignan, this excellent museum has permanent and temporary exhibits on the evolution, history and art of the Jewish world. On display are religious objects, manuscripts, textiles and contemporary art by artists including Christian Boltanski and Sophie Calle. Also featured are archival documents on the Dreyfus Affair, which is paid homage to via the large bronze sculpture in its courtyard.
Jardin Anne-Frank
14 impasse Berthaud, 75003 Paris
Hidden at the end of a cul-de-sac in the shadow of the Centre Pompidou is this pretty garden dedicated to Jewish diarist Anne Frank. Opened in 2007 it spreads over the former gardens of the hotels Saint-Aignan and Mantion, and thus behind the The Museum of Jewish Art and History. Within the garden is an offshoot of a chestnut tree which Anne Frank admired from her window as well as fruit trees and rose trellises.
Memorial of the Shoah
17 Rue Geoffroy l’Asnier, 75004 Paris
This site north of the Seine acts as a memorial, documentation centre and museum on the history of the Jews during the Second World War. The documentation centre was begun in 1943 by Russian-born industrialist Isaac Schneersohn in the southeastern city of Grenoble with the aim of collecting evidence of the anti-Jewish persecution by the Nazis and Vichy government police. The memorial was inaugurated in 1956 and within the forecourt is a circular memorial listing the names of the death camps and the Warsaw Ghetto, beneath which are ashes from the sites. The walls commemorate the “Justes” (the “Righteous,” non-Jews who risk their lives to save Jewish people during the Occupation) as well as the Jews deported from the country during the holocaust. It is a solemn place of memorial which provides valuable insight into the atrocities inflicted upon the Jews in WWII and ensures their memory will not be forgotten.