Every year, thousands of Americans visit Europe, searching for remnants of a once-thriving Jewish culture. Countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic, though their Jewish communities have nearly vanished, have become places of pilgrimage for Jewish heritage tourists. In the United States, however, while Jewish culture thrives, American Jewish heritage is usually forgotten.
Julian Voloj is changing the perspective. As a European Jew he is searching for Jewish heritage in the home of the world largest Jewish Diaspora, New York City. Equipped simply with a few old street maps, his bicycle and photo camera, he explores neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, Brownsville or Harlem—places that were once home to vibrant Jewish communities.
The project has been a race against the clock, as many of the buildings are in bad condition and the threat of demolition looms. Other Jewish buildings have been reinvented as churches, community centers and residential apartments.
Not only is this project a re-discovery of (nearly) forgotten Jewish history, but it examines Americans' approach their own heritage, as well as the way culture is reborn and reinvented in a city in permanent transition.