Holocaust Memorial Tablet

Cardiff Reform Synagogue Holocaust Memorial Tablet

After more than two years of research, we are launching our Memorial Tablet website.

Click on the image below to access the narratives.

Mounted on the back wall of the Cardiff Reform Synagogue is a wooden tablet, illuminated by a light that is never extinguished. On the Tablet are the names of 102 individuals, related to members of the Congregation, whose lives were snuffed out in the Holocaust; they have no graves, but their names are inscribed here.

Of course, these are not simply names, they are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. Their lives deserve to be remembered, just as their deaths are commemorated.

The Tablet was commissioned in 1952 and erected in 1954, with 54 names inscribed. It was renovated in 1999, when a further 48 names were added. This is a fuller description of the Tablet.

Many of the original sponsors have since died or moved away from Cardiff, and little was known about many of the people listed. JHASW/CHIDC decided, as part of our second project, ‘Framing Jewish Histories’, to research all the names and ensure that a permanent record of their lives is preserved.

After you have viewed the site, we would love it if you could leave a comment on our Contact Us page, which you can access via the menu at the top of the page. Thank you.

Memorial Tablet project acknowledgements.

The Memorial Tablet project was a team effort.

Memorial Tablet research and writing up of the narratives: Sumaiya Anwar, Natalie Evans, John Farnhill, Nicky Getgood, Laura Henley Harrison, Catherine Le Ruez, Holly Lisk, Casey Mainstone, Sharon Orton, Danielle O’Shea, Alice Peters, Claire Rowe.

Military history research: Jeremy Konsbruck.

Fact-checking and background information: Natalie Evans.

German transcription and translation: Elke Oerter and Tom Coxon.

Editing: Krista Benedikz and Llio Owen.

Captions and sources: Krista Benedikz and Klavdija Erzen.

Proofreading: Klavdija Erzen and Rob Jones.

Formatting and uploading to the website: Rob Jones.

The website was designed by Neeraj Sharma and Yinuo Meng.

The Memorial Tablet research was coordinated by Klavdija Erzen.

The research forms part of the Framing Jewish Histories: towards best practice in rescuing a fragile heritage project, which took place between October 2019 and November 2021. The project was led by Klavdija Erzen, and it was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Jewish Historical Society of England, Cardiff University, and Jewish Memorial Council.

You can see a video of our volunteers talking about how they researched the tablet.