Jewish Military Museum

The Jewish Military Museum was formed after large amounts of military artefacts and records started being given to AJEX. As veterans passed on, their families wanted to ensure that certain belongings were not discarded, especially as they helped preserve a record of Jewish service in the UK.

The collection includes the personal diaries, letters, medals, uniforms and souvenirs of Jewish soldiers fighting for Britain from the First World War through to today.

Following the closure of the Jewish Museum London in July 2023, plans  are underway to develop the JMM collection for greater educational usage. In the meantime, it continues to collect artefacts and other items of Jewish military life.

Key objects include:

• Tommy Gould’s Victoria Cross Tommy Gould was awarded this Victoria Cross for outstanding bravery while serving on the submarine HMS Thrasher during the Second World War. Gould and his comrade removed an unexploded bomb wedged in the submarine’s outer casing saving the lives of all those on board.
• Original handwritten posters by Reverend Michael Adler, the first Jewish chaplain on the frontline Adler was the senior Jewish chaplain at the outbreak of the First World War. Noting the lack of religious support given to the 50,000 Jews serving, he lobbied the Ministry of Defence to allow Jewish chaplains onto the frontline. He sent notices and letters in advance of his visits so that Jewish soldiers could come together for services and Jewish High Holy Days.
• The diary of Florence Greenberg (née Oppenheimer) In this diary, Oppenheimer describes her life as a nurse on a hospital ship in the Mediterranean, including the devastation wrought by the Gallipoli campaign and the boredom aboard ship in between battles. Post-war, she became the cookery writer, Florence Greenberg.
• Corporal Henry Jessell’s Crimean War medals Jessell’s medals, from the 1850s, are the earliest in the collection. Pre-emancipation, Jews could not gain a commission and it can be difficult to uncover stories of Jewish service. More is known about Jessell as he lived until he was in his late nineties and laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in 1928.

To discover the themes in the Jewish Military Collection, click here.