The Leo Baeck Institute London invites you to the launch of our Library of Lost Books exhibition at Leo Baeck College Library. The Library of Lost Books is a project that tells the story of one of the most important Jewish scholarly libraries of the twentieth century - and asks the public to help find its missing volumes.
The exhibition focuses on the library of the Higher Institute for Jewish Studies (Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums) in Berlin, founded in 1872 and closed by the Nazis in 1942. Its collection of around 60,000 books was looted, dispersed and scattered across the world. Many of these volumes now sit, unnoticed, in libraries, archives and private collections in the UK and beyond.
At the launch event, you will be among the first to see the exhibition at Leo Baeck College Library, hear about the history of the Berlin Hochschule and its library, and learn how “book detectives” take part in the ongoing search for lost books. The evening will include a short introduction to the project, time to explore the display, and an opportunity to ask questions.
The Library of Lost Books is not only about recovering objects; it is about restoring the intellectual world that the Nazis tried to destroy. By working together as ‘book detectives’, we can help piece together the journeys of these volumes and keep alive the memory of the scholars and communities who once read them.
- Dr Joseph Cronin, Director of the Leo Baeck Institute London
The exhibition will remain on view at Leo Baeck College Library from November 2026 to October 2027.
Date: 26 November 2026, 6:00–7:30pm
Venue: Leo Baeck College Library, 80 End Road, London N3 2SY
To visit: Please contact library@lbc.ac.uk for details.
