Jewish East End Celebration Society
P.O. Box 57317, London E1 3WG
[email protected]

Andrew Whitehead, whose new book on the Siege of Sydney Street, an iconic event in the Jewish East End, has just been published, is one of many fascinating speakers at the Hackney History Festival in May.

Bernard Kops, the great East End playwright, poet and novelist has died at the age of 97. Honorary life president of JEECS, he was an astute observer of both the old Jewish East End and the modern world. The interview below is from the JEECS magazine The Cable in 2006 and is being republished as a tribute to a great East Ender. 

Bernard Kops, the great East End playwright, novelist and poet, and honorary president of JEECS, has died at the age of 97

The son of Dutch-Jewish immigrants, Bernard was born in 1926 and brought up in Stepney Green Buildings in a world whose frontier was Aldgate East tube station, a world in which clothing from the Jewish Board of Guardians and food from the soup kitchen played a big role.

Andrew Whitehead book A Devilish Kind of Courage FC revised 1

 

The Siege of Sydney Street is the subject of a new book published on March 1 that provides a thrilling account of this iconic East End event.

Morris Goldstein, a near forgotten member of the remarkable group of artists and writers that flourished in the East End in the early part of the last century, deserves wider recognition. RAYMOND FRANCIS, his son, gives us a taste of his story in this extract from his book about his father's life. This article was published in JEECS's magazine The Cable in 2016 and is repubished here to mark the book launch on Tuesday December 5 2023. For details, see our events page. 

An exhibtion devoted to the history of the Brady Girls' Club opens in London on October 6. So it seemed a timely moment to republish these reminiscences of an iconic East End organisation originally published in our magazine The Cable in 2010.


The history of a seminal East End organisation, the wonderful Brady Girls’ Club, is being celebrated in an exhibition at London Metropolitan University opening next month.

The role of Jewish East Enders in working with early Sikh arrivals in the UK is set to form part of a new documentary film whose creators are seeking people who can talk to them from a Jewish perspective about the partnerships that developed.

 

Fl. Sgt. Jack Nissenthall, an unsung hero of the Dieppe Raid of 1942, has been commemorated with a memorial plaque at Bethnal Green in the Jewish East End.

Iconic East End water fountain can quench your thirst again after JEECS campaign

A major Jewish East End landmark is to have its post-restoration unveiling on Sunday February 26, with a series of events and distinguished speakers following a JEECS campaign that has safeguarded its future.

The highly regarded Watford Palace Theatre wants your family stories about the Battle of Cable Street for an education programme linked to its forthcoming production of the Merchant of Venice, 1936, which is being set against the backdrop of Oswald Mosley’s thugs’ attempted invasion of the East End and the heroic efforts to keep the Blackshirts out.

Latest news

  • East End Jewish themes at Hackney Festival

    Andrew Whitehead, whose new book on the Siege of Sydney Street, an iconic event in the Jewish East End, has just been published, is one of many fascinating speakers at the Hackney History Festival in May. Read More
  • East End playwright, novelist and poet Bernard Kops dies aged 97

    Bernard Kops, the great East End playwright, novelist and poet, and honorary president of JEECS, has died at the age of 97 The son of Dutch-Jewish immigrants, Bernard was born in 1926 and brought up in Stepney Green Buildings in a world whose frontier was Aldgate East tube station, a world in which clothing from the Jewish Board of Guardians Read More
  • Seeking the human being within, behind the cloak

    Bernard Kops, the great East End playwright, poet and novelist has died at the age of 97. Honorary life president of JEECS, he was an astute observer of both the old Jewish East End and the modern world. The interview below is from the JEECS magazine The Cable in 2006 and is being republished as a tribute to a great Read More
  • A fresh look at the Siege of Sydney Street

      The Siege of Sydney Street is the subject of a new book published on March 1 that provides a thrilling account of this iconic East End event. Read More
  • From Polish immigrant to East End artist: the lost Whitechapel boy

    Morris Goldstein, a near forgotten member of the remarkable group of artists and writers that flourished in the East End in the early part of the last century, deserves wider recognition. RAYMOND FRANCIS, his son, gives us a taste of his story in this extract from his book about his father's life. This article was published in JEECS's magazine The Read More
  • East End Brady days

    An exhibtion devoted to the history of the Brady Girls' Club opens in London on October 6. So it seemed a timely moment to republish these reminiscences of an iconic East End organisation originally published in our magazine The Cable in 2010. Read More
  • Exhibition celebrates the Brady Girls' Club

    The history of a seminal East End organisation, the wonderful Brady Girls’ Club, is being celebrated in an exhibition at London Metropolitan University opening next month. Read More
  • Sikh peddlers in the Jewish East End

    The role of Jewish East Enders in working with early Sikh arrivals in the UK is set to form part of a new documentary film whose creators are seeking people who can talk to them from a Jewish perspective about the partnerships that developed. Read More
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For the old Jeecs site, visit www.jeecs.org.uk/archive