Jewish Museum

Tours of Poland that will focus on genealogical research, especially among Polish archival material, are being sponsored by the American Jewish Congress.The tours, called "Routes to Roots," will take participants into branches of the Polish State Archives throughout Poland, including the archives at Auschwitz and Birkenau. Photocopying, photographing and videotaping will be allowed.The tours will also feature lectures, cultural events and guided tours of historically important Jewish sites in Warsaw, Cracow and Lublin.

In his 1972 novel, Enemies, A Love Story, Isaac Bashevis Singer's protagonist Herman Broder happens upon a boisterous scene in a social hall at a Jewish resort in the Catskills. World War II has just ended, and yet the hall resounds with laughter. Even refugees from Hitler have joined in the revelry. "Why is it all so painful to me?" asks Broder, a Holocaust survivor himself. The scene, he decides, "shamed the agony of the Holocaust." At the end of Singer's tale, it is those who are still able to laugh who ultimately survive their horrific experience at the hands of the Nazis and go on to construct a new, Jewish-American identity.

VIENNA, Austria -- Reminders of the beauty and sophistication of old Vienna's Jewish community, obliterated by Nazi rule, have gone on display in a new museum that has come to stand for strength and renewal even as it symbolizes terror and loss.The new Jewish Museum is the spiritual heir to Europe's oldest collection of Judaica, established here in 1897 but destroyed by Nazis in 1938. Its debut includes a stroll through a lost Jewish Vienna.An enlarged antique map of the city center was stamped onto the floor of an exhibition hall that includes an illustrated marriage contract, ceremonial items crafted of silver and a bowl of calling cards from a Jewish elite that was welcomed in Austria's best salons.

GIFT SALE What --Artfully Wilde Gift Sale s Bunting Meyerhoff Interfaith Center, 3509 N. Charles St., on Saturday. The lecture starts at 7 p.m. followed by the concert at 8:30 p.m. No reservations are required, but seating is first come, first served. Call 443-287-9960 or visit pha.jhu.edu/superstrings. FREE Holmes, Sherlock Holmes Spend a day with Sherlock Holmes and learn about the history of British nobility, peerage and baronetage. Noble and titled characters in the Holmes adventures will be discussed in monologues.

Easter egg hunt Take your Easter basket and wear your silliest Easter costume to the Easter egg hunt at the Baltimore Conservatory in Druid Hill Park on Sunday. The event will feature egg hunts for ages 7 and younger, a hat and costume contest, a costume parade, crafts, games, face-painting, a petting zoo and visits with the Easter Bunny. Potted plants and Easter lilies will be for sale, and refreshments will be available. All children must be accompanied by an adult for all events. A hat and costume contest is to begin at 1 p.m. for ages 3 and younger.

The shelves of Baltimore markets didn't hold the ingredients Joey Malin needed to re-create the traditional dishes of Eastern European Jewry. So Malin turned to the Internet, where he found a bottle of "Pride of Prague," a fiery blend of pepper and other spices that could flavor the soups, goulash and potato dumplings served yesterday at the Jewish Museum of Maryland's "Chanukah in Prague" program. "It's spicy. It's heavy. It has a lot of German influence," said Malin of the fare he spooned out at 15 Lloyd St. in Baltimore's original Jewish neighborhood.

Skate with Santa That Santa is certainly one talented fellow. He oversees a vast staff of elves, he flies, climbs chimneys, eats a remarkable amount of cookies while maintaining his weight, and now we discover that he even ice-skates. Who knew? Despite his busy schedule, Santa makes a Christmas Eve appearance at the Dominic "Mimi" DiPietro Family Skating Center. Children of all ages can zip around the ice with the big man himself, hear favorite holiday tunes and sip hot cocoa. The skating center will remain open, albeit without Santa, throughout the holidays.

`Black History Month Family Day' at BMA There's just a week left in Black History Month. If you're looking for an engaging family event to round out the month, check out the Baltimore Museum of Art's "Black History Month Family Day" Sunday. You'll hear African-American folk music by Psalmeyene and the women's a cappella group Rafiki Na Dada. You'll see a theatrical performance by the Arena Players Youth Theatre, and you can participate in hands-on art activities. Also, all visitors can take a free tour of the exhibition Looking Forward/Looking Black, which runs through May 5. "Black History Month Family Day" runs 1:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive.

A Baltimore man's filmed journey back to the country where he hid from the Nazis will be shown at the Jewish Museum of Maryland tonight, in commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of Kristallnacht. Max Amichai Heppner's family had fled Germany for the Netherlands in 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power and five years before Kristallnacht, the night when Nazi thugs burned and looted synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses throughout Germany and Austria. The Heppners weren't so lucky when the Nazis overran their adopted country.

`Tchotchkes!' at Jewish Museum They're knick-knacks and mementos that adorn homes, offices and cars, and yet they're much more than that. When "Tchotchkes! Treasures of the Family Museum" opens Sunday at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, 15 Lloyd St., visitors to the exhibit will discover that seemingly trivial collectibles not only have important personal meaning but also can reflect ethnic identity. On view through Sept. 24, the exhibit includes almost 1,000 colorful items, ranging from Israeli olive wood camels and faux Jewish-themed Macca Beans to Ten Commandments salt and pepper shakers and Jerusalem snow globes.