Behind an anonymous brick wall in Alderney Road off of Mile End Road lies the oldest Ashkenazi cemetery in the U.K. Founded in 1696 and closed in 1852, the cemetery marks the establishment of the Ashkenazi community, now the largest Jewish ethnic group in the U.K.
The Battle of Cable Street is remembered still to this day as a striking mobilisation against the rise of fascism in the years leading up to World War II; a turbulent day in which barricades were raised, bottles and bricks were thrown, and the fascists were defeated.
Inside the ring, his innovative techniques raised the sport from primitive punch-throwing to a strategic artform, while outside it, his visibility offered a rare account of positive representation of Jewishness. Empowered by his example, boxing became popular among the Jewish youth, making it harder to stereotype them as defenceless and weak.
‘It was while researching her Jewish ancestry that archivist and genealogist Imogen Rush came across the first ever Jewish cemetery in the U.K – the hidden Velho Cemetery, enclosed by brick walls, steel fences and locked gates just a stone’s throw off Mile End Road
The Novo Cemetery marks the beginning of an integrated Anglo-Jewish community’, with ‘indistinguishable, rich merchants from the West Indies lie next to poor cigar makers from Whitechapel, factory owners a foot away from their workers
‘Sense of community is the soul of this area, Roman Road included. I felt so out of place when I first came to London but Tower Hamlets has been at the root of all my relationships with people of varying ethnicities, races and genders (or lack thereof).’