Czech Republic: A Gem of a Jewish Discovery
By Harry D. Wall
There are
arguably no better preserved Jewish heritage sites in Europe than in Prague.
With six synagogues still intact, a great Jewish museum and the well-known
cemetery, the Prague ghetto is brimming with tourists – most of them not
Jewish. But hardly known and sparsely trafficked are the outlying regions of
the Czech Republic, where Jewish life had been continuous for nearly 1000
years. There are hardly any Jews remaining outside the capital, but there are
some fascinating and moving historical sites. Our visit took us to Bohemia and
Moravia.
Jewish presence in these regions dates back almost one thousand years to the Byzantine Empire. Since then, Jews were isolated, persecuted, and expelled – as elsewhere in Central Europe – interrupted by periods of peaceful coexistence. Under the Hapsburg rule in the mid-16th Century, Jews were forced to wear distinctive clothing and live within ghettos. By the 17th Century, a more liberal Hapsburg regime permitted to own land and rose to power and prominence as traders, doctors, farmers, and bankers.
By 1890 94,599 Jews lived in Bohemia and 45,324 lived in Moravia, yet, as competing German and Czech nationalisms began to come into contact with one another , the Jews were used as scapegoats by both German and Czech nationalists. This led to a wave of pogroms in 1897.
Following the fall of the Austria-Hungarian Empire during WWI, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia declared their independence in 1918 and united to become Czechoslovakia. The Jews played a key role in the Czechoslovakian economy at the time and pioneered the textile, food, and paper industries.
Jewish life in was decimated by Hitler. In 1938, after seizing control of Sudetenland and the rest of the country, almost all of the Jews of Moravia and Bohemia were rounded up and deported, few of them to survive the Holocaust.
Under the Communists, the Jewish survivors maintained a low profile, while their synagogues and communal institutions were either expropriated or left in disrepair. Following the “Velvet Revolution” in 1989, there has been a concerted effort by the national and regional governments to renovate synagogues and some ghettos, and to hold occasional programs on Jewish culture.
Mikulov
The picturesque
hill town of Mikulov, along the border with Austria and in the Czech wine
region, was considered the center of Moravian Jewry. Jews first moved here in
the 14th Century and by the late 19th century comprised
half of the town’s population of 4000 people. In addition to traders and
merchants, Mikulov was also home to several distinguished rabbis and scholars. With
the Reform of 1848 and the freedom of movement, many Jews left for nearby Brno
or Vienna.
The renovated Jewish quarter, or ghetto, is today the centerpiece of Mikulov, along with the baroque castle perched on the same hillside. There are signs marking some of the historic buildings, including a Jewish communal hall, schools, and synagogues.
What makes a visit to Mikulov so interesting is the restored Upper Synagogue, which is today a museum and a cultural center. Originally built in 1550 and since partially destroyed by two fires, the synagogue survived the Nazi occupation – it was used as a storage hall – and was restored and re-opened in 1995.
A solid two-storey building dominated by high vaulted roof and a cupola, the centerpiece of the synagogue is a four-column bimah in middle of the floor, facing the gilded arc. The marble columns are crowned by Corinthian capitals and supporting the baroque arches of the cupola. The stucco walls of the synagogue are painted with Hebrew inscriptions, floral and ornamental motifs, and other symbols.
On the second floor, where the women would sit, there is now a museum, documenting history of the synagogue and Jewish community of Mikulov, as well as numerous liturgical artifacts and Judaica which were brought from Prague.
Other sites in the town include a mikveh and the Jewish cemetery, a spacious but densely packed and desultory site with 4000 gravestones, the oldest dating to 1605. The inscriptions and decorations of the gravestones offer a visual history lesson of the Jewish inhabitants of Mikulov over five centuries. A few, of noted rabbis, are covered and marked, as they are often visited by religious students.
Boskovice
Boskovice –
known for its castle and chateau - has something else for the traveler in
Moravia: a restored synagogue that is an artistic gem of the Moravian style. Boskovice
was once a center of prominent Talmudists and among the first Jewish industrialists
– numbering about 400 families at its peak in the late 19th century.
The ghetto is well defined today, with its landmark entrance – a massive stone gate and arched portal – one of the few remaining. There are 75 preserved houses, along with a few Jewish communal structures. The largest, built by a successful distiller, Herman Ungar, is a stand-alone building of considerable presence, overlooking a wide courtyard. Clearly, much of the ghetto are had been razed to allow for such a spacious locale.
The main synagogue’s origins date to 1639, but much was destroyed by fire in 1772. It was rebuilt and restored twice – the latest, shortly after the communist era in the 1990s. The synagogue, today, is a two-storey, free-standing structure with a typical interior layout. What makes this a gem of Moravian Jewish artistry is that almost all the stucco walls are painted with Jewish symbols and liturgical passages.
Frecoes of decorative art – candelabras, torah crowns, and floral patterns – are mixed from floor to vaulted ceiling with Biblical inscriptions and prayers. Indeed, much of the siddur is painted on the walls, perhaps to allow everyone to participate in the services without need for the prayer book. Whatever the origin, it is regarded as the outstanding example remaining of synagogue decorative art in the Czech Republic.
Trebic
Located on
the trading route between Vienna and Prague, the Moravian city of Trebic offers
arguably the most restored Jewish ghetto in Central Europe. The Jewish
Quarter, squeezed between the rocky hillside and the Hradek River, comprises
123 houses, two synagogues, a former yeshiva, communal hall, slaughter house and
higher up on the mountain, a large and well-kept Jewish cemetery. Fires
destroyed some of the original dwellings, but much of the ghetto remained
intact over 400 years. For its recent preservation efforts, the ghetto is
listed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Jews have lived in Trebic since the 14th Century, relatively freely, but were confined to the ghetto area from 1723. Traders, merchants and students, by 1868 one-third of the population of Trebic was Jewish (about 2000 residents). But, as with other Central European towns, most Jews left after the 1848 emancipation in Europe, and only about 280 remained at the onset of World War II. All were deported by the Nazis and only 10 survived the concentration camps. Today, only one inhabitant in the town is Jewish.
The ghetto area today has been somewhat gentrified, with galleries, coffee shops, and upscale apartments. The passages and several buildings are designated with plaques in three languages – English, Czech, and German - giving brief descriptions of its Jewish history.
The centerpiece for visitors is the Rear Synagogue, built in the early 17th Century, enlarged in the 19th, and restored in 1997. Based on Renaissance architectural elements, the synagogue is a modestly spacious structure, with buttressed walls, vaulted ceiling and arched windows.
The stucco interior is partially covered with painted Hebrew inscriptions and floral motifs. A small museum of Jewish history and Judaica is located on the second floor, in what was the women’s section. Thanks to the work of the local Trebic Fund, the restored synagogue is open daily to the public and used for occasional cultural events.
Pilsen
In the
industrial city of Pilsen, renowned for its beer production, stands the second
largest synagogue in Europe, a cathedral-like structure that is testimony to a
once-thriving Jewish community as well as to the enormous sense of loss.
The Great Synagogue, a Romanesque building framed by two Moorish towers with a large Star of David in the façade, was built in the late 19th Century in the center of the city and reflects the sense of security and influence of the local Jewish community. It could accommodate 2000 male worshippers on the main floor, and another 800 women on the balcony. It is quite a change from the modest buildings found elsewhere in Czech, when Jews were kept to a low profile.
Indeed, the Pilsen community overreached and found out when the original plan, which would have topped the highest church, were forced to scale back to a smaller – but still imposing – height.
The interior is a vast space with a long central passage with two arched arcades on the sides. The soaring vaulted ceiling is finished with frescoes of oriental-style art, resulting in a confused architectural theme.
The synagogue survived the Holocaust only because it was conjoined to other buildings, and so the Nazis turned it into a storehouse. Falling into disrepair during the Communist era, it was restored in 1998 by the Czech government, and is today used as a museum for Jewish artifacts, and concert hall.
A few blocks away is a smaller synagogue, the one used by the 100 Jews who populate Pilsen. Outside, in the courtyard, is a stone garden, each rock bearing the name of every Jew from Pilsen who was killed by the Nazis. The garden was the project of local schoolchildren, a more touching reminder of the Jews of Pilsen than that left by the vast but vacant Great Synagogue.
Contact Information
Prague
Federation of Czech Jewish Communities
Maiselova 18, 110 00
Prague 1
Czech Republic
Tel +420 224800824
Fax +420 224810912
Jewish Museum in Prague
U Stare Skoly 1.3
Tel. +420 222 749 210
Synagogues
Altneuschul
Cervena ul 7.1
Tel. +420 231 0909
Jubilee Synagogue
Jerusalemska 7
Recommended Lodging:
Hotel Le Palais. Elegant and great service, though requires taxi to the Jewish Quarter
U Zvbnailky 1
Prague
Tel: + 420 234 634 111
Boskovice
Medieval Ghetto and Synagogue
Tel: (501) 454601, 452077
Mikulov
Contact arranged through the Federation of Czech Jewish Communities in Prague (above)
Hotel Templ, small, clean and located in heart of ghetto
Telc
Trebic
Guided tour of ghetto and synagogue/museum available.
Contact through the Federation of Czech Jewish Communities
Pilsen
Great Synagogue and Museum
Židovská obec Plzeň
Smetanovy sady 5
Velká synagoga v Plzni
301 37 Plzeň
+420 377 235 749
+420 377 223 346
zoplzen@zoplzen.cz
http://www.zoplzen.cz/o_vs.php