One of my favorite aspects of living in the Czech Republic for an entire year is the fact that I get to experience all of their unique holiday traditions firsthand. This includes Velikonoce, or Easter, which we celebrated this past weekend.
A few weeks prior to the holiday, Easter markets spring up in various major towns, where individuals can indulge in traditional Czech festival foods and sweets. Stalls have your typical souvenirs for tourists as well as neat crafts. I visited the markets in Prague various times, because who doesn't love sausage baguettes, freshly made potato chips, or fruits dipped in chocolate?! There was also a stage set up so individuals and groups could perform short skits, sing carols, or play instruments. The atmosphere really puts one in the holiday spirit!
My friend invited us to attend an Easter festival with her Czech colleagues at Hrad Křivoklát on Saturday, which is roughly two hours from Prague by train. Unbeknownst to us, we were going to ride on an actual steam train from the 19th century to the castle, which only runs three times a year in the Czech Republic; twice during Easter weekend and once in autumn.
Steam Train
As you can see below, mainly small children were taking photographs in front of the steam train, but that did not stop us from getting in on the action!
Me & Twee
Michael
Wheels
Of course, steam engines require coal as a source of power. The train had to make two stops during the journey so the operators could add more coal to the furnace. Instead of adding coal slowly throughout the duration of the journey, it was added only twice in big heaps.
Coal Store Room
We reserved seats ahead of time and were placed in the eighth carriage. Here we are walking outside from the front of the train towards the back.
Twee
Originally, they used carriages that had uncomfortable wooden seats so families could "enjoy" a real steam train experience from the past, however, over time they upgraded to carriages from the 1940s, which although the seats were pretty comfortable, there was no heat inside and I was freezing! Also, the toilet just had a hole in the bottom so all of your waste wound up on the tracks. My tush definitely got cold in that minute or two from the wind that went up the hole as the train moved forward!
We then arrived at our destination and made the pilgrimage to the castle with everyone else.
Leaving the Train Station
Crossing Over a Bridge & River
Climbing a Hill
We finally arrived at Hrad Křivoklát!
Me & Michael
The Easter festival had a stage with people performing fairytale stories with puppets for children, singers, and bands playing throughout the day. We were able to take a step back in time to the 15th century, where craftspeople-- woodcarvers, blacksmiths, and basket weavers, were working and selling their products. There were food stalls and other crafts being sold as well.
Easter Balloons
Food Vendors
Various Types of Cheese
The Czechs have very special Easter eggs called kraslice, which is one of two symbols that represent Easter here. They take decorating eggs to a whole new level. The actual egg is removed by poking small holes in the top and bottom of the shell and blowing the insides out. Then, the shells are boiled. Czechs have various ways of decorating them including using bee's wax, straw, watercolors, onion peels, and picture stickers. Many are hand painted and some even have hole punched designs. How they get tiny hearts punched all over the egg without breaking the shell is beyond me! They usually have geometric patterns, flowers, leaves, or even snowflakes as decorations. Honestly, these are the most elaborate Easter eggs I have ever seen in my life!
Easter Eggs
Blacksmith
Gingerbread Cookies
Garden Statues
There were some areas where people could try sports of old, such as using crossbows to hit targets.
Targets
Crossbows
We even took a tour of the castle, which was in Czech, so our Czech friends very nicely translated the entire tour for us! Basically, the castle was first built in the 12th century and used as a hunting residence for Czech kings. It reached its current, and greatest, development during the 14th century. Unfortunately, the castle was damaged by various fires and ultimately abandoned until the 16th century, when it was turned into a royal prison that held various distinguished guests, including a famous English alchemist named Edward Kelly. He told people he could turn metal into gold (though never apparently did it). The castle is also famous for holding the Czech king's treasures due to the heavy, thick, impenetrable interior walls. The castle's surrounding land that was used for hunting now comprises five different villages!
Easter Market
Tower View
Old Hunting Lands
Part of a Surrounding Village
Michael and I - Tower View
The following is the second symbol of Czech Easter, the pomlázka, or braided whip. This is where Easter gets interesting.
Michael
First off, Easter is mainly a pagan holiday here. This is because the religious aspects of the holiday, such as the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, were suppressed under Communism. To the Communists, there were no gods or God. Easter was only to be celebrated as a means of welcoming spring. Some of the villages have brought back a few of the old religious traditions, but no so much in the major towns.
On the evening of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday prior to Easter, small children in the villages carry wooden rattles or noise makers and walk throughout the entire village vigorously making noise. They even stop at each house and make noise until they receive money! This symbols two things: the first is to chase away Judas, the second is to take place of the church bells, which have "flown to Rome". (During Easter weekend, the church bells do not ring).
Easter is celebrated on Monday here. In the morning, the boys carry their homemade (or store bought) pomlázka. They go to their friends and neighbors houses, where they sing a short Easter carol to girls. Then, well, they whip girls on the butt with their pomlázka! They say that women who are whipped with a pomlázka will be healthy, young, and fertile for the coming year. In return, the girls give them eggs that they painted, chocolate bunnies, or maybe a few korunas. For older men, they usually receive a shot of Slivovice, or plum brandy, which makes for some happy and slightly drunk men by the afternoon.
Here's a video showing various age groups and the Easter tradition of the pomlázka:
In contrast, Easter in the States is fairly commercialized. Children are brought to shopping malls where they stand in line and wait to take a picture with the Easter bunny, which is a costume worn by a person. These photographs are then sent with greeting cards to family and friends. We celebrate Easter on Sunday. When we wake up, the Easter bunny has visited our homes and left an Easter basket for each person in the household. The baskets are filled with chocolate eggs and bunnies, peeps (an American specialty sweet, which is a fluffy marshmallow covered in sugar), and sometimes small toys or presents. The day is spent with the extended family, where they eat tons of food, chat with one another, and play games. The easter egg hunt is the most famous game for children. Parents take plastic Easter eggs and fill them with small chocolates and money. Then, they hide them in the garden or backyard for children to find. This was always my favorite past time of Easter growing up. We decorate eggs, but our method is a bit easier. We simply buy an artificial egg dyeing kit from the store, boil are eggs, and dip them in cups filled with the dye, water, and vinegar, which stains them. Here's the ones Michael and I did in the Czech Republic:
Of course, there are many religious people in the States, so they do attend church services and take note of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well. But alas, Easter is celebrated all over the world and a symbol that spring has arrived: longer days, more sunshine, warmer weather, the birth of baby animals, and the growth of plants and trees. It is happy time indeed!
As many of you know, the Nazis decimated the Jewish population in Europe during the Holocaust of World War II. The Czech Republic was not exempt from Hitler's Final Solution, however, a small percentage of Prague's Jewish population was able to archive and store their treasures in what is today known as Josefov, or the Jewish Quarter, of the city. Though the treasures in the Ghetto survived, the archivists perished in concentration camps. Today, the variety of Synagogues and Jewish sights are all owned by the Jewish Museum in Prague.
Personally, Pinkasova Synagóga was the most intriguing building of the several I visited. The outside of the synagogue has a lovely pink facade, but the inside leaves one speechless.
Pinkas Synagogue
Every single wall in the synagogue is covered with handwritten names of the 77,297 Czech Jews who were sent from here to the gas chambers at Auschwitz and other concentration camps. I immediately felt immense sadness, which was deepened by the somber reading of names alternating with a cantor singing Psalms from speakers located in each room. Below is merely one room within the synagogue.
Inside Pinks Synagogue
The names are carefully organized by hometown (in gold, listed alphabetically). Family names are in red, followed in black by the individual's first name, birthday, and last date known to be alive.
Up Close View
This memorial was created shortly after the end of World War II. Unfortunately, most of the information was erased when the Communists took over the Czech Republic in 1948 and the synagogues' doors were closed to the public for over twenty years. Under Communism, no religion could be practiced and nearly all religious officials fled the country before they could be persecuted. As a result, each and every name was rewritten after Communism ended.
Today, there is a Terezín Children's Art Exhibit installed on the third floor of the synagogue. If you didn't read my post on Terezín, you can do so here. For a refresher, this was the only concentration camp in the Czech Republic, where many Jewish families were sent to await their eventual departure and death at Auschwitz (which, by the way, is in Poland if you didn't know).
Terezin Children's Art Exhibit - Pinkas Synagogue
Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, a famous Czech artist and teacher, devoted the last part of her life, which was spent in Terezín, to helping the Jewish children cope with the everyday atrocities in the concentration camp. She encouraged the children to paint about things that made them happy, such as activities they participated in before the war, as well as what they believed their future would like like after the war. Of the 600 children Friedl Dicker-Brandeis taught, very few survived. However, more than 5,000 forms of artwork from the children remain with their names and ages. Before her train departed for Auschwitz, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis packed the artwork in her suitcase and hid it to be found after the war. The artwork serves as a testimony to the existence of these children and the realities of the war. Here are some examples:
Theater Performance / Musicians
Terezin Shower
Arrival at Terezin
A Happy Place
Jewish Celebration
A Butterfly
Upon leaving Pinkas Synagogue, you enter one of the most interesting cemeteries in Europe, Starý Židovský Hřbitov, or Prague's Old Jewish Cemetery. Since the Jewish population has basically been a target since the beginning of mankind, this was the only burial ground for all the Jews of Prague from 1439-1787. As a result, the tombs are layered seven or eight deep, with as many as 100,000 tombs. The tombs became piled upon one another due to the limited space and the Jewish belief that the body should not be removed once buried.
This is the tomb of Rabbi Loeb, creator of the Golem of Prague fairytale. You will notice small pebbles on top. They represent "flowers of the desert" and the small scraps of paper contain prayers.
According to the fairytale, Rabbi Loeb created a Golem from clay and gave it life through the use of fire, water, air, and earth. The Golem was to protect Prague's Jewish population from anti-semitics.
Rabbi Loeb & Golem
After the cemetery, I viewed the Ceremonial Hall and four more synagogues; each one different and unique. They all showed various aspects of Jewish life, celebrations, and traditions throughout the centuries. The Jewish Quarter is informative and displays the realities of a persecuted life for those who practiced Judaism. Time and time again we blamed people who practiced a particular religion for wars, diseases, and natural disasters simply because they were a minority group with different customs. Unfortunately, we haven't learned much from our past. We continue to move from one minority group to another trying to blame them for our own faults: African-Americans, Latinos, immigrants, women, homosexuals. If we could all just be more accepting of each other the world would be such a lovely place to live. Individuality is a beautiful thing.
