Josefov

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.