Jewish Prague - Terezín - Plzeň
At the present time, Prague is one of the cities in Central Europe where the Jewish Heritage have been preserved. As part of the Old Town we find the Old Jewish Quarter, formed by the synagogues, the Ceremony Hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery considered as one of the oldest and best preserved jewish cemeteries in Central Europe.
Among other interesting places regarding the jewish history in the Czech Republic, we can mention the Terezin former concentration camp about 65 km to the north of Prague and the Plzen Synagogue, considered as the third biggest synagogue in the world.
If you are interested, we can offer you tours to these places and let you know all about the history and the jewish monuments in the Czech Republic.
Great Plzen Synagogue
The Great Plzen Synagogue is the second biggest in Europe and the third biggest in the world. It was built between 1888 – 1893 and some romanesque and new renaissance style features can be shown as part of the building. The construcción was financialy supported for donations of members of the Jewish Community. From 1893 the synagogue was used as a temple, until the Second World War. After the end of the Second World War it was returned to the the Jewish Community, however because of Holocaust and emigration to Israel and other countries, the community had been decimated.
During the communist period the synagogue was closed. The last regular religious service took place in 1973. After the fell of the communist goverment in 1989 a parcial reconstruction of the synagogue has been undertaken.
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was born in Prague in 1883 and he died in Vienna in 1924. He was born in a Jewish family and his mother tongue was German but he also spoke Czech language. In 1906 he became a lawyer and in 1908 he published his first writings. Bteween the most important pieces of Kafka we could mention The Trial, Missing, The Castle and his short story Metamorfis. Most of his writings was unknown during his life. He became world known after his dead, becoming in one of the classical writers of the XX century. He is buried at the New Jewish Cemetery, located in the Prague neighbourhood Strašnice.
Former concentration camp of Terezin
The city of Terezín is located about 60 km to the north of Prague. Terezín was founded at the end of the XVIII century by Joseph II, as a military fortress. During the Second World War it was turned into a ghetto and became the biggest concentration camp in Czechoslovakia during the war. The Small Fortress, built 1 km away from the city, became during 1940 – 1945 a Gestapo prison, at the city at the begining, only the headquarters were used for the Jews but after that, the population of Terezín was moved out and all the houses were used with this purpose. In almost 4 years more than 140 000 men, women and children passed by Terezín, not only Czech Jews but also Jews from Austria, Denmark, Holland and at the end of the War also Jews from Slovakia and Hungary. During the war, as a result of hungry, illnes and catastrophic sanitary conditions more than 35 000 persons died in Terezín. In September of 1942, the nazis built a crematory, where more than 30 000 bodies were burn, acordding to the records.