Continued from previous page along with the synagogues and other points of interest in Josefov, purportedly still exist because Hitler wanted to create a museum to a people and culture he planned to destroy. A Past Storied and Tragic While shuls and other buildings in Prague went untouched during the war, and ritual objects – sefer Torahs, prayer books, kiddush cups and other types of Judaica – were being shipped to the city from across Europe, resident Jews were being rounded up and sent to a nearby village. Terezin, an hour’s drive northwest of Prague, was initially turned into a ghetto and then quickly morphed into a concentration camp. The place is often remembered for the artists, writers and musicians who were sent there and, most infamously, as the “show” camp opened to the International Red Cross so they and the world could see how “well” the Jews were being treated. In fact, the Nazis had orchestrated the visit, organizing bogus
concerts and soccer matches and filling up shop windows with food and other goods the inmates of Terezin would never enjoy. The truth is that thousands of Jews died at the camp of malnutrition and exposure, their bodies were cremated and the ashes later dumped into a nearby river, and thousands more were sent to die at Aushwitz, the Nazi death camp in southern Poland near Krakow. Of the 55,000 Jews who lived in Prague in the late 1930s, only about 5,000 remained alive when Russian forces liberated the city in 1945. There are even fewer Jews in Prague today – about 1,500 – but the community has actually grown in recent years. The Holocaust remains a melancholy presence in the area, drawing tourists – really, pilgrims – to what is left of the once-vibrant Jewish communities of Eastern Europe. But Josefov is also a vivid reminder of a distant past, when Jews lived and worked and prayed here. Find a quiet spot, and you can almost spot their shadows walking along the cobblestone streets, calling to one another in nearby stores, praying in the shuls. This was their home, after all, and their collective spirit remains part of this place.
The Jewish Quarter of Prague is a euphonic blend of aging buildings and memorable stories. Highlights include: 1. A ladder attached to the “Old-New” Synagogue leads up to an attic where, legend has it, the Golem waits to be called. 2. An image of the Golem, a supernatural being, was created to protect Jews from anti-Semitic attacks. 3. Josefov’s aging cemetery is filled with hundreds of tombstones, some simple, others remarkably ornate, most covered with Hebrew names and symbols. PHOTOS/Herb Wollner
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FEBRUARY 22 ▪ 2013
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