The Czech Memorial Scrolls
During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia which began in 1939, the Nazis systematically destroyed Jewish communities in Bohemia and Moravia, historic regions in today’s Czech Republic. The Jewish Museum of Prague (est. 1906), which housed a significant pre-Second World War collection of ritual objects, was disbanded in 1939. Its contents were taken over by the Prague Jewish community, prompting the founding of the Central Jewish Museum (CJM) in 1942. Recognizing the collection’s great value, Nazi authorities approved the project and allowed the community to continuously add objects arriving from destroyed Jewish locations. The CJM became a refuge for ritual objects, books, and archival documents for the war’s duration. Thanks to chief curator Josef Polák (1886-1945, Auschwitz) and his colleagues, the Museum operated competently despite difficult circumstances. After the war, the CJM was placed under national administration.
Approximately 1,800 Torah scrolls were also brought to the CJM during the war. After the Communist coup of 1948, they were taken to the abandoned Michle Synagogue, an 18th-century building in a Prague suburb, where they lay piled in disuse while Soviet authorities sought a buyer.
In 1963, English businessman Ralph Yablon (1906-1984), a congregant of London’s Reform Westminster Synagogue, learned of the scrolls from art dealer Eric Estorick (1913-1993). After consulting his rabbi, Harold Reinhart (1891-1969, HUC-trained), and completing authentication, Yablon purchased 1,564 scrolls. In 1964, Westminster Synagogue became the scrolls’ trustee, establishing the Memorial Scrolls Committee (now Trust) to distribute them “on permanent loan” to congregations worldwide.
“As an intimate link with individual congregations that were destroyed by the Nazis, the rescued Scrolls are a symbol of sorrow but also of hope as they are read and used, becoming part of the many communities, Museums and Educational Establishments around the World.”
https://www.westminstersynagogue.org/mst
Since 1988, the Memorial Scrolls Trust has also operated a small museum presenting the scrolls’ story, providing a glimpse of the remaining scrolls and a unique collection of Torah binders and other objects related to the perished Czech communities.
The Czech Memorial Scrolls in Congregation Mishkan Or
Congregation Mishkan Or is honored to be the guardian of four Memorial Scrolls. Here are the stories of their communities.
Scroll 42, mid-19th century, Kostelec nad Orlicí, adopted in 1972
Scroll 42 comes from the small town of Kostelec nad Orlicí in Eastern Czechia. Jews lived in the area from the late 18th century but were barred from residing in the town itself until 1860. That year, following a fire in the nearby Doudleby nad Orlicí ghetto, many Jewish families relocated to Kostelec nad Orlicí. In 1893, a formal Jewish religious community was established, and by 1896, the administration of the Doudleby Jewish community was transferred to Kostelec nad Orlicí. Jewish residents made significant economic contributions, particularly in founding the local textile industry and engaging in trade, commerce, and various crafts.
The Nazi occupation during World War II led to the virtual destruction of the Jewish community. Jews from Kostelec nad Orlicí were deported in waves between 1941 and 1944, first to Theresienstadt Ghetto and then to extermination camps like Auschwitz. Notable victims included violinist Egon Ledeč, who was murdered in Auschwitz on October 16, 1944. The community was disbanded and never resumed its activities after the war. A Torah scroll from 1830, rescued by the Jewish Central Museum in Prague, remains as a memorial to this lost community.
The community had notable connections to American history through the Spiegel family, whose daughter Anna married Josef Korbel in Kostelec nad Orlicí. Their daughter, Madeleine Albright, later became U.S. Secretary of State and visited the town in 1997 to receive honorary citizenship.
Scroll 42 was adopted in 1972 through the initiative of Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver and dedicated in memory of Minnie Demsey by her family at the consecration of the new Holy Ark in the legacy congregation Temple Tifereth Israel.
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Scroll 1349, late 19th century, Kolín, adopted in 1972
Scroll 1349 comes from the town of Kolín, located east of Prague. Kolín hosted one of Bohemia’s most important Jewish communities, second only to Prague. Jewish settlement dates to the 14th century, with town records from 1376-1401 mentioning 16 Jewish households. The community experienced multiple expulsions in the 16th century before permanently resettling in 1564.
By 1618, with 382 Jews, Kolín was Bohemia’s second-largest Jewish community. It flourished economically through commerce, textiles, and garnet cutting, while establishing itself as a center of Jewish learning with a prominent yeshiva. Distinguished rabbis included Eleazar Kallir (1781-1802) and Jacob Illowy (1746-81). The community peaked at 1,347 Jews in 1857, representing 16.1% of the population, but declined to 430 by 1930. Between the World Wars, Kolín became a stronghold of the Czecho-Jewish movement, promoting Czech cultural integration.
The Holocaust devastated the community: between 10th and 13th of June 1942, 2,202 Jews from Kolín and surrounding areas were deported to Theresienstadt via three transports AAb, AAc and AAd, with 2,098 people perishing as a result. Only 98 community members remained in 1948.
Today, Kolín preserves its medieval Jewish quarter, including a 1696 synagogue and a 15th-century cemetery containing over 2,600 gravestones.
Scroll 1349 was adopted in 1972 through the initiative of Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver on occasion of the new Holy Ark consecration in the legacy congregation Temple Tifereth Israel.
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Scroll 843, late 18th-early 19th century, Třebíč, adopted in 1976
Scroll 843 comes from the town of Třebíč located in the South-Eastern part of Czechia.
The Jewish community of Třebíč represents one of the oldest Jewish settlements in the Czech Republic, with the first written mention dating back to 1338, though Jews likely settled there earlier.
The community flourished particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries when Jewish merchants dominated local commerce. However, in 1723, Jan Josef count of Waldstein ordered the exchange of houses between Christians and Jews to create a separate ghetto, thus the Jews were moved to a restricted area in the Zámostí quarter along the Jihlava River. The population peaked at 1,770 Jews in 1799, but after restrictions eased in 1849, the community declined steadily as many relocated to Vienna, Brno, and other cities. By 1930, only 300 remained.
The Holocaust devastated the small community. On May 22, 1942, 1,370 Jews from Jihlava province were assembled in Třebíč and deported on Transport Aw to Theresienstadt (Terezín); only 35 survived the war. Only ten original Jewish inhabitants returned after the war.
Today, the remarkably preserved Jewish Quarter with 123 houses, two synagogues, and cemetery with more than 11,000 graves was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003—the first such Jewish monument outside Israel.
Scroll 843 was adopted in 1976 to commemorate Rabbi Daniel Jeremy Silver’s 20th anniversary at the legacy congregation Temple Tifereth Israel.
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Scroll 404, mid-19th century, Mělník, adopted in 1992
Scroll 404 comes from a synagogue in Mělník, 32 miles northeast of Prague. For centuries, the town of Mělník remained largely closed to Jewish settlement. Only two families were permitted to live there before 1848. But when restrictions lifted, Jewish families from surrounding villages began arriving, drawn by opportunity and hope. By 1850, they established their first prayer room. In 1864, they formally organized as a community, and in 1878, they consecrated their cemetery on the edge of town. The community grew steadily, reaching its peak around 1900. Jewish merchants, artisans, and professionals contributed to the town’s vitality, raising families and building lives along the ancient rivers. By 1930, only 94 Jews called Mělník home.
Within a decade, the Holocaust consumed this small community, that was deported probably to Theresienstadt between 1941 and 1942 in transports from nearby larger collection points. The last burial in the cemetery occurred in 1941. Today, only weathered gravestones remain, inscribed in Hebrew, German, and Czech.
Scroll 404 was adopted in 1992 through the generosity of Sidney and Betty Blumenthal of the legacy congregation Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple.
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