Filozofická fakulta UK

The peak Jewish population here in Prague at one time made up 1/3 of all the inhabitants of this city. There were periods of time when Prague experienced religious freedoms (I'll talk more on that in another post) but the majority of Prague's historical behavior towards the Jewish people who lived here has not always been the best. For instance, they were only allowed to live in the Jewish Quarter, which was the slum of the slums, along the river. It was located in lowest elevation of the city and every 10-15 years the river would flood as rivers tend to do, causing massive damage to their homes and shops. The river waters also stirred up yucky things better left undisturbed like disease and human pollution. The Jewish people of Prague were taxed more than the non-Jewish residents of the city and a few times a year the King of the Austrian-Hungary Empire would forgive all the debts of his ppl out of his great benevolence. As the Jewish held most of the debts, their income source would plummet, a difficult life becoming even more so.

Then there is the Jewish Cemetery of Prague, a plot of land in the middle of the Jewish Quarter. When you look at it, it's like a hill in between buildings. My first thought was they raised the ground where they buried their dead so that their resting places wouldn't be disturbed by the flood waters. Sadly, that is not the case. You see, when the original cemetery was filled and there was no more room to bury anyone, the Jewish ppl asked the city for another place to burial ground, they needed more land. The city said no, there is no more land to give but we can give you soil. So they put another layer of earth on top of the graves already there, just moving the gravestones up. This went on for generations and at least 10 layers. There is an estimated 40, 000 graves in that small area, stacked on top of each other. The headstones are jagged and jumbled, all smushed together, not enough for everyone that is buried there. It was quite an experience to be near something like that.

The Jewish Quarter is no longer a slum and the city raised the level of the area so it no longer gets flooded when the river rises. There have been times in Prague's history where religious freedom was widespread and the Jewish people were allowed to live and work where they chose.

I did not have time this trip to go visit the Jewish Cemetery inside or any of the synagogues. Only saw their outside walls, which looked much like the outside of the other walls in the area. But I knew what was there and I recognized. Nor did I get to see the display of 5,000+ works of children's art that was done at the concentration camps in which the teacher hid them in suitcases under floorboards not found until 10 years after the end of WW II. Prague we'll see me again and I will give proper time and attention to this piece of Prague's historical tapestry.Read more