The Pinkas Synagogue is devoted to the memory of Czech Jews who were victims of the Holocaust. About eighty thousand names are written on the walls of the synagogue for each of the victims, notating the last known year that they were alive. It is very moving. We see on one wall the name Israel Epstein, which coincidentally is the name of Rob's grandfather. By the way, the long line to get in provided an indication of how crowded our visit today would be. It is shoulder to shoulder inside all of these venues. A separate room in the Pinkas Synagogue is a display of artwork created by Jewish children who were in the nearby concentration camp of Terezin. We pass on this as it would be upsetting to view in our opinion. A note on Terezin, also known as Theresianstad. This was a camp that the Nazis used to show the world that its concentration of Jews was "humane," that the Jews could lead "normal" lives in the camp. The Red Cross was even permitted visits, I believe. All evil propaganda, or course, and when the course of the war began to turn against Germany in 1944, needless to say the charade ended and all of the Jews in Terezin were transported to death camps in Poland with very few surviving. Of the 100,000 Jews who lived in Prague, 80,000 remained at the start of the war, and of those only a few thousand survived the camps.
Exiting the Pinchas Synagogue, the trail of visitors begins travelling a route through the Jewish cemetery. According to our guidebook, there are 12,000 grave markers in this relatively small cemetery, all seemingly tilted and on the verge of falling down. Jews were buried here from the 1400's through 1787. My initial thought was that there is no way there could be as many graves as there were markers, since they are packed so close together in many spots, but in fact there are that many graves. The bodies are stacked on top of each other below ground. There was no choice as this was the only burial place for the Jews. There are actually thousands more buried here; earth was brought in to raise the level of the ground and create additional layers of burials.
The walk through the cemetery terminates with entrance to the Ceremonial Hall. This was for funerals and was operated by the cemetery association. This is also even more crowded with tourists than the Pinchas Synagogue! Tough to negotiate, for sure!
After the cemetery, the next site to visit is the Klausen Synagogue, which features exhibits from Jewish celebrations and daily life in a somewhat Baroque interior. This building is a little more spacious, so you can take a little more time to admire the exhibits, including the various adornments used to glorify the Torah (silver shields, etc.).
Down the street about one block, we entered the Old - New Synagogue, which dates from the 1300's. When it was built, it was considered the "new" synagogue, but as the years passed and it ultimately became one of the oldest synagogues, its name changed to the "Old - New." This is actually the only synagogue in Prague that is actually still in use; all of the others are not used for religious purposes, but are museums. As a result, men are required to wear yarmulkes, so we put put them on! There is little decoration in its interior, but it is good to visit.
The final place to visit is called the Spanish Synagogue. This is not because it has any relationship to Spanish people, but because those who designed and built it incorporated a Moorish theme to the interior, and the name stuck. The interior here is simply gorgeous! Beautiful colors -- superbly maintained -- it looks brand new inside. This is easily one of the most impressive places I have ever been in!
There are also exhibits regarding the Jewish people in Prague in more recent days, but obviously all pre-dating World War II. In an exhibit about Jewish writers, Franz Kafka is featured. Kafka died young in 1924 of tuberculosis, but had three sisters who died in the Holocaust.
One final note about the Jewish Quarter: other than the preserved synagogues and the cemetery, there is nothing else Jewish about it. The area had been a Jewish enclosed ghetto in the past, but during the 1800's Jewish people in Prague were assimilating into the wider culture and were free to live in other parts of Prague. The ghetto itself deteriorated, and by the end of the 1800's it was just a place for poor people to live with unhealthy sanitation and crowded conditions. In the early 1900's in the interest of public well being, it was razed and replanned. The area is actually known as Josefov, named for Emperor Joseph. Today, it is primarily gorgeous Baroque and Art Nouveau apartment buildings, making it as fashionable a neighborhood as we have seen in any city. Parizska Street, as noted in an earlier blog post, is one high end designer shop after another. Today, we passed a Tiffany's! Overall, the effect of our visit is a little sad. It is good that these places have been preserved, but you can't help thinking of how everything they represent is from the past and has no connection to today's Prague. The following photo shows a detail from a lovely Art Nouveau apartment building:
One more item about the history of the Jewish Museum of Prague. The effort to preserve Prague's Jewish history actually began during World War II in 1942. Surprisingly, it was also sanctioned by the Nazis! Jews in 1942 who had not yet been sent to a camp realized that all of their historical items were being left behind and asked to create this museum to preserve them. The Nazis agreed; not sure why. Volunteers were told by the Nazis to curate three museums with the items. These museums, however, were never opened. Sadly, in 1945, those Jews who had remained in Prague to work on this effort were sent to the camp(s) themselves.
We had spent about three hours in the Jewish Quarter. Now at 1pm, it is time for lunch. We elected to et at the nearby French bistro, Les Moules, whose specialty is of course mussels, and that is what we eat, accompanied by side salads. Very good -- Rob ordered Provencal style and mine were prepared with a lot of garlic.
After lunch, which took about an hour, our legs are telling us to call it quits, so we return to our hotel for a little rest before dinner. We did make one detour to the Palladium shopping mall that is about one block from our hotel just to check it out. It is a very nice mall.
For dinner tnight, we have reservations at Kampa Park, a restaurant overlooking the river on the western side of the Charles Bridge, named because it is on Kampa Island. But first, our plan is to go to the rooftop bar and the Hotel U Prince that overlooks the Old Town Square. Per the guidebook, the drinks are overpriced here, but it is the only place to have a drink on the roof! We take the elevator up (with a very sensitive weight limit -- we have to get off because four people have already boarded and wait for it to come back down), but we finally make it to the top. The wine choices by the glass include white, red, and sparkling. Yup, that's it. What is the white, we ask? Sauvignon blanc. We'll take two. It is a little breezy and cool, but the sun is shining. We enjoy the views from about 6pm until 7pp, then head to our restaurant. Here is a photo of Rob enjoying our time on the roof:
Kampa Park is a little bit of a splurge, but it is our last night in Prague. We have a lovely table with incomparable views to the east. I look at the stately Rudolfinum concert hall, while Rob gazes at the Charles Bridge and beyond. We order a bottle of Czech Reisling, and it is delightfully dry and delicious. I had scallops as a starter, while Rob had an Asian inspired crab ravioli. For mains, I had halibut, and Rob had crispy skin sea bass. Both dishes are of very high quality. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for a special meal.
After dinner, we are treated to enjoy the magic of Prague after dark -- see previous blog post for pictures. What a wonderful walk back to the hotel. As stated before, the effect of Prague at night is more than a little unreal.
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