At the time of the German occupation of Prague in March, 1939, there were about 56,000 Jews living in Prague. Much of the day to day administration of the Jewish community was done by the Council of Jewish Elders (Altentrat der Juden). About 19,000 Jews were able to emigrate. Between October, 1941, and March, 1945, 46,000 Jews were deported from Prague, mostly to Theresienstadt and from there to the east.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a registered cover mailed through the Jewish Cultural Council (Judische Kultusgemeinde) in Prague to the American Joint Distribution Committee in Lisbon, Portugal. The cover is postmarked May 21, 1941, and was received in Lisbon on May 29, 1941. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Cover" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of two postcards. The first is a postcard postmarked October 8, 1944, from Brno to a person in Prague. The card was rejected by the Judenrat in Prague probably because it was written in Czech. This is rather a late date for correspondence to Jews in Prague. The second is an official postcard dated January 15, 1945, from the Judenrat in Prague to Theresienstadt. The card contains a Ghettopost cachet and a cachet from the Judenrat in Prague. It was received in Theresienstadt on February 10, 1945. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcards" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a permit issued for one day (May 4, 1945, the day the war ended) allowing a Jew in Prague to use public communications. The permit bears the cachet of the Prague Judenrat. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Ghetto Document" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a German Red Cross Inquiry envelope mailed on January 16, 1942, from Berlin to Prague. Although the see-through address window does not indicate the intended receipient, surviving wartime correspondence identifies the addressee as a Czech engineer, Max Eisler, who was employed in Portugal by the Swedish ball bearing firm, Lavalle. Eisler was forced to return to Prague, where he disappeared. The rubber back-stamp on the rear in German and Czech: "Attempted delivery in Prag XI- Unknown to mailman". The pencil notation on top is "Abgereist- wohin unbekannt" (went elsewhere, unknown as to where). There is a red crayon notation "Transport C" and a Prague back stamp. The envelope would have included a copy of German Red Cross form with instructions for a reply. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Red Cross" in the left frame to return.
Encyclopedia Judaica, CD Rom Edition, Keter Publishing
Spector, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust (2001), P. 1020-23
Museum of Tolerance On Line Learning Center
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/vjw/Prague.html
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Copyright © 2004-06 Edward Victor