Prague is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe, dating from 1091. During the siege of Prague castle in 1142, the oldest synagogue in Prague and the Jewish quarter below the castle were burned down and the Jews moved to the right bank of the river Moldau (Vltava), which was to become the future Jewish quarter, and founded the "Altschul" ("Old Synagogue") there. In the 13th century a new Jewish settlement was founded in Prague, in the vicinity of the Altneuschul (the "Old-New Synagogue"), construction of which was completed in 1270. The synagogue, which still exists, is the oldest remaining in Europe.
At the beginning of the 17th century about 6,000 Jews were living in Prague. By 1848, the Jewish community numbered over 10,000 and was one of the largest in Europe. During the latter part of the 19th century, the growth of the Jewish population in Prague did not keep pace with the rapid growth of Jewish centers in other areas of Europe.
Number of Jews in the Jewish Community of Prague
|
Year |
# of Jews |
Percentage of Bohemia Jewish Population
|
Percentage of Prague population
|
|
1880 |
20,508 |
21.7 |
6.52 |
|
1890 |
23,473 |
24.8 |
5.91 |
|
1900 |
27,289 |
29.4 |
5.31 |
|
1910 |
29,107 |
33.9 |
4.72 |
|
1921 |
31,751 |
39.8 |
4.69 |
|
1930 |
35,463 |
46.4 |
4.17 |
Table Courtesy of the Encyclopedia Judaica
After the Nazi takeover of Germany, the Jewish population grew substantially as a result of refugees from Germany, Austria and the German speaking portions of Czechoslovakia. At the time of the Nazi occupation in March, 1939, the Jewish population was about 56,000. Anti-Jewish measures began immediately, and until the end of 1939, a number of Jews were able to emigrate, legally or otherwise, to Palestine. In 1941, the Germans established a ghetto in the town of Terezin (Theresienstadt) which acted as both a concentration camp and a transit center to the death camps in the east. From October, 1941, to March, 1945, almost the entire Jewish community of Prague was deported to Theresienstadt or directly to the death camps.
In the three years following the war, the Jewish population grew to about 11,000 with the return of the surviving Prague Jews and other survivors of the Holocaust. As a result of the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, about half of the Jewish population had emigrated by 1950. By 1968, there were only 2,000 Jews left in the city. Since the fall of the Communist state, the Jewish community has had a significant revival.
Copyright © 1998-99 Edward Victor