There are a little over 20, 000 Jews remaining in Czechoslovakia now–out of a pre-war Jewish population of 360, 000–according to a report about the Czechoslovakian Jewish community by Dr. Rudolph Iltis, of Prague, Dr. Iltis is editor of “Vestnik,” organ of the Jewish Community Organization of Bohemia-Moravia.
“Several tens of thousands” of Czech Jewish inmates of concentration camps were rescued by the Soviet Army when the Nazis were defeated at the end of World War II, Dr. Iltis reported. An unspecified number of these left “for Israel and other countries,” Dr. Iltis declared. Of the upward of 20, 000 remaining, 9, 000 live in Bohemia, while the remainder are in Slovakia. He reported that there are 5, 000 Jews in Prague, and 3, 000 in Bratislava.
There are two Jewish Community organizations in the country, one embracing those who live in Bohemia-Moravia, and the other representing the Jews of Slovakia. The latter, said Dr. Iltis, center most of their activity on religious affairs, while the Bohemia-Moravia group, with headquarters in Prague, concentrates chiefly on cultural activities.
Jews rank high in the country’s cultural life as a whole, the Prague journalist declared, citing such personalities as medical scientist Alfred Cohn, Dr. Erich Springer, electrical engineer Irgy Sicher, and a number of famous musicians, including the directors of the Prague Government Philharmonic, the Prague Opera, the Brno Opera, and other well-known musical aggregations. Jewish classics are published regularly, he reported, and among recent publications have been collected works of I. L. Peretz and Sholom Aleichem.
Dr. Iltis spoke with particular pride about the Jewish Museum in Prague. Housed in six buildings, the museum, directed by Dr. Hannah Vatavkova, possesses, according to Dr. Iltis, thousands of old Jewish objects d’art, religious books and vessels, torah scrolls, books, manuscripts and other valuables. He described the Museum’s library as a “rich treasure house.” One of the buildings making up the museum contains murals listing 80, 000 names of Jews slaughtered by the Nazis.
The Jews of Czechoslovakia, Dr. Iltis said, have established contact with Jewish communities in other countries. Among these he listed the Jewish communities of Sweden, France, Hungary, Finland, Rumania and Poland. He made no mention of any contacts with Jews in the Soviet Union, Israel or the United States.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
