The first conference of Jewish communities in Bohemia and Moravia to be held since the liberation of Czechoslovakia concluded today after electing a council of 15 headed by Ernest Frischer, pre-war head of the Jewish Party and an active leader in Jewish affairs.
Minister of Information Josef Kopecky, in a concluding address to the conference, said that it was up to the Jews of Czechoslovakia to decide whether to maintain their ethnical characteristics or choose assimilation with the Czechoslovak nation. He pledged that no pressure would be placed upon the Jews and that no one would interfere in their decision.
Frischer in his first address as president of the council thanked the Czech people for the assistance given the repatriated Jews and stressed that the situation of the Jewish communities would improve if their resources which had been confiscated by the Germans were released.
Meanwhile, it was announced today that the Minister of Education and National Enlightenment in the province of Bohemia has ordered that steps be taken to protect the property of Jewish religious communities, such as synagogues and cemeteries, particularly in places where Jewish communities have not yet been re-established.
The announcement, which was issued by the Churches and Foundations Department of the Provincial National Committee of Bohemia, said that all appropriate measures will be taken in accordance with the ministry’s order.
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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.
