(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The Jewish quarter of Prague was practically submerged as a result of a flood of the River Vltava.
The ancient Jewish cemetery was totally washed away.
The age of the Prague cemetery can not be definitely determined. as the oldest tombstones were destroyed in the massacre of 1389. The first decree referring to the cemetery dates from year 1254 and was promulgated by Przemysl II, who decreed that the Jewish cemetery should not be damaged or desecrated.
According to the historian, Tomek of Prague, the greater part of the ground covered by this cemetery was in the beginning of the 15th century laid out in gardens belonging to Christians. Down to the time of the Hussite wars the Jews are said to have had another cemetery, called the Judengarten, behind the walls of the Altstadt, between Brenntengasse and Breitengasse: it was destroyed by Ladislaus in 1478 Jews from abroad seem to have been buried in the latter cemetery and Jews of Prague in the former, according to a decree issued by Przemysl Ottocar II in 1254. The Prague cemetery was desecrated in 1389 and again in 1744, after the departure of the Croatians.
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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.
