For one Czech Jewish family that survived the Holocaust by hiding in the forest, love was a double-edged sword, saving them before leaving them at the brink of death. An American high school teacher has helped erect a permanent monument to their memory. More ▸
Vandals damaged or toppled more than 60 tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in the Czech Republic. More ▸
The government of Czechoslovakia says it will work to improve ties between Israel and the European Union. The Czech Republic will assume the presidency of the European Union in January and will ask EU members to approve the effort, Israel Radio reported Monday, citing comments by Czech Foreign Minister Karl Schwarzenberg. The Palestinian Authority, as… More ▸
Jewish composers from pre-World War II Czechoslovakia have a new champion. Thanks to an ebullient young cellist, lesser-known works by little-remembered maestros like Jaromir Weinberger are getting their due in the land of their birth. Frantisek Brikcius launched the Weinberger Tour in mid-April at Prague’s Spanish Synagogue. The performance series by Brikcius and pianist Tomas… More ▸
As she croons the Yiddish love song “In der Finster,” or “In the Darkness,” the audience cannot but be swept away by the real darkness that envelops Kateryna Kolcova-Tlusta. Kolcova-Tlusta, likely the only Ukrainian female singer in the Czech Republic to focus exclusively on Jewish music, has been blind since early childhood, the result of… More ▸
Michaela Hajkova can’t stop thinking about how to “wake people up, wake them from the illusion that Jewish means past tense.” In her mid-30s with huge blue eyes, long black hair and a model-like physique, the Czech curator’s outer beauty complements a steely determination to attract Jewish artists to Prague. In 2002, she founded the… More ▸
Marie Leskovjanova’s father is not speaking to her ever since she named her dog Chaverah, or “friend” in Hebrew. Leskovjanova, one of the founders of the Association of Friends of Jewish Culture in Mikulov, explains that not everyone understands her passion for her town’s Jewish heritage. “My dad is worried that somehow I am bringing… More ▸
Most people thought Michal Klima was a bit loopy when he purchased a Czech synagogue three years ago that had been doomed to destruction. But Klima proved them wrong. It took more than $300,000 to renovate the 19th-century barn-like structure in Hartmanice, and no one had ever attempted to raise such a large amount locally… More ▸
As Holocaust Memorial Day approaches next week, it is not only Jews who must confront those who wish to deny the horrors of the Holocaust. It was “just a labor camp” and “we didn’t do it” are two of the mantras voiced at former Holocaust victims by the fringe nationalist party in the Czech Republic… More ▸
The Czech Republic has many Holocaust memorials, but perhaps none are as loaded with symbolism, or signify so much about Czech-German-Jewish relations of the 20th century, as a new, monumental Star of David. The memorial was unveiled Sunday in Usti nad Labem’s town park, where a Jewish cemetery stood before World War II, by Mayor… More ▸
