The Prague newspaper Der Neue Tag reports that a 66-year-old Prague priest, Dr. Ferdinand Hrouda, has been sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for “misuse of his office” by pre-dating records of Jewish conversions.
The newspaper states that Father Hrouda baptized 454 Jews after annexation of the Sudetenland by Germany in order to help them escape penalties of the anti-Jewish laws or to obtain immigration permits for South American countries.
Father Hrouda was charged with having inserted in the certificates of baptism not the actual date it had taken place but, in at least three cases, a date a few days after the date of birth of the convert. In his defense Father Hrouda is reported to have explained that he had been moved by Christian sympathy to aid the Jews.
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.
