The first B’nai B’rith lodge in Czechoslovakia since the Nazi occupation 53 years ago was inaugurated Sunday at quiet ceremonies attended by B’nai B’rith leaders from the United States and western Europe.
It was named the Renaissance Lodge because it will resume the educational, social and charitable activities cruelly ended after Czechoslovakia was forced to cede the Sudetenland, its fortified western region, to the Third Reich in September 1938.
The Nazis occupied the rest of the Czech republic the following March, dooming the 17 B’nai B’rith lodges that had been active in Czechoslovakia during the interwar years.
The originally planned festive inauguration, to have been attended by a large number of guests, was scaled down and muted because of the Persian Gulf war in which Israel, a non-combatant, has been a target of Iraqi missile attacks.
The officers of the new lodge were installed provisionally. A charter will be presented at a future date.
Zeno Dostal, a writer and film director, became the first president of Prague’s Renaissance Lodge, which has more than 50 founding members.
Czechoslovakia is the 47th country with a B’nai B’rith presence.
The ceremonies were led by Kent Schiner, president of B’nai B’rith International; Joseph Domberger of Munich, senior international vice president; and Maurice Honigbaum of Nice, France, president of Continental Europe District 19 of B’nai B’rith.
Also there were Daniel Mariaschin, director of B’nai B’rith’s international and public affairs department; Lutz Ehrlich, director of District 19; Henry Schneider, international vice president of District 19; and Alan Cohen of England, vice chairman of B’nai B’rith’s International Council, and Ernest Bello, a member of England’s first lodge, both representing District 15, the United Kingdom.
The Israeli ambassador to Czechoslovakia, Yoel Sher, also attended.
A delegation led by Schiner was received Monday by President Vaclav Havel at Prague’s Hradcany Castle. Schiner expressed his gratitude for Czechoslovakia’s resumption last year of diplomatic relations with Israel and its strong support of Israel during the current crisis with Iraq.
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.
