Jewish Religious Community of Prague

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Czechia

Holding institution:: Archives of the Jewish Museum in Prague

Holding institution (official language):: Archiv Židovského muzea v Praze

Postal address:: Stroupežnického 32, Praha 5, 150 00

Phone number:: 00420222749111

Web address:: http://www.jewishmuseum.cz/

Email:: office@jewishmuseum.cz

Reference number:: 178

Title:: Jewish Religious Community of Prague

Title (official language):: Židovská náboženská obec Praha

Creator/accumulator:: Jewish Religious Community of Prague

Date(s):: 1527/1939

Language:: Czech; German; Hebrew; Yiddish

Extent:: 12 linear metres

Physical condition:: poor

Scope and content:: The fonds contains confirmations of privileges, books of decrees, ordinances of the Magistrat and Gubernia, books of local administration, auxiliary books (registers, indexes, protocol registers), judicial records, ledgers, files on tax issues, files on the school Talmud Thora, on hospital, on orphanage and poorhouse, other files-files on familiants, registration records and other.

Archival history:: The records were incorporated into the archives of the Jewish Museum in Prague during the Second World War as part of shipments of material from Jewish religious communities that had been disbanded.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Jewish religious community in Prague has a long and rich history which begun in the 10th century. In the 11th century, there were two separate Jewish settlements in Prague. The settlement of the later Jewish Town was established in the 12th century at the latest. The Jewish Town had its own self-government. The Jews lived mandatorily here up to the 19th century when they were able to move to the city of Prague. The densely build-up and overpopulated ghetto suffered from plague epidemics (1680, 1714) and fires (1689, 1754). The population was also affected by huge pogroms (1096, 1389 and 1744) and by expulsions (1541-1545, 1557-1567 and 1745-1748). The Jewish Town was the centre of trade and handcrafts, the seat of the rabbinate, yeshivas and print houses. Many significant personalities are connected to the Prague Jewish community-rabbis, philosophers, historians, writers and artists.

From July 1939 the Jewish Religious Community of Prague was subordinate to the Prague-based Nazi Central Office for Jewish Emigration (Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung Prag), which in August 1942 became the Central Office for the Settlement of the Jewish Question in Bohemia and Moravia (Zentralamt für die Regelung der Juden-Frage in Böhmen und Mähren). Aside from resuming its pre-war activities, the Jewish community saw to a number of administrative tasks relating to the persecution of the Jewish population. As a result of deportations that were being carried out, the activities of Jewish communities outside Prague were discontinued on 27 March 1942 and their administrative tasks were transferred to the Jewish Community of Prague. As of 8 February 1943, the Jewish Community of Prague was renamed the Jewish Council of Elders; it existed under this name until the end of the war. The Jewish religious community was reinstated after the war.

Access points: locations:: Prague

Subject terms:: Education; Education--Schools and universities; Education--Talmud Torah; Health and medical matters; Health and medical matters--Hospitals; Jewish community; Jewish community records; Legal matters; Legal records; Orphanages; Poverty; Privileges

System of arrangement:: The fonds consist of books, protocol registers, files and plans, all arranged thematically: books and files of the community, books and files of the associations, books and files of the school, books and files of the hospital.

Finding aids:: Dolista K, Heřman J: Židovská náboženská obec Praha, Prozatímní inventární seznam, 1973, 78 s., ev. č. 178.

Yerusha Network member:: Jewish Museum Prague

Author of the description:: JMP Survey, 2015.

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