Grand Lodge for the Czechoslovak State of the X Independent Order of B’nai B’rith

Collection

Title:: Grand Lodge for the Czechoslovak State of the X Independent Order of B’nai B’rith

Title (official language):: Velkolóže pro Československý stát X. nezávislého řádu B´nai B´rith

Creator/accumulator:: Grand Lodge for the Czechoslovak State of the X Independent Order of B’nai B’rith; Verband der Israelitischen Humanitätsvereine B'nai B'rith für Österreich; Verband für Israelitische Humanitätsvereine B'nai B’rith

Scope and content:: The fonds contains the founding charter of the Union Lodge in Plzeň from 1893, the statutes of the Grand Lodge and individual lodges from 1888-1939 and some internal organisational documents, minutes of meetings of the association bodies, commissions and committees, reports on the activities of these bodies, attendance lists, correspondence of the Grand Lodge and individual lodges on the internal affairs of the association, organisational issues, social and humanitarian activities, education, Jewish religious communities in the Czechoslovakia, emigration, as well as correspondence between the association and other Jewish associations and organisations, authorities and institutions, schools and individuals. The correspondence has been preserved from 1921 to 1939. The fonds contains pamphlets and single issues of periodicals, a B'nai B'rith directory from 1925 and photographs of the B'nai B'rith library.

Archival history:: The documents of the Grand Lodge were kept in its headquarters in Prague - Nové Město (5 Růžová Street). After the dissolution of the association in 1939, the Gestapo apparently took possession of the archives. During the war the documents were probably stored in Germany and after the end of the war they were probably handed over by the Soviet military administration to the Czechoslovak Ministry of the Interior. They were handed over to the State Central Archives in Prague (now the National Archives) in 1981 as part of the archival collection entitled Jewish Societies and Organisations. The rest of the collection was designated as the JUDr. Emil Margulies fonds. The fonds of the B'nai Brith Grand Lodge was processed in 1988.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Order of B'nai B'rith was established in New York in 1843, and in 1895 District X was established in Prague with jurisdiction over Pre-Lithuania. The headquarters of the Grand Lodge was transferred to Vienna after 1902. In 1919, the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of District X was redefined to include the Czechoslovak Republic. The Grand Lodge and its individual member organisations (lodges) engaged in educational activities with the aim of promoting the spiritual and moral character of the Jews. It was an apolitical organisation, but in the 20th century it supported the Zionist movement. In the 1930s, the association contributed to the support of Jewish emigrants from Germany and facilitated the emigration of Jews to Palestine. The dissolution of the Grand Lodge and the individual lodges occurred after the occupation in 1939. After 1945, the lodges were only able to resume their activities to a small extent and the Grand Lodge did not resume its activities at all. Officially, the Order of B'nai B'rith was liquidated in Czechoslovakia in 1951.

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Education; Migration; Migration--Emigration

System of arrangement:: The fonds is divided into individual sections: documents, files, pictorial and printed documentation. The file material includes, in addition to the registration finding aids (filing protocols), mainly the statutes of the Grand Lodge and individual lodges, minutes of meetings of various association bodies and correspondence.

Finding aids:: Babička, V.: Velkolóže pro Československý stát X. nezávislého řádu B´nai B´rith (1888) 1893 – 1939. Inventory, 1988, 25 p., Inv. No. 1264