PINKAS SYNAGOFUE

                          A Couple of  Prague's Synagogues 

            In Prague we learned that Jews were free until the 13^th century, then they were confined to the Ghetto until the 18^th century. Men wore a yellow hat, women a yellow scarf. Armbands were worn until the 16^th century.

            Street paving and general improvements were made to the Ghetto in the 16^th century. The area housed six synagogues. The oldest synagogue, built in 1270, is orthodox. The Pinkas Synagogue, 1519-35, is now a museum. The town hall was saved after the flood in the 19^th century.

             Inside, on the walls are the names of 80,000 Jews who were exterminated during the holocaust! It took four years to accomplish the writing of the names. At first glance it almost looked like stripped wallpaper. Names in red are those from Prague and are designated with a yellow star, and a whole family is printed in black. There is way too much black.

Of the 40,000 Jews taken from Prague only 1000 returned after the war. But instead of returning to the Ghetto, they settled in other neighborhoods. The present Jewish population in Prague is between 1-2000.

A Jewish cemetery is behind the synagogue and the oldest stone is dated 1439. The small cemetery was used until 1787, and in some areas contains twelve layers. As bodies disintegrated, the ground sank, and in time dirt was hauled in so another body could be placed on top.

    Eventually there were five layers of bodies. As the weather loosened stones, they floated on top of one another. Now the cemetery is just a mass of jumbled stones.            Over the centuries, four architectural styles of stones can be seen. Mr. Maisel and Rabbi Lowe are buried here. There are nearly 12,000 gravestones in the cemetery yard.

   Later in the day outside the Maisel Synagogue, it was explained, “This was a private synagogue built by the Mayor of the Jewish Town, Mordechai Maisel, who funded the extensive Renaissance reconstruction of the ghetto.”

A fire in 1689 resulted in much damage, and it was rebuilt in Baroque style. It was rebuilt again in a pseudo-Gothic design by Prof. A Grott in 1893-1905. All that remained intact of the original Renaissance layout was the ground-plan of the tripartite central hall with the upper-story women´s section During WW II it was used to store gold and other treasures. It is a very different structure and has a much different feel than the Pinkas Synagogue

This was a sobering day but a memorable one!