Description: As beautiful as much of the city is, the Jewish ghetto is a reminder of the horrors of WWII that were endured my the Jewish community of Czechoslovakia. After enjoying the beautiful architecture of Prague, I recommend visiting the Jewish quarter for a history lesson. An easy walk from the Charles Bridge, the old jewish ghetto contains half-underground synagogues and overcrowded cemeteries. The ghetto was decimated in the Second World War and the whole area has a crowded, dirty feel. The Old Jewish cemetery with it's headstones piled on top of each other and with many broken and dilapidated ones to boot is a shocking sight.
Josefov is named after the Austrian Emperor Josef II who lifted most of the restrictions on jews and allowed them to live peaceably. In Prague, they lived in a ghetto between Staromanske Namesti and the river. Integration was not effective, and during the 19th century, Josefov contained over 30,000 jews. By WWII, there were over 90,000 living in the closely-confined quarters of Josefov.
The Nazis began transporting jews from Josefov to a camp at Terezin in 1941. By the end of the holocaust, 77,000 had died in the death camps. There were very few survivors.
It is hard to believe that a city which houses so much beauty also contained so much hate and horror just 60 years ago. A visit here is a wake-up call to the damage that hate can wreak.
You can buy a combined ticket for three synagogues: Klausen, Old-New and Pinkas. The Klausen contains many photos of the old ghetto, as well as menorahs and Torahs.
Around the corner in Siroka is the Pinkas synagogue. Before you enter, they hand paper yarmulkes to the men which must be put on before entering. We had to bow our heads in order to fit throught the narrow, short doorway. Inside are the 77,000 names enshrined on the walls along with birth dates and dates of transportation to the camp. The whole synagogue was covered in names from floor to ceiling. You exit the Pinkas synagogue through the Old Jewish cemetery (mentioned above) which is a high-walled, small area smothered in thousands of gravestones. The earliest ones date back to the 1500's but they are stacked on top of each other, and every space on the ground is taken. This is the part of Prague that I will never forget.
After seeing these somber sights, head back toward the river to see some medieval waterwheels. The narrow back alleys are crammed with shops, and you can pass by the Rudolfinium concert hall.
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