Jewish Diaspora in Prague

After having seen all what we were supposed to see in the guided tour of Prague city on 7 September, we convinced our local tour guide to take us to the Jewish Quarter in Prague. To preempt our disappointment, the guide did warn us that "there is really nothing much to see in Prague Jewish Quarter because it is a very small area. There is a couple of synagogues and an old cemetery which one can peep through the gaps in the wall to have a look".  

Jewish diaspora is not an easy subject to comprehend. The Bible has clear references about the dispersion of the Jews from their homeland, Israel: "...The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you". Deuteronomy 4:28. Yet the subsequent pogroms and extermination of the Jews in many parts of Europe has caused much bewilderment and retrospection.

The Jewish Quarter also called the Josefov was first settled by dispersed Jews in the 10th century. Soon after the first expulsion of Jews in late 11th century, it was reduced to become a walled up ghetto. It had to endure another more serious pogrom and massacre in 1389 before it enjoyed better time under King Joseph II of the Holy Roman Empire in mid 19th century. Jews were then allowed to live outside the walled ghetto.

The wooded area which is the Old Jewish Cemetery
occupies the bulk of the Jewish Quarter.

As we stepped into the narrow lane leading to the walled Old Jewish Cemetery, the little stores by the road side selling souvenirs which are unmistakably Jewish confirmed we were in Jewish territory.

Menorah - the seven-lamp Hebrew lampstand.

Shop selling among others figurines of orthodox bearded Jews with black hair sidelocks and Hasidic hat.

A local synagogue.

Many come to visit the Old Cemetery and the Klausen Synagogue. This synagogue is unique because it is the only baroque synagogue in this former ghetto.

The Old Jewish Cemetery is reckoned to be one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The first recorded gravestone dates 1439 and the last burial was in 1787, three years after burial was banned in this cemetery.

With such a tight space, the only solution to accommodate more burials was to add layers after layers of imported earth over existing graves. There are literally thousands of burials after three and a half centuries. There are areas where as many as twelve layers of burials had been carried out. For each topping, previous gravestones had to be uprooted and replanted on the new layer. This explains the densely packed gravestones in this cemetery.

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Recent prominent individual who can be traced to the Jewish ancestry in Prague is Madeleine Albright, the first lady state secretary of USA. She was born in Prague in 1937 and named Marie Jana Korbelova. Her parents Josef and Anna converted from Judaism to Catholicism in 1941 during the time Czechoslovakia was occupied by Hitler's Germany. The family first moved to UK and eventually to the US in 1948. She was appointed US Ambassador to the UN in 1993 by Clinton and eventually as US State Secretary in January 1997 during the second term of Clinton.

Jewish diaspora finally has a place to return to when David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948. For a people who was almost extinct, it is understandable the returnees would do whatever they could to prevent another dispersion of their people.

Prague's Lennon Wall Vs Pillars of Sabah

The urge to scribble on walls or any exposed surface is as old as human civilization. Had not the prehistoric people scribbled and drew on cave walls and rock faces, anthropologists would not get a glimpse of the lives of these prehistoric people!

Any attempt to stop people from drawing graffiti around the many plain walls in cities is doomed to fail. It is after all human nature to scribble and draw. For the upcoming artists, graffiti is probably one way of seeking recognition of their talents. For the political and social activists, graffiti is a way of expressing their sentiments and getting their voices heard without making public their identities.

Artists started painting on a wall soon after the 1980's assassination of John Lennon in a secluded square not far from the western end of the Charles Bridge in Prague. The artwork was a mean of protest against the government of the day then. No matter how hard the secret police tried to suppress these graffiti artists, that desire of people could not be extinguished. The Velvet Revolution at the end of 1989 signaled the end of communism in Czechoslovakia. By 1 January 1993, the Velvet Divorce split Czechoslovakia into two nations - the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Lennon Wall thereafter became a pioneer for activism worldwide.

On 24 November 2014, the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the wall was painted over in pure white by a group of art students leaving only the words "Wall is Over". The Knights of Malta, the owner of the wall initially filed a criminal compliant for vandalism against the students which they later retracted after making contact with them. Graffiti and murals resumed and the phrase "Wall is Over" is replaced by "War is Over".

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On another note, the Street Art Graffiti Building, an abandoned old government building along Jalan Haji Saman which is left with remnants of old brick walls and grids of columns were favorite site for street and graffiti artists. The place was "unregulated" and anyone was free to come and scribble whatever they liked. Unlike the Lennon Wall, there was no political statement scribbled here. This is understandable considering the government of the day's intolerance to political dissent.

The abandoned old government building once used by
the Income Tax Department.

Colourized photo of the old government building.

Immediately after the fatal Sabah Earthquake on 5 June 2015, this place became a temporary memorial for people from all walks of life to pay their respect and to remember those whose lives were cut short prematurely.

In 2018, Sabah-born artist and architectural designer Red Hong Yi and film maker Jared Abdul Rahman gathered together 30 talented artists from Sabah to create artworks collectively called the "Pillars of Sabah". These artists of diverse ages, ethnicity and art styles transformed this abandoned site into an area that celebrates art and community. Each artist was given one pillar to paint on two sides. On one side, the artists were asked to paint an inspiring person (from Sabah) of their choice and on the other their own self-portraits. The finished works were officially unveiled during Malaysia Day on 16 September 2018.

Among the inspiring individuals are
James Wong, a footballer and Penny Wong
who was made a cabinet minister in Australia.

Is this a good move to transform this site to become a kind of art museum? For me who prefer regulated and well planned artworks over "disorganized" graffiti, this is good. Already, one can see tourists flocking to the area to take pictures and selfies. But for graffiti artists, this is bad news because they have one less place to express their frustration, disgust, hope and aspiration.

Charles Bridge, Prague.

Our next destination after the visit to the Prague Castle is Prague Old Town. To reach the Old Town, we had to walk pass Charles Bridge. Construction of this bridge started around mid 14th century and completed about fifty years later. The bridge is 621m long. It has 16 arches and the balustrades are decorated with thirty statues and statuaries.  These statues are mostly saints and patron saints venerated during the period from late 17th century to early 18th century.

This bridge being the only access across River Vltava at medieval time had seen some of the most horrible things that happened in Prague. During the Habsburg Monarchy, twenty seven leaders of the anti-Habsburg rebellion were executed on 21 June 1621. Their severed heads were put up on display at the bridge tower to serve as deterrent to Czechs from further resistance.

John of Nepomuk, the Vicar-General of St. Giles Cathedral was Queen Sophia's confessor. Wenceslaus IV, King of the Romans and Bohemia suspected his second wife, Queen Sophia who is the cousin of the Queen was having an affair. Eager to find out the truth, he wanted John to disclose the content of Sophia's confession but he refused. On 20 March 1393, at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV, John was tortured, then bundled into a sack and thrown into River Vltava from Charles Bridge where he died of drowning. He was considered the first martyr of the Seal of Confession, a patron against calumnies (libel or slander). He was later canonized and declared a saint in 1729.

Many came as "pilgrims" to seek blessing by touching the plague placed below the statue of St. John of Nepomuk.

Touching the Plague below the statue of 
St. John of Nepomuk.

Bridge Tower.

Taking advantage of the crowds of visitors, this is also a favorite for street musicians, souvenirs peddlers and the marginalized.

Prague Castle

We had to go through security check at the main entrance to Prague Castle prior to being allowed to go into the castle compound. This is because the castle is used as the official office of the President of Czech Republic. In fact this castle complex which dates back to the 9th century has always been the seat of power. It had been used by the kings of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Emperors. The complex which occupies an area of 750,000 sq. ft. (equivalent to 13 football fields) is certified by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest ancient castle in the world.

The main attraction in the castle probably is St. Vitus Cathedral. Its prominent Gothic design is clearly reflected in the pointed arches throughout many parts of the Cathedral. This is a place where the Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors are interred.

Castle complex entrance is "guarded" and 
Changing of Guards is scheduled 
at 1200 noon daily.

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St. Vitus cathedral

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At another remnant old block of the complex, the exhibits of armors, weapons and even torture tools  on display give a good idea of the lives during medieval time. 

It is just unthinkable how people at medieval time were so ingenious to come up with tools for torture that could inflict pain and even death of unimaginable scale. The spike armchair and torture rack were two of the many on display.

In the Prague Castle complex compound which is situated

 on top of a hill, one can have a good view of the 

old town of Prague.