Trudy Gold
The Czech Jews
Trudy Gold - The Czech Jews
- And of course today, I’m telling the story of Czech Jewry. And it’s fascinating, isn’t it, we’ve been looking at the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. We’ve been looking at all the countries around the Habsburg, all the countries that made up the Habsburg Empire and the story of the Jews. There are so many similarities, and the rule, which I believe has not changed to this day, is that when society is relatively stable and society is liberal, the Jews thrive. When there are all the poisons come to the surface, nationalism, extremism, and then any minority group today is under threat. And so I’m going to go back into history. How do we- Sources are interesting. We’re now looking at sources of course, in mediaeval times and there aren’t that very many of them. And I’m turning first to a man called Ibn Yaqub. He was an Arab traveller. And I want you to imagine what Europe was like when he wrote his chronicles between 965 and 970 of the common era. So well over a thousand years ago, you have an Arab traveller going really from trade route to trade route, to report on what he saw. And this is what he had to say about Prague. I was going to show you a painting of the Charles Bridge and the mediaeval spires because, of course, Prague is called the City of a Thousand Spires. When he travels there, he says this. “Prague is built from stone and lime and has the biggest trade centre. Slavs are on the whole a courageous and brave people. They occupy the lands which are most fertile and are abundant with good wheat supply.” So he’s telling us a little bit, thank you very much, we’ve got that over. So could we go to the first slide? Thank you very much. And here you have a depiction of mediaeval Prague and, of course, the famous Charles Bridge, which Patrick talked about yesterday. And he said, this is in 965, he was writing for five years. “Jews are there. Either there as a settlement or carrying out business.”
Now this is the first record of any Jews in what becomes known as the Czech lands. And ironically, life was always easier for Jews under paganism. Christianity on the march. And in 673, Prague becomes a bishopric. And if you can imagine those of you who’ve travelled there, there are so many churches, as I said before, the City of a Thousand Spires. Now this very fertile area, German colonists are invited into Bohemia, Moravia, and Prague develops around the site of several Bohemian castles. And we know that the various dukes use Jews as money lenders. They’re mentioned as money lenders in 1091. And we also know that the area around the main castle is the centre of important trade. Now what about the story of the Jews of Prague? Well, it very much mirrors what’s going on in the outside world, when we know that Jews arrive from both the west and the east. How are Jews earning their living at this time? Well, we’ve discussed this many times, have we not? What is the story of the Jews? These people with a literate tradition- Can we move on a slide please? They have been pushed out of their own land. Go back one please, Lauren. Thank you, just stay there for a little while. Thank you very much. When the crown is strong, they can survive. Jews are not allowed into many trades or professions, because as Christianity develops, everything is governed by guilds, Christian guilds. But the Jews, because they are international, and because they can communicate one to the other, they are absolutely crucial to the mediaeval economy.
So the story in Prague, the story in the Czech lands, is absolutely the same as it would be in any of these other places. When the church is strong, the Jews are in trouble. When the king is strong, the Jews are fine. And of course the kind of issues that are going to affect all the Jewish communities in central Europe, 1096, the terrible march of the Crusaders to Jerusalem to conquer Jerusalem from the Christians, and the community in this area, like in so many other areas was destroyed. We also know in the siege of Prague Castle in 1142, the Jewish community and the oldest synagogue was burnt. And we then know that the Jews moved to the right bank of the river and they found the Altschul, which is actually the largest, the oldest synagogue in Europe. And as the city expands, German colonists become very important, and with them, the Jews. And we also know that at this period, the foreign language the Jews would’ve spoken was German. Far more likely to speak German than Czech. And also from the 13th century onwards, they have a special status. They are servants of the royal chamber. They are subjected to all sorts of problematic conditions. For example, because think back to the power of the church, think back to the Lateran council. They have to wear special Jewish clothing. They are segregated in a Jewish area. They’re only allowed to be money lenders. They have a very inferior position in society, but they’re protected by the king, if the king is strong. And not only that, they do accrue quite a lot of wealth, which further adds to the negative stereotype of the Jew. New settlements are created at this period.
The great Altneu Shul, the old new synagogue, it’s completed in 1270, and by the 13th century they have petitioned and they have a graveyard, and of course, this is the beginning of the incredibly important cemetery in Prague, which is really the stuff of legends. Not only Patrick was, yesterday, talking, of course about the legend of the ghastly story of the protocols, the elders of the Jews meeting in the graveyard in Prague. But also later on it’s going to be the story of the Golem. So all sorts of connotations to that extraordinary cemetery, which is absolutely haunting. Now, a religious movement in Prague affects the Jews. Now it’s fascinating. The Zionist line is always this. The outside world acts. All the Jews can do is to react to the situation. They are not masters of their own destiny. But at this stage, Zionism is a long way off. Although as I’m going to talk about in another presentation, I am going to talk about the whole notion of failed and false messiahs, because whenever times are really dark, a messianic figure will arise with the promise of delivering the Jews and delivering the world. Now, Patrick yesterday mentioned the Hussites. They were an interesting development in Christianity. They rejected the Catholic church. They rejected the worship of saints. The Catholics, of course, accused them of Judaizing. They had a very positive attitude to the Hebrew Bible. And although Huss accepted the Jews, he attacked them for not accepting his beliefs. Nevertheless, there was a few, like, a strand within Hussite belief, which was actually very positive. After the destruction of the Hussites, the killing of Jan Huss, Jews in the main remained quite sympathetic to the Hussites. And in 1420 in the wars, they are actually accused of supplying them with arms. And the Hussites, they regard themselves as warriors for God.
What are they doing? They are, if you like, subduing the anti-Christ. Who is the anti-Christ? The German Catholic crusaders. Now, some Jews did die in the Hussite wars, but really it’s the war again between the Catholic church and what they perceive as heresy. Later followers of the Hussites were known as the Bohemian Brethren. They were also very interested in the Jews. Again, they identified with the biblical Israel and were very liberal in regards to the Jews, and they likened their troubles to the expulsion of the Jews from their own country. They were sympathetic to the Galut. Now they published Josephus three times in the second half of the 16th century. And what is fascinating about them is that various Jewish families traced their descendants to the Bohemian Brethren, including Kafka’s family. Evidently, there were conversions from the Bohemian Brethren to Judaism. Quite a few families who later on were going to play an important part of the story. Now, so you have this situation of trouble and then a period of lessening, and then there are two great periods. Patrick mentioned the reign of Charles IV, and he is the man who created the Charles University. Can we move to the next slide please? If you don’t mind, Lauren? Yes, of course, that’s the modern version. But Charles University is important because it is the oldest university in that part of the world. It’s the oldest university in North and Central Europe. And it’s had fascinating alumni. Of course Einstein was a professor there at the turn of the century. And it becomes a very important place of study. Now, so you have this period of persecution, period of leniency when the community grows relatively rich. And then you have the golden age, and that is under the reign of Rudolph II. The Habsburgs take over the area.
They sit with Bohemia and Moravia through a marriage treaty. The original dynasty dies out. The son dies out. the daughter is married to a Habsburg prince. And this whole area, Bohemia and Moravia, moves into the Habsburg Empire, and Rudolf II, his dates- Can we see his picture please? You’re going to see the famous Habsburg jaw. There it is, the Habsburg jaw, Rudolf II. He is a great figure. He is a great patron of the arts, and he actually transfers his court to Prague. And his successor was also very important in the history of the Jews. Now this man is a scholar. He is a figure of enlightenment. So is his son. They develop around them a court of very, very interesting people. And he also welcomes Jews to the court. And there was one in particular that he went into dispute with. And can we see the next slide please? The next slide, Lauren. The person I’m talking about there, we have no painting of him. He is the famous Maharal of Prague, Judah Loew ben Bezalel. His dates are 15- We’re not sure where he was when he was born, actually. the figures vary between 1512 and 1526. But he was a terribly, terribly important figure. And he is the man, he’s the stuff of legends because, of course, he is the man who is meant to have created the Golem, you know, that legendary figure of clay that is meant to defend the Jews at times of persecution, particularly at times of blood libel. There’s a very important silent film, “The Golem,” based on this story. And I know that later on, Professor Pima is going to talk about the whole legend of the Golem through cinema and through literature. So, this is Judah Loew. Now, he was a fascinating man. He was born in Poznan. The family originally came from there because please remember that nothing’s codified, moving from parts of the German lands into the Habsburg Empire. He had hugely important antecedents. He claimed to be a descendant of the Davidic line.
His family was a family of distinguished scholars, distinguished rabbis. He was the official chief rabbi of Moravia, appointed of course by the king. He directed community affairs. He also provided the study material for the community. Bearing in mind at this stage, everybody lived within their religious enclave. And for the Jew, this is now a period of peace and prosperity, under Rudolf II, under his son, so what can go on, is study. And we know this is a man who is a very, very important scholar. Not only is he a great scholar, and by the way he was independently wealthy, mainly through his father’s business ventures. You know, a rabbi at that time, it was not a paid community official. So the rabbi often had another profession, usually medicine, actually. But this one, he’s important, he’s very wealthy. He spends his time in study. He was also a practitioner of the Kabbalah, which evidently he discussed with the emperor Rudolf. Patrick told us yesterday that the emperor Rudolf was fascinated by astrology, astronomy, alchemy. And with the Maharal, there were many discussions. This is the court of an enlightened man. But he only believed in the study of Kabbalah through rigorous philosophy. Real Kabbalah, in order to study it, you have to be completely versed in Terah and Talmud. Then you are allowed to study, but you must be over 40. You must be married, that’s for stability. And no woman was allowed to study the Kabbalah. And of course the Zohar was very important. So you have a situation where not only is this man a great scholar and a Kabbalist, he said, the hidden in the language of the revealed. He managed to put forward Kabbalistic ideas in non-Kabbalistic language. And his work is going to inspire scholars all the way down the centuries. He moves back to Prague, he’s buried, he travels, he moves back to Prague. He’s actually buried in the cemetery there. His descendants include Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
Another fascinating rabbi that I’m going to give a whole session on. He was the man who created Chabad, “chochmah, binah, daat,” wisdom understanding knowledge. He was a very important rabbi in the 19th century. And he particularly fascinates me because of course he is living in Eastern Europe at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, where in the west you have assimilation. And it is he at the time of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, oh, how history haunts us, that he writes a letter to another rabbi, in which he says, “I would rather my people be persecuted under the Czars than live in peace under Napoleon, because Napoleon will be the end of the Jewish people.” This is another riddle of Judaism, you know, or rather of Jewish identity. We’re going to see that when the outside world is incredibly tolerant, many Jews leave their Judaism and their Jewish identity. Consequently, something for you to ponder over, as we move towards Passover, as we move towards Pesach, you know, is antisemitism one of the keys to Jewish survival? I almost choke when I say it, but I really want you to consider that. But at this stage you live within your religious worldview. He had many disciples and David Gans, can we see David Gans please? David Gans, there’s no portrait of David Gans, but what we do have of him is of course his tombstone in that extraordinary cemetery. He was a fantastically interesting rabbi. He was the son of a money lender. He studied rabbinic literature and then he went to Krakow, where he studied with the great Moses Isserles. Remember, this is fluid. They moved from centres to centres, and of course the synagogue of Moses Isserles, those of you, whoever visit Krakow, the Remah Synagogue is there.
And he attended. We know that he studied very much though with the Maharal, and this is important, he added other subjects and so did the Maharal. I’ve already mentioned astronomy, and mathematics, he studied Euclid, he was a chronicler of history. He studied cosmology back to that old . What may a Jew study? Both he and the Maharal studied philosophy. Now this has always been the big debate. What may a Jew study? Another important figure who was also a student of the Maharal, can we move on? That is Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller. No, it isn’t actually, sorry. It’s the world he came from in Prague and I wanted to include him. Because Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller is in fact an ancestor of a very close friend of mine, Michael Heller. So I hope he’s listening and I apologise for the picture. That of course is the Jewish area in Prague. But these characters are so important in the development of Judaism. And it all really spans from the Maharal, this incredibly important figure. Now, so if we could move on to the next picture, please. Thank you. Just keep that there if you don’t mind, Lauren. So at the beginning of the 17th century, there are 6,000 Jews living in Prague. And the community acquires the so-called Liechtenstein Houses, which doubles their size. And basically, you have a situation so common to Jews at that period when the outside world is safe for them, all is well, when there’s troubles, the opposite. And basically through the reigns of the Habsburgs, which we’ve studied at length. So through the reigns of Maria Theresa, of course Jews are expelled from Bohemia and Moravia, the Jews of Prague were banished in 1745, 1748. And what also gives you an interesting insight into what’s happening to Jews in other parts of the world, that Moses Frank in London, actually petitioned George II to intervene with Maria Theresa. So there were petitions because by this time, I’m now in the 1740s, the Jews are living in London, in a very, very different situation. And of course Jews are already making it to America.
So the world is beginning to change. And a very important Jewish merchant had the audacity to petition the king. And not only that, the king gave into that, but then of course the position of the Jews improves. Under the reign of Joseph II, everything that happened to the Jews of Vienna, or the Jews of Budapest is now happening to the Jews of Prague. Joseph II you’ll remember, was the king who wants, he is the emperor who wants to modernise his empire. So how do you modernise your empire? You make everyone in it more useful to the state. This is known as enlightened despotism. He wanted to Germanise his empire. Jews had to adopt family names. He established schools for secular studies. He required Jews to cease using Hebrew and Yiddish in their business dealings. He did that to everybody in his empire. And in order to modernise, any Jew who got involved in manufacturing enterprises were allowed to settle outside the Jewish quarter. We need you to develop our empire. If you help us develop our empire, you will have many concessions. And of course, this is the beginnings of the great explosion of Jewish industrialists into modernity. I’ll give you an example of one, Moses Porges von Portheim. His dates are 1781 to 1870. He was one of the most important, and earliest, of the manufacturers in Prague. He worked with his younger brother, Judah, took the name Leopold, and he began, the brothers began, the small linen business. They developed it into one of the largest manufacturing businesses in the whole of the Habsburg Empire. And because of their services to the states, by 1841, the Emperor Ferdinand elevates both of them to the hereditary nobility. He is the first cotton manufacturer to employ steam.
Also, he had a porcelain factory. And after emancipation, which I’m going to talk about in a minute, both brothers entered politics. Moses becomes the vice mayor of Prague. And his brother sat in the parliament. And they established, they were huge philanthropists, they were forward thinking in their great works, their huge manufacturing empire, they were the first of the manufacturers to establish a creche. 150 children, which meant that both the husbands and wives could work. And also huge philanthropists, huge philanthropists. So, you have also the great Epstein Empire. So Jews at the forefront of modernity. 1841, they were allowed to own land. 1846, the special Jewish tax is abolished. 1867, full emancipation. And that’s when the Porges brothers can take the kind of positions that they held. The ghetto, by the way, had been finally abolished in 1852. And in 1896, I think Patrick showed you the picture of it, the old site was actually destroyed because of the unhygienic conditions. And by 1870, only about half the Jewish community lived in the old quarter. By 1900, less than 25% remained there. So by 1848, the community was a community of about 10,000 people. It’s one of the largest in Europe. Important to remember that this stage of the game, the community in London was about 30,000. So the majority of the Jews, remember, are living in Eastern Europe. The numbers in the Arab world are beginning to decline as well, because the Arab world, the world of Islam, what is the problem with it? Although in the main, the conditions have been more favourable. The problem with the Muslim world is that it is becoming more and more backward. And, we’ve said this many times, what is it about modernity that made it so attractive to the Jews?
Remember the words of Yuri Slezkine. The modern world is about people becoming mobile, quick-witted, thinking on their feet, able to enter different trades and professions in one lifetime. In other words, according to Slezkine, it’s about people becoming Jewish. So to him, modernity is very much a Jewish, if you like, it’s a holiday for the Jews because you can almost go as far as to say, and I will go this far, that modernity was created for the Jews. Here you have this people with a tradition of learning, even if they’re not, they’ve had to live on their wits, they’ve had to be mobile, they have this dream of study, and all of a sudden the outside world is open to them and they revelled in it. Because just think of all the opportunities and also they are outsiders. So the community is about 10,000 in Prague, but it doesn’t in fact keep pace with the other expanding centres in the empire. And of course it also goes through the revolutionary period. And Jews had problems then, but everyone had problems when there was a revolution. And basically the community in Prague, the bankers, those at the top economically were very, very wealthy. But the community in the main was middle class. There’s a small number of poor, there were many charities. And by 1850 the is occupied by excellent scholars. And now we come to the man in the picture, Solomon Judah Rapoport. He was one of the leaders of the Haskalah, the enlightenment. There’ll be a lot more to say about that later on. There was a whole group of them, Marcus Hirsch, Nathan Ehrenfeld, Henrik Brody, many of the synagogues were modernised. The great Maisel synagogue, which I should have mentioned. Maisel was a figure back in the reign of Rudolph II. He became an incredibly wealthy man. Not only did he build the Prague town wall, he also built the important Maisel synagogue. Now you have a whole group of rabboni in, who wants to modernise Judaism.
They don’t necessarily embrace reform Judaism, this is important, but they want to modernise. So a shorter liturgy, a mixed choir, organ. They want to make, inverted commas, Judaism more attractive, because of course now they are mixing, there’s only a small number, remember this Jewish community is still relatively small, but they are mixing in the non-Jewish world. And because they’re in love with modernity, this is really the beginning of the love affair with the outside world. And you begin to see a huge influx into the universities. In 1882, the Charles University split into two. The German university, the Czech University. Emancipation. Now let’s talk about emancipation of the Jews. Where do you think emancipation pushed the Jewish community? It accompanied Germanisation, because to them, and this has always been the case, the Jews turn to what they concede to be high culture. Don’t forget Theodor Herzl, he was born in Budapest. What language culture did he turn to? To German. Max Nordau, German. German was seen as high culture. So some Jews did work in the Czech language. And in the last two decades of the 19th century, there was a Czech assimilationist movement. There were Jews who were saying we should actually just become part of Czech society. But the majority of Jews, as I said, aspired to German culture. Now, there was the rise of racial antisemitism as well. This is spread mainly through the Sudetenland. That is the areas on the edge of the Czech lands, much more about them later on, which was German. And they opposed Jewish emancipation, Jewish assimilation. You see what you’ve got is a visible success story. Did the Jews have real power? No. Power is an army. Power is the ability to define your people’s destiny politically, and in terms of foreign affairs. What is certainly true, some Jews became fabulously wealthy, not the majority, but that’s not power. Maybe it’s influence, but it certainly isn’t power. By the end though, of the 19th century, Zionism doesn’t really take on in Prague. The atmosphere is relatively tolerant. I want to show, I want to look please, at a few charts with you. Could we see the next slide? Okay, now this is interesting, is it not? 1880.
The percentage of the Jewish population of Bohemia, percentage of the total population of Prague. Okay, by the time- it’s never that high, is it? It’s important to remember that. It’s quite high in the whole of Bohemia, which is very underpopulated. But in the city it isn’t. Can we see the next slide? Which I find fascinating. Okay. University students, when they divide, 1890, 44% of Jews, it’s very high, amongst the university students. It’s very high. So 44% of the students at the German university are Jewish. They’re under 5% of the population of Prague. The Czech University is marginal. Interesting. After the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, it goes down, as far as the German university is concerned, and up, as far as the Czech University, but still more at the German University than at the Czech University. Okay. Moving on, of course, yes. The percentage of Jews of Prague, who declared themselves to be- Here you go, 1900. You see, of course, by 1921 it’s gone down. But look at the last column. 1921, 1930, who declared themselves to be Jews. What is happening? Well, it’s absolutely obvious what has happened. The Habsburg Empire has collapsed. It’s the end of the First World War and the emergence of new countries out of the old Habsburg Empire. And those countries from our point of view, today, out of the lands, we’re going to see the creation of Czechoslovakia. The Republic of Czechoslovakia is going to be established on the 18th of October, 1918. And it’s led by two fascinating Czech national leaders. Jan Masaryk and Benes. Can we go back? I think I want Benes first. Have I got Benes? Yes, I think I want Edvard Benes first. These are great figures, you know, isn’t it interesting? Come the hour, come the man. So, I’m going to give you the background of these characters and they are the people, this is the man, who is along with Tomas Masaryk, and a man called Milan Stefanik, who was a Slovakian.
These three intellectuals, from the 1890s onwards, just as Hungary’s already become independent, as the Habsburg empire is dying. We’ve talked a lot about Vienna. In the outlying regions. And Prague is the third city of the empire, remember. Should we have independence? After all, there is such a thing as Czech identity. There is such a thing, a Slovak identity. Is there Czechoslovakian identity? Now, a very important fact, after the creation of the dual monarchy, Slovakia was run by the Hungarians, Czech lands, Bohemia and Moravia, was run by the Austrians. The Czech lands become far more developed. Although the Slovakian lands were the most industrially developed areas of the Hungarian Empire, they were way below that of the Czech lands. So that’s important. So who was Edvard Benes? He was born into a peasant family, in a small town in Bohemia. He was a brilliant student. He went to a grammar school in Prague. He studied philosophy at Charles University. And he went to Paris, he studied at the Sorbonne. So he had lots and lots of university and lots and lots of languages. In 1908 he obtained his doctorate in Dijon University. He taught at the Prague Academy of Commerce, then lectured in sociology at Charles University. And in World War I, he was part of the struggle for Czech independence. Back from the 1890s onwards, along with Masaryk and Stefanik, he had been part of a group of intellectuals who were saying we must break away from the decaying Habsburg empire. So 1915, he’s in exile in Paris and he’s in Paris for the Peace Conference. He’s in Paris between 1916 and 1918. He’s secretary of the Czechoslovak National Committee. And when a provisional government is set up, he is the minister of the Interior and of foreign affairs. And in March, 1918, Benes and Masaryk, who I’ll talk about in a minute, they decide to set up an army to fight for the allies. They had tens and thousands of men.
And after Czechoslovakia was established, he was the first and longest serving foreign minister. And he held posts through 10 governments. He, after the Paris Peace Conference, he did return to academia for a while. He was a member of the League of Nations. He was president of the National Council. He was one of the most respected figures throughout the whole world. He was a strong believer in Czechoslovak unity. And when, later on, Tomas Masaryk resigns, in 1935, he becomes president of the state. He’s going to be violently opposed to the Nazis. He was opposed to all their claims to the Sudetenland. And of course, later on he’s forced to resign. He comes to London, where he becomes chairman of the National Committee. And he, in the dream of the fight for Czech nationality, he published over 200 articles, in the Czech social democratic newspaper. He was a passionate Francophile. He was the main representative of Czechoslavakia at the Paris Peace Conference. You’ve got to remember that the end of the First World War, anyone who believed in self-determination was in Paris. It was absolutely fascinating. If you had a dream, if you had a dream of your state coming- just think about it. The collapse of empires, of course the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the collapse of the Russian Empire, then the Soviets taking over. Many of the problems that we see today, including the tragedy in the Ukraine, is because of the horrific mess at the end of the First World War. Over a hundred years later, we still haven’t sorted it. And so anyone with a claim, President Wilson, his self-determination of peoples, the Zionists- Think about the Balfour Declaration. And he was, as I said, he was a very, very important figure. And he was very much a Philosemite.
This is what he said to the European Zionist Congress in Prague. And this is an anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. It will first be necessary to put a radical and permanent end to racism and anti-Semitism. At the same time, your aspirations for an independent homeland should be fulfilled. I regard the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine as the only just and possible solution to the world’s Jewish problem. I promise that whenever, or whatever opportunity offers itself, I should help to promote this solution. So a great hero. Tragically, he’s going to witness the destruction of really, of all his dreams. Because the sellout at Munich and then the pillage of Czechoslovakia, the destruction of the Czech side, the Slovak side is going to become an ally of Nazi Germany. And then for him, the tragedy of the communist takeover. And he dies in 1948. But a man of great integrity, you know, we need heroes. And he was a hero. And let’s look at another hero please. Could we go back to Tomas Masaryk, if you don’t mind? Yeah, and of course, he had that incredible son, Jan Masaryk, who Patrick mentioned yesterday, who was so helpful in the creation of the Jewish state. Anyway, Tomas Masaryk also came from a poor family. This was the policy of the Habsburgs. If you were poor and clever, and Williams discussed this with you, if you were poor and clever, you could go to a good school. And that’s what happened to him. He came from a poor family in Moravia. He made it to a grammar school, then to the extraordinary University of Vienna. He was there between 1872 and 1876. And you know, those of you who play the game, what time in history would I love to go back to? Can you just imagine what it must have been like at the University of Vienna between say 1870 and 1910? Just think of the alumni. Think of Herzl, think of Schnitzler, think of Freud. Think of anyone who really made a huge mark on central Europe.
And he was there. His doctorate was fascinating. It gives you a notion of the kind of man. Suicide as a social mass phenomenon of modern civilization. Think Vienna, think of the great quote, or the terrible quote. Death, decadence and decay. This is one of the issues that of course propelled Freud and many of his colleagues into studying hysteria and studying the psyche. His doctorate. And then he goes off to Leipzig. He started with Edmund Husserl, who was a Jewish fellow student. He had much sympathy for the Jews. Yesterday I was talking about Wallenberg. And of course Wallenberg also came from that kind of world. He married an American and they lived in Vienna till 1881 when they moved to Prague, where he becomes the professor of philosophy, at the Czech Charles University. And he creates a magazine devoted to Czech culture and science along with Benes. The point is they are creating a Czech identity. There was a terrible blood libel in 1889. The Hilsner Affair. Again, those who are losing their place in society, who are the most obvious scapegoats, the Jews. He screams out against it, he challenges it. And he serves in the Czech Parliament, in the young Czech party. And he concluded, in World War I, he concludes the only hope is Czech independence. He goes into exile with his daughter Olga. He travels, he becomes quite wealthy. He’s written a lot. He’s a world famous professor, Rome, Geneva, Paris, London, America. His wife, remember is American. He establishes many contacts at a very high level, which is going to be very useful to him. He is absolutely pivotal with Benes in establishing a Czech Legion in Russia with an effective fighting force to fight for the allies. He was one of the first, those of you who live in England, he was one of the first staff members of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, which is now part of UCL.
He was the professor then, of Slavonic studies at King’s College London. This was in 1950. He’s in London. He’s making contacts. He’s at a university. He was very much supported by a man called Norman Hapgood, who later became president of the League of Free Nations Association, who worked with Woodrow Wilson. So, he knows Woodrow Wilson through Hapgood. This is important. And Hapgood encouraged him to write to Wilson for support of his cause. His research at King’s College will also interest you. The problems of small nations. And his network of Czech revolutionaries, it was so important to the allies. And he is part of the core for independence of the Czechs and of all other oppressed nations. In his visit to America, he manages to convince Wilson that the Czechs and the Slovaks were one people and they deserve their own country. He goes on a lecture tour and Chicago was very much the centre of Czech immigration. And 150,000 people gave him a welcome. They called him the future president of the Czechs. Because he’s married to an American woman, he visited America many, many times. And of course with the collapse of the Habsburg Empire, he is recognised as the head of the provisional government. As Benes is the minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs. And he’s elected president of the New Republic whilst he is still in America. And he returns to Prague Castle as the president. He was elected on three different occasions. He visits many countries, including Palestine. Unfortunately, he has to resign in 1935 because of ill health. And when he is replaced by Masaryk, he dies before the Munich agreement. And I’m going to read you what he said, and this is what he said, this is him in 1918. The Jews will enjoy the same rights as all the other citizens of our state. As regards Zionism, I can only express my sympathy with it and with the national movement of the Jewish people in general. Since it’s of great moral significance, I have observed the Zionist and national movement of the Jews in Europe and in our own country and have come to understand that is not a movement of political chauvinism, but one striving for the rebirth of its people.
And of course his son, Jan Masaryk, later becomes the foreign minister of his government in exile. A lot more about him in another session. This is what his son wrote on the 25th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. 25 years ago, the Balfour Declaration gave the Jewish people hope for the future. None of us could have dreamt then what was in store for them. My government and myself want to assure you of our deep sympathy and understanding. I personally shall never rest until human dignity is returned. The sons and daughters of Israel who will escape alive out of the Teutonic clutches. Palestine is almost the only star in the stormy sky of the present day inequity. Remember he writes this on the 25th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which is 1942. Okay, so I’ll talk more about Jan Masaryk. I want to mention another important character. And if he hadn’t died young, I think the future of Europe might have been different. Can we please look at Milan Stefanik? Thank you. He died when he was only 39. Now he was born in what became Slovakia. His father was a Lutheran pastor. He also was a very bright man. He studied engineering in Prague. He then switched to Charles University to study physics, maths and philosophy. He then goes on to study in Zurich. And he studies under Tomas Masaryk, who inspired him to really believe, because Slovakia is a much more backward area than the Czech part. Having said that it was the most industrialised part of Hungary. It was nevertheless pretty backward compared to Prague. And it’s Masaryk who inspires him that there should be cooperation between the Czechs and the Slovakians.
He was very active in Slovak student associations. Because all over the empire, there is this eruption of nationalism. Zionism is just one of those eruptions. The old empires are crumbling. He studies astronomy, very, very talented, astrophysics. In 1905, he was a real adventurer, he climbed Mount Blanc, to observe the Moon and Mars. Official French exhibition. He was one of the first to record the full eclipse of the sun in Spain. He has a growing reputation as very much an important intellectual. He worked with members of The Academie Francaise. He’s invited to Oxford. He travels the world for the French authorities. He goes to Algeria, Morocco, Turkistan. He is becoming a world figure. He also visits India, Russia, America, Brazil, Ecuador, Australia, New Zealand. So this is a man who is a public intellectual. He’s a very important astronomer and a physicist. He’s known throughout the world. And he’s mixing with the elite of French society. He’s very close to the architect, Gustave Eiffel, I think you know who he is. He’s very close to the Prime Minister of France. He knows most of the important figures. And in October, 1917, fighting for the French, he wins the Legion of Honour. He dreams of Czech and Slovak independence and believed that the end of the Habsburg Empire would achieve it. He, as I said, he renews his acquaintance with Masaryk and with Benes. And the three of them together found the Czech National Council. And it’s his contacts, as well as Masaryk, that enable meetings with the most important personalities of the time, including the French Prime Minister. So they have on their side, they have Wilson on their side. And also he works at the works at organising the Czech Legion. And his diplomatic and intellectual skill, along with Masaryk and Benes are so important in the creation of Czechoslovakia. Tragically, he dies in a plane crash.
And as a response to that, you’re going to see, and when I look at the Slovak side of Czechoslovakia, you’re going to see that the Czech side develops in a much more Liberal Democratic way. And one of the tragedies, you know, Wendy said before, it’s all about leadership. The world is very bereft of leaders at the moment. But if he had lived, I think the future would’ve been very different for Slovakia. So, what happens when Czechoslovakia is established as a modern state? It is to be a western style democracy. And it includes the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia, the Austrian lands of Silesia, Slovakia, and of course the Subcarpathian Rus. So, it’s Czech, Slovak, but minority groups. And basically there’s a growing secularisation in the modern Czech state. What happens is, as far as the Jewish community is concerned, there’s a huge growth in the number of mixed marriages. For example, 1927, 25% of all Jewish men marry non-Jews. By 1933, 30% marry non-Jews. As far as women are concerned, 22% in 1927, 26% in 1933. By 1933, half of the Jewish population of Bohemia are in Prague. But what is also going on, of course, there are lots of community organisations. The Jewish community is very well organised. There’s a Jewish historical society, there’s a society for the advancements of Jewish studies. There’s elementary schools, and of course there’s an aid committee for refugees, because so many Jews have to flee from the appalling events in Russia. So the borders of Czechoslovakia are confined by the Treaty of Saint-Germain and Trianon. But as Patrick said to you yesterday, the tragedy of Czechoslovakia was its neighbours. And the rise of Hitler, the Sudetenland. But more about that in my next session. So I will stop there and let’s have a look at the questions.
Q&A and Comments:
[Host] Thanks Trudy, it was brilliant, as always.
Oh, happy Purim and happy St. Patrick’s Day. Where is Wendy? It looks lovely. Wendy?
[Wendy] Yeah, I’m here. I am here. I’m sitting on beach.
Oh sorry, we’re talking over each other.
[Wendy] Go on.
There’s a question for you. We would love to have a programme on IsraAID. I think you’ve organised that, haven’t you? I believe that Wendy has actually organised for Carly, who is in-
[Wendy] What is the question?
They would love to have a programme on IsraAID. IsraAID is the best. I think.
[Wendy] Yes, we will. We will be doing that. We work together with IsraAID. We worked together with them in Swaziland, then again in Afghanistan, and now with Ukraine.
And isn’t Carly going to be talking about what’s going on a bit next week?
[Wendy] Yes, yes.
Yes.
On Thursday.
Q: - Do I know much about the Altneu Shul?
A: Tim, we’ll be talking about that again. David will be talking about that.
And this is from Rose. Prague is such a beautiful country. And on the Charles Bridge there is a statue of Christ with Hebrew writing. Right, to your comment of-
Q: Oh dear, how well long will it take for the Ukraine’s to blame us?
A: Look, the world doesn’t always have to act in a predictable way. And don’t forget, the president of Ukraine happens to be a Jew.
This is Elie. We learned in school, the Jews were cosmopolitan, spoke German and travelled a lot. So they were considered valuable and were accepted for long periods of time.
Do I sense a little cynicism? Mr. Straus? Jan Hus, liking good. Thank you, Veronica.
Please comment about the contradiction between worship of the Christian Messiah, who was Jewish and antisemitism. You’ve asked me to give 25 lectures on that, Elliot. It’s a huge question. The point is, Jesus- I’m going to give you a shorthand. Jesus has been de-Judaized, even his name is a Greek version of Yeshua. It’s only the Father, Joseph.
Think Miriam, it’s a long- Helen Fry gave four lectures on this. It’s very interesting and we will get back to it.
Trudy, who asked for that? Who asked for that?
This is Elliot, Elliot Ziner. We’ll get back to that question.
I’m happy to send, I’m happy to send Elliot, if he just reaches out to Judy, or to Lauren, to Lockdown University. We’ll send him the full lectures.
Very good, thank you, Wendy.
Rose Rahami Kafka was a second cousin to my mother-in-law who turned a hundred yesterday. And yes, German was what they spoke primarily. Oh, Rose, please give her a huge mazel tov, from all of us.
And this is from Vivian. The Kafkas were related to us too.
[Wendy] Wow.
What have you done, Wendy, with this group? It’s unbelievable.
We’re just bringing everybody together, that’s all. I mean just look at the great minds?
[Trudy] Isn’t that amazing?
[Wendy] Absolutely. Absolutely.
I’ve been in Prague. It’s a lovely place. Also, do you know much about the shul near Labum? There’s a city northwest of Prague. The Shul hasn’t been used in years. There were terahs from it, that were removed during the Second World War. I think a lot of them ended up in England. One is in the shul in Ireland. Oh, that’s interesting information. Thank you. And of course, later on, and I will be referring to it in the next session, Hitler wanted Prague to become his, If you like, it’s the centre of a museum for a lost species, us.
This is from Anna, great history of the rescued terahs of the shul from Czechoslovakia, more than 1500 rescued and sent to London for preservation, and then sent to synagogues and education organisation on request. That’s such an important story, Anna. Thank you for bringing it to ever body. Betzalel.
Yes, I should be able to pronounce that, shouldn’t I, Tanya?
Q: Betzalel. Was the Frankenstein story based on the idea of the golem?
A: I’m not sure. You’ve got to remember also around the end of the 19th century, Patrick referred to it as well, there’s all these esoteric ideas. It’s the world of vampires, Frankenstein. Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley. But you have Bram Stokers Dracula. I think David Piemer’s going to lecture on this. ‘Cause it’s fascinating.
Nanette, I cannot believe in those years anyone lived until well into 90. Nanette, Eleanor of Aquitaine, for example, who lived in the 11 hundreds. She lived to be about 88.
Stop… I didn’t realise I was clicking my pen, Doreen. Oh dear.
According to my family tree, Judah Loew was my nine great-grandfather. Wow. The dates I have is the 10th of April, 1520 to the 17th of September, 1609. The problem on his dates, Barbara, there are so many differences about his birth. Everyone agrees when he dies, but not his birth.
This is Elizabeth. My comment on anti-Semitism being necessary for the survival of Judaism is profound. Perhaps, much as in autocracies, autocracies may be necessary for the survival of democracy. Yeah. We’ve just included a lecture in the schedule that William Tyler will be lecturing on- Do you remember, Wendy asked him to, and he’s agreed to give a lecture on the survivor of liberal democracy.
Stephanie, she’d liked our lectures. Thank you very much. It is a magnificent city. Stephanie wants me to comment on the controversial calvary where- Yeah. Yes, this is true. Christ on the cross is surrounded by gold plate letters of Hebrew words from the Kedushah. Paid for in an enforced payment by a Jew, who was accused of blasphemy. This was the seed of virulent antisemitism. And an explanatory plaque was only added in the year 2000.
Yes, that’s true, I’m afraid. As I said to you in the past, in the past lecture, when times were hard, you had this terrible- When times were hard, when there’s a period of uncertainty, or when the church felt itself to be under threat, or, it’s either extreme. Either it’s in great power or it’s under threat. The Jews get in the neck. They were the only non-Christian minority, remember. We live in a world now of many different minority groups. But at this stage, the Jews were the only non-Christian.
This is from Susan. Your discussion about name changes, just brought to mind, my German ancestors in 1700 were forced to change their name. Originally their name was Levi, but they had to adopt the name of the town, which was Weikersheim. Hence we became the Weikersheim family. And isn’t it, you said how important it is to have a Shem Tov in a good name and this was denied for Jews.
Yeah, yeah, nice people saying nice things.
Q: Ah, why did the Muslim community slip backwards and how did that impact the Jews?
A: Oh, you, I love you. You ask questions that will take an hour to answer. Basically, do you believe, in the rise and fall of empires, they didn’t embrace the printing press. They didn’t embrace modernity. Look, if you want to look at parallels, if you take the year 1000, for example, London had 40,000 wooden huts, really. Kaifeng in China had a million people. And the centre of the civilised world was probably Cordoba. And Seville under Islam. The ebb and flow of empires, that’s a big story. We’ve already had some presentations about the Sephardi world and we will be having more. In fact, over Pesach, we have a new colleague joining us, Alex Nakimuli, who’s going to be talking about the other exodus from Egypt. 'Cause of course the exodus of the Jews from the Arab world. And I know that wonderful Lynn Julius is going to be talking about forgotten exodus. And I think we will be developing more lectures along that.
Yes, Angela. I haven’t mentioned Rabbi Yechezkel Landau. Yes, of course. The 200th anniversary of his death was celebrated at the end of the 20th century by hundreds of Landaus in Prague, including my husband, David and me. Wonderful, yes, it was a great area of scholarship. You are right. And it’s important, thank you.
Q: Was Mr. Bata the shoe manufacturer famous back then?
A: I don’t know the answer to that. Of course, he was very important, Tomas Bata, I don’t know when he got started. Perhaps somebody could do the research on that?
Q: Did Benes live to witness the creation of Israel in May, 1948?
A: I’ve got to check that for you. And please don’t forget, I’ll check that, Peter, whether he died before or after. But please don’t forget, Jan Masaryk, of course, with Stalin’s blessing at the time, was the man who supplied the arms to Israel, to the Jews that really allowed them to survive the War of Independence. Czechoslovakia was the nation that really helped the Jews. And tragically, as Patrick told you yesterday, Masaryk was murdered by the communists, the defenestration, he was thrown out of the window. But people now believe he was murdered.
Yes, it was- Yes, I agree with you. But I just said it was the triumvirate, really. Tomas Masaryk and Benes. I think, Tomas Masaryk was the father, but I don’t want to discount Benes either. I think they were both huge figures.
Oh, Helen Goldern. For those of you with Czech connections, and know about the late Nicholas Winton, Vera Gissing died- Oh, I didn’t know that, Helen. Let me just read it and then I’ll talk to you about Vera. Vera Gissing nee Diamantová, died on Monday. She was one of Nicholas Winton’s children and was instrumental in bringing his story to the world.
Helen, I knew Nicholas Winton and Vera Gissing. I lost touch with her tragically. But she and Muriel Emanuel wrote a book on Winton and we actually prepared a study guide. One of his students asked us to prepare a study guide on his story that went into every school in England. Nicholas Winton was an extraordinary man. And when we talk about heroes, I think perhaps we should talk about Nicholas. Oh, Helen and I didn’t know about Vera, may she rest in peace. Oy.
The rumour has it that Milan Stefanik’s plane was shot down on approach to Bratislava. That is totally possible, isn’t it?
Adele is asking for the copy of the four lectures. If you write to Lockdown University, then you want the lectures by Helen Fry. In fact, Helen is coming in next week to give a different kind of lecture, on, really, another of her specialties. On German Jews who helped in the war.
This is from Eli. My parent’s mother from Slovakia and Vienna and father from Budapest never spoke Yiddish. They did speak in revered German. Yes, I know, it’s fascinating. I’ve had friends from that part of the world. They considered Yiddish to be a completely wrong language.
Q: Michelle, when will the website be up with all past lectures?
A: Michelle, I believe that Wendy hopes it will be up by the summer.
Q: Oh, this is from Elliot, Wendy. I don’t know if Wendy’s still there. I cannot say enough to praise the wonderful work you’re doing. Any possibility of volunteering to help?
A: That’s very interesting. Look, once the website’s up, I think there will be lots of developments. But we have to think everything through. We’re hoping that lots of marvellous things can happen. Hitler wanted to keep Prague as a sort of centre for a dead community, in that sick, diseased mind.
Wendy, you are getting a lot of thanks.
I met the rabbi and his wife of Prague in the 1990s, and they had all the records and memorabilia, that Hitler wanted to be kept there as a record of the people that he’d wiped out. Yeah. Anna, during the Nazi occupation a group of Jewish museum workers in Prague worked feverishly to rescue religious artefacts, catalogue them and preserve them, knowing that one day they would be sent to the camps and to death. This is an amazing example of spiritual resistance. Yeah. In times of extremists, some people are so magnificent. Years ago, attended a lecture, one of the subjects was a spice box apparently many were aspired by the church fires of Prague.
Oh, this is from Elliot, Ellen Rothman. I’m supposed to be related to Landaus too. My maiden name.
Yes, this is from Susan. This is a great group. The questions and comments are almost as exciting as the lecture. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if one day we all meet each other? Who knows what’s possible? I’ve got this fantasy. I’ve told Wendy, she didn’t bang me on the head, that wouldn’t it be lovely if one day, in London, we could meet in a London hotel and have lectures and meal together. Maybe in New York, maybe in Toronto. Who knows what’s possible.
Bata may be a Toronto project. Yes, Barbara, you’ve got yourself a project.
Q: Wasn’t the Bren gun made in Czechoslovakia?
A: I do not know. The Batas set up their museum in Toronto. I met Mrs. Bata many years ago, who lived near the museum. Also met her curator. Some of my shoes are in the museum. Wow. Ah, our Canadian friends are talking about it.
This is from Vivian, Benes was more respected abroad than at home. For another view, you might read “The Life of Edvard Benes. Czechoslovakia in Peace and War.” Thank you for that.
Nicholas Winton’s family apparently were Jewish. Yes, but he wasn’t a practising Jew. He was of Jewish origin. I met him, he was extraordinary. And I’ll tell you about Nicholas Winton. He didn’t know what all the fuss was about. He’d forgotten. He’d really forgotten it all. He couldn’t cope with the lionisation. He thought it was weird. He was an extraordinary individual. I’ll tell you a funny story. When I was running the LJCC, a man came in to see me and he said, “I am one of Winton’s children, I want to make an educational resource.” And then he wrote out a check to cover an education resource that went to every school in England. Yes, those of you who are asking for the lectures, I suggest you write to Lockdown University. And Lauren will send them to you. Wendy should be nominated for a Covid philanthropic award. I think she should be nominated for a philanthropic award. Let’s leave out Covid.
Oh, Benes, he died in September '48. He lived to see Israel. Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you for that. Let’s all meet in Israel.
Bren gun came from a factory- How do you pronounce that, Peter, Brno? Thank you, Peter. You know, I love this class. Anyway, I think we better stop there. So bye-bye everyone. And it is now, I’ve lost all sense of time. It’s Thursday, so for tomorrow, I wish you Shabbat Shalom, and everybody keep safe. And we’ve got lots of good lectures coming up this weekend. And next Monday after Williams lecture, we have an extraordinary lecture. Some of you’ll remember that when William was lecturing he mentioned Mauthausen, and the lady on the chat said that she was born there, Eva Clark. I managed to track her down, and she’s giving a presentation on Monday night. You’ll get the programme. But I just think that’s extraordinary. What an incredible group we have. Everyone take care. God bless everyone.