Czech jewish heritage tours

Terezin – the former Concentration Camp

Terezin is a former fortress, which was built at the end of 18th century, when the Czech Kingdom was a part of the Habsburg monarchy. In November 1941 the Nazis started to move thousands of Jews to this small town, first from occupied Bohemia and Moravia, but later from Austria, Germany, Holland, and other European countries. Terezin was a transit camp. It is called a stop on the way to death in Auschwitz. During the tour we will visit the Ghetto Museum, with an exhibition about the role of Terezin in the final solution of the Jewish question, the hidden synagogue, the cemetery, the former Magdeburg Barracks with the art collection and the Small Fortress.

The tour of Terezin takes about 6 hours.

Notes: It is possible to combine the visit of Terezin with other places like Ustek, where there is a beautiful synagogue, or with Nelahozeves, where there stands a Renaissance castle, or with Melnik, where there is a castle as well and a beautiful, scenic view of the confluence of Vltava River and Elbe River, or with a memorial at Lidice, a village, which was totally liquidated by the Nazis. If you want to combine Terezin with Ustek, Nelahozeves, Melnik, or Lidice, please let me know, I will write you the details. The Terezin tour plus any of these other towns takes about 8 hours.

Kolin's medieval Jewish quarter and Kutna Hora (UNESCO town)

It is a combination of non-Jewish (Kutna Hora) and Jewish (Kolin) sights. First we will drive from Prague to Kolin, which is a town from 13th century. Kolin was one of the largest and most important Jewish communities in Bohemia and was home to many prominent Talmudic scholars. We will visit the part of the medieval ghetto that survived till today. Basically that are just three streets, but you can see there the original Jewish houses and you can visit there one of the most beautiful synagogues in our country, which was built in the late Renaissance and early Baroque style. There are two Jewish cemeteries there, the old one dates back to the 15th century.

Then we will drive for approximately 15 minutes to Kutna Hora.

Kutna Hora is an old mining town founded in the 13th century. There were rich silver deposits there. Kutna Hora is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. There is a beautiful Gothic St. Barbara's Cathedral, the 15th- century Stone House, a Baroque Jesuit College, and other beautiful monuments. At the suburb of Kutna Hora in Sedlec is another magnificent cathedral and a unique ossuary, where bones form crosses, a coat of arms and even a chandelier.

The tour of Kutna Hora and Kolin takes about 7 hours (1 hour drive there + 5 hours in Kolin and Kutna Hora + 1 hour drive back to Prague).

The former Jewish ghettos of Boskovice and Velke Mezirici

We will drive from Prague to Moravia and visit two small towns. Today there are no Jews there, but these were some of the oldest Jewish settlements in our country. In Velke Mezirici, we will visit the beautiful buildings that formerly housed the synagogues. One is used as an exhibition hall and the other, surprisingly, as a department store. We will then continue to Boskovice, a place that used to be the center of Talmudic study. During the Communist regime the former ghetto of Boskovice was rather neglected, but just a few years ago the former Jewish houses were nicely fixed. There we will visit a synagogue and an old cemetery and you will likely want to photograph the gate, which in the past divided the Christian and the Jewish part of Boskovice.

The tour of Boskovice and Velke Mezirici takes about 9 hours (1.5 hours drive there + 4.5 hours in there + 3 hour drive back to Prague).

Jewish Route in the Plzen (Pilsen) Region

We will drive west from Prague and visit the third largest synagogue in the world, which is located on one of the main streets in Plzen (Pilsen). After the visit to the Great Synagogue we will walk to the Old Synagogue in Pilsen and then the Garden of Memory – the Holocaust memorial.

Then we have two possibilities, the first being that we can go on a tour of the world famous brewery in Pilsen and learn about how the Pilsner Urquell beer is produced. Pilsen is the heart of the beer country. After that we will drive back to Prague.

The second option is that from Pilsen we can drive to visit the synagogue in the small Bohemian town of Radnice, where Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the founder of American Reform Judaism studied the Talmud.

The tour takes about 5-6 hours (1 hour drive there + 3-4 hours there + 1 hour drive back).

Notes: It is possible to combine the visit to Pilsen with a visit to the Karlstejn or Krivoklat castles or with the visit of the glass factories at Nizbor or Nenacovice. Then tour would take about 9 hours. If you are interested in a combined visit to Pilsen and the Karlstejn or Krivoklat castles as well, please, let me know.

Trebic and Telc – towns with UNESCO monuments

This is a combination of non-Jewish (Telc) and Jewish (Trebic) sights. First we will drive to Trebic. The Jewish Quarter of Trebic, placed on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List is a unique document of Jewish culture in Moravia and the only Jewish monument outside Israel specifically placed on the UNESCO List. Today, there are no longer Jews living in Trebic. The community was absolutely destroyed during Nazi occupation. There survived many houses from the former ghetto for example the Jewish town hall, the rabbi's house, the poorhouse, the hospital and also two buildings of former synagogues; one of them is ornately decorated with the Hebrew writings from Psalms, Talmud, etc. There is an old Jewish cemetery on the hill at the suburb of Trebic. On the UNESCO List is not only the former ghetto, but the Christian St. Procopius' Basilica as well.

We will then continue to Telc. Telc is another great town in our country. It is a UNESCO site as well. The town was built similar to Venice; there is water all around the town. The history of Telc is connected with one very wealthy and important Czech aristocratic family, namely the Lords of Hradec, specifically Zacharias of Hradec, the governor of Moravia, who rebuilt the castle in the Renaissance style.

The tour of Trebic and Telc takes about 9 hours (2 hours drive there + 5 hours there+ 2 hours drive back).

Mikulov and Trebic – the former seat of the Moravian chief rabbinate and the town with UNESCO monuments

First we will drive to Trebic. The Jewish Quarter of Trebic, placed on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List is a unique document of Jewish culture in Moravia and the only Jewish monument outside Israel specifically placed on the UNESCO List. Today, there are no longer Jews living in Trebic. The community was absolutely destroyed during Nazi occupation. There survived many houses from the former ghetto for example the Jewish town hall, the rabbi's house, the poorhouse, the hospital and also two buildings of former synagogues; one of them is ornately decorated with the Hebrew writings from Psalms, Talmud, etc. There is an old Jewish cemetery on the hill at the suburb of Trebic. On the UNESCO List is not only the former ghetto, but the Christian St. Procopius' Basilica as well.

Then we will continue to Mikulov, a little town bordering Austria. Mikulov and its surroundings are traditional centers of wine production. The geographical position, the climate and the varied soil of the Mikulov wine region with the limestone slopes of the Palava hills affect the unique character of the local wine. This was discovered by Ancient Romans, who considered the Palava region ideal for wine production. The part of Mikulov adjacent to the castle hill was inhabited since the mid-15th century by Jewish citizens, and developed into a large Jewish ghetto located in what are now the Husova, Alfonse Muchy and Brnenska streets. There is a famous Jewish cemetery in its vicinity as well.

The tour of Trebic and Mikulov takes about 9 hours (2 hours drive there + 4.5 hours there + 2.5 hours drive back).