1.Pinkas
Synagogue
Constructed in 1479 by Rabbi Pinkas, the
Pinkas Synagogue was turned into a memorial to the 77,297 Czech Jews who died
in Nazi camps.
The walls are filled with their handwritten names and other information.
The names are organized by communities, with family names in red, individual
first names in black, and the individual’s birthdate and death date (if known).
An audio recording reads each of the names , It gives you the chills when you
realize how many Jews there were killed just from this area. On the east wall
is a list of concentration camps. The upper floor consists of an exhibition of
children’s art work , done by children held at the nearby Theresienstadt
(Terezín) concentration camp, where Prague’s Jews were kept prior to being
transported to the death camps. For me, this was the most emotional part
of the museum. These art works look like those you would find displayed
in any elementary school, until you read the wall plaques and realize the
unthinkable circumstances it was created in. Each art piece has a small plaque
accompanying it, giving the name of the young artist, and their birthdate and
death date. According to the guide, of the 8,000 children that were
sent to Terezin, only 240 lived to see liberation.
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| Entrance to the Pinkas Synagogue |
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| The memorial walls filled with names. |
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Child’s painting of the Terezin camp courtyard.
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A child’s drawing depicts life in the Nazi controlled
Terezin Camp.
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