Old Jewish cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic: history, famous burial places, legends and photos

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:46

In the Czech Republic there is a place that attracts all the mystics of Europe - this is the Old Jewish Cemetery. In the heart of the capital is the Jewish Quarter, which only in 1850 became part of Prague. Within a limited ghetto, in one place, the dead were buried for several centuries. Historians have calculated that there are about 200,000 graves and 12,000 tombstones on the churchyard.

Official history

Until 1478, the Jewish cemetery was located in the Nove Mesto district, it was demolished at the request of the townspeople under King Vladislav II. In what year the churchyard famous today was founded is unknown. The oldest tombstone found in the cemetery dates back to 1439, and under it rests the Prague rabbi, the poet Avigdor Kara.

The old Jewish cemetery makes a frightening impression on an unprepared person with a heap of tombstones on a small plot of land. Strange at first glance, the attitude to the graves of ancestors has its own explanation. Jews of Praguefor a long time they did not have the right to bury the dead outside the ghetto, so for more than three centuries, thousands of the dead found the last shelter on one piece of land.

Modest in size, the Old Jewish Cemetery is much larger than its visible part. According to religious canons, it is impossible to destroy graves and tombstones, so the burial has a multi-layered structure. A fresh coffin was installed on top of the previous one, only lightly sprinkled with earth, so as not to traumatize the psyche too much and to keep up appearances. When burying their loved ones, the Jews made sure that the tombstones remained visible by installing new slabs next to the old ones.

History in guesswork

For several centuries, the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague has turned into a necropolis, where, according to inaccurate estimates, more than 200 thousand people are buried - this is a very approximate figure, many believe that there are many times more of them. Some experts believe that the churchyard has 12 layers. The exact number of visible tombstones is known - 12 thousand. The monuments are of artistic and historical value of various ages - people were buried here from 1439 to 1787, after which a ban was imposed on burials inside settlements.

It is believed that the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague (Czech Republic) arose between the 13th and 14th centuries, when the inhabitants of the ghetto reburied their ancestors, collecting the remains from all the city's Semitic graveyards. The stones of the oldest cemetery, according to tradition, were preserved - they were installed in the cemetery fence. In connection withthe non-trivial arrangement of tombstones, since then a legend has been circulating in Prague that these monuments belong to suicides and people who cursed their parents.

There are and actively discussed legends that the Old Jewish Cemetery in the Czech Republic appeared long before the founding of the city, and it was still in the reign of Borzhivoi. Supporters of the idea refer to the fact that three-digit dates are carved on some tombstones, for example, 941, 606 and others, no less ancient. It is said that the graveyard contains the ashes of a Jewish woman who died a hundred years before the founding of Prague. But knowledgeable people claim that the records simply lack one digit, which was done intentionally. The inhabitants of the ghetto deliberately carved such ancient dates on the stones so that the crusaders would not ravage the graves.

What did the poet write about?

Jews often call cemeteries gardens. No one knows when the first resident who died in the ghetto was buried, and for sure there is no information about this. Historians rely on factual evidence. Judging by them, the oldest grave belongs to Avigdor Kar, who was buried in April 1439. He was a rabbi and a poet. He wrote lines about the devastation and robbery in the ghetto, which describes the desecration of the old Jewish cemetery. History is silent about which churchyard is referred to in the psalm written by Kar in 1389.

Tombstones and burial grounds are an encyclopedia of symbolism, covering several eras - from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Carved reliefs are an illustration of the hidden knowledge of the Torah, the Talmud and others.secret books. During the reign of King Rudolph II, the patron of arts and sciences, the ghetto flourished, giving the country scientists, architects, patrons. These people have monuments in the Garden of Sorrows.

Stories on stones

Each stone of the necropolis silently tells stories about long-gone people, how their relatives loved them, what good they did for the community. Above the ashes of David Hans, the author of the "General History", an expert in mathematics, astrology, the Star of David shines and the symbol of Prague - the goose flaunts. This is a sign of memory to the scientist from his people and city.

The Old Jewish Cemetery pays tribute to the head of the local community, Mordechai Meisel, who died in 1601. He made a huge contribution to the prosperity of the ghetto, built a synagogue, which still bears his name. According to legend, he received his we alth thanks to some treasure that was presented to him by goblins.

According to legend, the Queen of Poland is buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery. Her tombstone is easy to recognize, it is carved from marble, decorated with monograms, heraldic shields. The name engraved on the stone testifies that under it lies Anna Handel, the wife of the first nobleman of Jewish origin. They say that the name was changed on purpose to protect the eternal rest of the exile from encroachment. Once her husband expelled her from Poland. Imbued with the fate of the wanderer, the Jews gave her shelter in the ghetto, and by the end of her life she converted to Judaism.

There are monuments to less eminent citizens who left a good name about themselves. On one of the gravestonesthe name of David Koref, who once held a butcher's shop, is engraved. He is known for feeding Prague's orphans without any religious distinction. On major holidays, David distributed to the poor as much meat as his children weighed.

Not far from him rests the mother of the Prague beggars - Pani Handel. She made friends with scientists and did not disdain to sit at the same table with the poor, inviting them to her house to share lunch, and then gave them clothes, linen, shoes, took care of orphans and shelters.

Rabbi Leo

Legends about the Old Jewish Cemetery are inexhaustible. The most famous person buried in this garden is Rabbi Lev ben Bezalel (1512-1609). The creator of the Golem was not a mythical person, but a living person who lived in the ghetto. Strictly documented evidence has been left about his life, and the wisdom of this husband, according to his contemporaries, had no boundaries. Whether or not the clay giant was created is unknown, although he became one of the symbols of Prague, and many other legends are associated with the name of Rabbi Lev.

One of them tells about the visionary gift of the sage. During the life of ben Bezalel, an epidemic of plague occurred in Prague, and one of its features was that a terrible death took the lives of only Jewish children. Prayers and tears did not save. One day the rabbi had a dream in which the prophet Elijah led him to the Old Jewish Cemetery. The priest saw small children emerging from the graves and frolicking in the garden.

Waking up, the rabbi told his disciple to go to the cemetery at sunset and,after waiting for the children, tear off the shroud from one of them and bring it. The apprentice completed the task by returning with the loot. Then he was again sent to the churchyard to see how events would develop. An hour after midnight, a flock of children went to their graves - all but one, from which the shroud was torn off. The child could not go back and therefore turned to the student with a request to return the robe to him, to which he was promised that if he went to Rabbi Lev and told him everything he asked him about, the shroud would immediately return to the owner.

The little ghost said that the plague is a curse, and two sinners who kill their newly born children are to blame. The kid called their names and, having received a shroud, went to the resting place. In the morning, Leo ben Bezalel gathered a council and called these women and their husbands to account. According to the verdict, the criminals were handed over to the secular authorities, where they were punished in full. Since then, child deaths have stopped, the epidemic has subsided.

One of the most prominent monuments stands over the grave of the sage and scientist, it is not difficult to find it, it is strewn with pebbles, a sign is installed nearby.

Ghetto sanitation

With the onset of the 18th century, tombstones began to be decorated with ornaments, symbols that indicated the origin, social status, profession of the deceased, and also the names and surnames of the buried appeared. During the reign of Francis II, the first attempts were made to demolish the Old Jewish Cemetery, but then it was not possible, thanks to the intercession of Archbishop Václav Chłumčany.

The reduction of the cemetery did happen, it happened at the end of the 19th century. Part of the territory was transferred to the city, and now streets lie on the site of the mournful garden, and part of the churchyard was given over to the Museum of Decorative Arts. As part of the ongoing work, a wall was built around the Old Jewish Cemetery. Tombstones from the liquidated territories are now part of the cemetery fence, the remains of the dead were reburied near the Klaus Synagogue.

Modernity

The old Jewish cemetery, although not active, attracts a huge flow of tourists. Since 1975, unhurried restoration work has been carried out on the territory of the necropolis. Near the main entrance there is a ceremonial hall built in 1906. It houses an exposition of children's drawings by former prisoners of the Terezin concentration camp.

One of the attractions of the Old Jewish Cemetery and the symbol of Prague is the Old New Synagogue - the oldest functioning Jewish temple. The story about it begins with the legend that the building was transferred to the Czech Republic on their wings by angels from Jerusalem itself. Having placed the prayer house on the ancient foundation of a long-destroyed cult Jewish temple, they strictly ordered that nothing be repaired or changed in the synagogue.

Old-timers say that sometimes repairs were carried out - walls were painted, several tiles were replaced, but the workers who performed these works died very quickly. And they also say thatin the attic of this synagogue, Rabbi Leo imprisoned the Golem, and he is still there, waiting for someone who can revive him.

Everyone can enter the territory and take a photo of the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague. The entrance is open for tourists from nine in the morning until half past five in the evening, the day off is Saturday. The necropolis is closed to the public on Jewish holidays. The entrance fee is 330 kroons (955 rubles). The cemetery is located in the Josefov district, Parizska street, 934/2.

Russian legend

To the grave of Yehuda ben Bezalel, the great mystic and interpreter of ancient treatises, many pilgrims come today. Some of them have nothing to do with Judaism, but they believe in the power of the sage, count on his help in difficult circumstances. According to tradition, every person who asks for a miracle leaves a pebble on the Maharal's grave, and many of them have accumulated over the centuries. Sometimes pilgrims write notes and, folded tightly, put them into the cracks of the stone, hoping that in this way the request will be more understandable.

Often, very often, Rabbi Leo grants wishes, but it should be remembered that the fulfillment will occur according to the voiced or written request, without taking into account heart aspirations and hidden thoughts - this is wisdom, sometimes similar to cruelty. Every suppliant must remember that in order to receive something, one must give, or a lot will be taken away in one day.

In the environment of the Russian diaspora, there is a legend about paying for desires. During the heyday of socialism, when the Czech Republic was under the influence of the USSR,a magazine where a girl who came by distribution from the Russian outback worked. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the magazine was closed, she had to return to her homeland, which she really did not want to do.

Knowing the legend of the sage who grants wishes, she went to the Old City and made one desperate dream on the grave of ben Bezalel - to stay in Prague at any cost. The wish came true almost immediately: she was not sent to the Union, but at the age of 27 she died of transient cancer.

A sad story confirmed that sometimes you have to pay an incredibly high price for the fulfillment of your desires by otherworldly forces. For this and many other reasons, members of the Russian diaspora bypass the Old Jewish Cemetery, avoiding temptations and achieving success on their own.