The Czech Holocaust Memorial Scrolls of Beth Am

On November 2, 2014, Congregation Old York Road Temple-Beth Am in Abington, Pennsylvania, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the arrival at the Westminster Synagogue in London of 1564 Czech Torah Scrolls rescued from the ashes of the Holocaust. We presented a program, “We Remember,” to rededicate our three Czech Memorial Holocaust Scrolls and to honor the martyred Jews from their towns of origin, Louny, Svetlá nad Sázavou and Tábor.  More than 300 people attended.

The heartwarming event inspired us to do much more. We are keenly aware of how privileged we are that these Scrolls finally came to rest in our Holy Arks. And we are also aware of our responsibility and obligation to give each scroll a meaningful role in the spiritual and educational life of the congregation and to maintain our connection to their towns and the memory of their devastated Jewish communities. For the three congregants, Deena Schuman (Tábor), Dr. Barry Stein (Louny) and Jane Hurwitz, (Svetlá nad Sázavou) whose assignment was to document the histories of each town and their Torahs, their work has become an ongoing commitment.  

From Bohemia and Moravia to Abington, Pennsylvania

When the doors of Beth Am’s Aron Kodesh open, we all stand with love, awe and respect before all of our magnificent Torah scrolls, but most of us are unaware of the three miracles of survival among them.

According to the 1930 census, there were more than 117,000 Jews in Bohemia and Moravia, the two largest sections of what today is the Czech Republic. In March of 1939, when the area was annexed into the Third Reich, the Nazi’s “final solution” of the Jews was implemented.  Jews of the entire region were gradually pushed out of public and economic life, their businesses were confiscated and their rights were denied. Beginning in November of 1941, the deportation of Czech Jews to the Terezín concentration camp and then to extermination camps began. It is estimated that 80,000 of these Jews, nearly seven out of ten, perished in the Holocaust.

Fortunately, a devout band of Czech Jews worked to save ceremonial artifacts from 153 devastated Jewish communities and placed them in the Central Jewish Museum in Prague with the hope that one day they would return to their homes. Tragically, this wasn’t to be.

After the Nazi occupation, these sacred objects fell into the hands of the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia. Then, in 1963, through a process of negotiations with Czech authorities and the financial support of England’s Jewish community, a London art dealer was able to purchase 1,564 Torah scrolls. On February 7, 1964, they were transported to the Westminster Synagogue in London and from there sent to synagogues across the world.

These Czech scrolls are never offered for sale, they are only given on “permanent loan.” Incredibly, Beth Am has three of them. Through the efforts of Rabbi Waintrup z”l, we “adopted” one from the town of Tabor and another from the town of Louny. In April of 2013, a small group of “Beth Amniks” journeyed to Central Europe and, after a heart-wrenching visit to Terezín, traveled to Louny, where Rabbi Leib conducted a moving ceremony in the cemetery Prayer Hall in honor of our Torahs.

Our third scroll is affectionately known as “The Little Torah of Svetlá.” It was a gift from the Temple Beth Torah Confirmation Class of 1982 to Rabbi Frank and their synagogue, and it came to us when our two synagogues became one in 2004. It is dressed in a simple blue velvet cover with a Tree of Life embroidered in gold, and is now featured in the unique commissioned mural in our lobby.

 “L’dor v’dor, from generation to generation,” is a dictum that permeates all aspects of Jewish life.  Each Torah scroll is made with the understanding that a Torah written today will be passed down to future generations, just as the Torahs we use today were passed down to this generation.