When we said we were going to the Czech Republic, people assumed we were going to Prague (we were) and would be seeing the Jewish area there (which we did). People asked if we would be going to Terezin (which we also did). No one asked about Trebic.

Trebic (pronounced TREH-beech), a town of 40,000 people in Moravia, is about 2&1/2 hours from Prague. It has the largest preserved Jewish quarter in Europe….but no Jews.  Jews settled in Trebic as early as the 15th century but they were not separated into a ghetto until the early 1700s.

There were 1500 Jews that lived there before the war (although many were not practicing Jews), all deported to Terezin. Only 10 survived. Of the two synagogues, the oldest (built in the 16th century) is now a Hussite Christian Church. The other (built in the 18th century) is part of a Unesco Heritage Site museum that also includes a replica of a Jewish home and store. According to our guide, the synagogue is used for concerts and for weddings, just not Jewish weddings.

The tour – including the newer synagogue and replicas of a home and store – was in Czech (we were given an English translation to follow) but luckily the tour guide spoke English.

The tour guide pointed out the prayers that cover the walls of the synagogue. We could not stay silent. We explained that the prayer by the ark was what we chant when we take out the torah – we even chanted it for her. Above the ark were the words “dah lifnay me atah omed” (know before whom you stand) – we translated the words and explained that the same phrase was written above the ark of our synagogue at home. The guide repeated everything (in Czech, of course) to the other people on the tour.

The homes in the Jewish quarter are lived in. Lou asked whether this was now a desirable neighborhood. The guide said no. The land that had been provided for the Jews was an area that no one else wanted – bounded by hills on one side and the river on two sides, and prone to flooding. Even today, although there has not been a flood in many years, the area is damp. Only poor people live here.

It was very strange to hear our people talked about as an interesting bit of history, the way we talk about the Pilgrims or Acadians. I hope that our presence on the tour changed this – that the guide realized she was talking about a living group of people. I fantasize that, in the future, she will tell other tour groups about the two Jews on one of her tours.

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Sarita Eisenberg

Sarita is a co-VP for Programming and a co-chair for Shomrei's Social Action Committee. She is also co-editor of ShomreiWeek (Shomrei's weekly newsletter) and the Kol Emunah Blog. She holds a Ph.D. in Language Science and until recently was a professor in the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders at Montclair State University. She lives in Montclair with her husband Lou Hammerman.

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