Ostrava and its Jews: ’Now No-One Sings You Lullabies’

Description

The story of Ostrava and its Jews encapsulates in a small space (85 square miles) and a short time (ca. 150 years) a miniaturized history of Central Europe. It covers industrialization and massive economic growth, immigration and emigration, intolerance and tolerance, multi-culturalism and nationalism, high culture and social welfare, the Holocaust, communism and the diaspora. The book draws on family histories and eye-witness accounts, many unpublished. In 2005 members of Kingston Synagogue became interested in the origins of a Sefer Torah from Ostrava, housed there many years earlier. This research project, led initially by David Lawson, grew to include the Czech historian Hana Sustkova and Czech genealogist Libuse Salomonovicova. As their research progressed, a lively online community developed, reestablishing contacts between families from Sweden to Australia, and South America to Canada. In effect, resurrecting Jewish Ostrava in virtual and actual reality. The overarching theme is how, in a short time, immigrants-in this case Jews-transformed a small conservative market town into a vibrant, tolerant, caring, economic, and cultural powerhouse; how it was destroyed almost overnight by bigotry and intolerance; and to ask how far the Ostrava story can provide lessons or guidance on 21st century political issues. Cover......Page 1 Front Matter......Page 2 Title Page......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Preface......Page 11 Nomenclature and Caveat......Page 18 Introduction......Page 22 History of Ostrava......Page 30 Setting the Scene......Page 32 Market Town......Page 43 Into Modern Times......Page 48 Jewish Life......Page 76 The Association, the Ceremony and the Great Broiges......Page 78 Synagogues, Cossacks and a Holiday Home......Page 94 Trades, Professions and Politics......Page 131 The Arts......Page 176 Ostrava At War......Page 236 War and the Holocaust......Page 240 Soldiers......Page 273 Stranger Than Fiction......Page 298 Ostrava Post-War......Page 362 Ostrava Post-War......Page 364 Appendices......Page 387 Bibliography......Page 400 Index......Page 402