Prague Part II

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Prague used to have the third-highest Jewish population in Europe, concentrated in the district called Josefov since the city was founded. Famous Jewish people from the Czech Republic include Franz Kafka and Sigmund Freud.

The Zidovské Museum v Praze (Prague Jewish Museum) was established in the beginning of the 20th century. During WWII, the Nazis decided to preserve it to make a "museum of an extinct race". It's a sickening thought, but it does mean that the Jewish Museum was left almost completely intact, so it could re-open after the war even though the vast majority of Prague's Jewish citizens had been wiped out.

Zidovské Museum v Praze has six sites that you can access under one ticket: four synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Ceremonial Hall, all within a few blocks of each other in Josefov. I was not allowed to take pictures in any of the sites, but they were incredible and moving.



Pinkasova synagoga (Pinkas synagogue) has been transformed into a memorial for Czech Jews killed in the Holocaust. Every wall on the ground floor is covered with names; upstairs is an exhibit of drawings and paintings by Czech Jewish children while they were living in a concentration camp called Terezín, shortly before being deported to Auschwitz to be killed. While at Terezín, people worked to keep children's spirits up by setting up a secret school enviornment, and 4,500 drawings were buried in a suitcase by one of the teachers before they were deported.

Obviously many of the pictures were sad, but quite a few of them were cheery and optimistic, which is worse in some ways, given that of 8,000+ children at Terezín, 242 of them were alive in 1945.

I've been to Holocaust memorials before. I've been to Auschwitz, which is an experience I could never describe in words. Seeing the names and dates was moving and infuriating, but the practical impact the Holocaust has had on Prague's Jewish community gets me just as much.

Nowadays, the Jewish community has around 1500 people. Once it was the third-largest Jewish population in Europe, and now it's smaller than my high school.

Every Christian cathedral I've visited in Europe has been fully-functioning; with visiting hours set only when there are no services going on. They were built to be religious buildings, and they still are.

Of five synagogues in Josefov, only one is still in use today. The rest are museums.

The remaining synagogues contain exhibits on Jewish daily life, customs, holidays, ceremonies and pre and post WWII history. It was fascinating to read about; the Spanish Synagogue is especially beautiful, outside and in.



I bought a book on Jewish legends in Prague, which includes the famous story of the Golem: a creature made out of clay by a devout and powerful man named Rabbi Loew and animated to protect the Jewish community in the 16th century. Legend has it that even Rabbi Loew started to lose control over the Golem, so after the threats stopped, he undid the magic and locked it in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue (the oldest synagogue, the one that is still functioning). To this day, no one is allowed to go up there. There is another story that, centuries later, a Nazi soldier broke into the upper room and was never seen again.

Overall, a fascinating museum. It takes up about a half a day, but I'm really glad I went.

The other half-day multi-building sight in Prague is, of course, the castle. Across the river from Staré Měso and Josefov, and at the top of a hill in the Hradčany district, Pražský hrad is a cluster of old buildings including the palace, St Vitus's cathedral, St George's Basilica and a cool-but-very-touristy street called the Golden Lane.



After crossing the bridge, to get to the castle you climb the hill through Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter), where aristocrats used to live. On the way I stopped in Chrám svatého Mikuláše (St Nicholas's Church) a Jesuit church from the 18th century.



It is intensely beautiful.





This is called "The Apotheosis of St Nicholas". It was really cool, with the actual architecture almost blending in with the 3D-like style of the painting, almost like you were under an open sky with all of this rising above you.





You can't see the organ very well in this picture - I couldn't get a good shot of it anywhere, unfortunately - but apparently Mozart played here in 1787.



Farther up the hill, closer to the castle looking down over Malá Strana and the river.





The entrance to the castle grounds, with the spires of the cathedral in the background.





Part of the front of St Vitus's Cathedral. The attention to detail in the carvings is incredible.



But it's the stained-glass windows that stand out the most.



These are newer than the rest of the cathedral, but amazing to look at. I love the colors.





My last stop on the castle grounds was Zlatá Ulička - the Golden lane. Castle archers lived here back in the day, then goldsmiths and other palace staff (giving the street its name). It became a slum in the early 20th century, and is now a replicated medieval site with exhibits and shops selling massively overpriced trinkets.



Some of the interiors were connected by little, winding staircases, and it was really fun to explore.



An example of an exhibit...if I remember right, this was an alchemist's chamber.

So that's Prague. Gorgeous city, if a bit on-the-beaten-track. On the expensive side, but the student prices are fantastic. Highly recommended.

And, as promised, a set of increasingly-unfortunate airport stories.

After leaving Prague, I spent one night in London before flying to Boston via Heathrow airport the next day.

Unfortunate thing #1. Going through security at Heathrow, my bag was pulled from the scanner and set on a table of bags to be searched. About a half an hour later, someone finally got around to searching it. Travel guides: fine. Pens: fine. Wallet, phone...etc: all fine.

Two birthdays ago I received a toy sonic screwdriver, a famous prop on the BBC show Doctor Who, which I am obsessed with. As big as Doctor Who has become in the US, it is hugely, cult-ly, massively followed in the UK.

So the fact that the security guy at Heathrow didn't know what a sonic screwdriver was came as a surprise to me. First he studied it. Then he ignored me when I told him what it was. Then he ran a wand-like thing over it. Then he put it into a neon-orange plastic bin and sent it BACK THROUGH THE SCANNER.

If I hadn't been seriously humiliated by that point (Doctor Who is a sci fi show aimed at kids), I would have judged this man harshly. Silently, but harshly. As it was, I turned beet red and suppressed hysterical giggles until he told me I was allowed to re-pack all my stuff.

Unfortunate thing #2 At the entrance to the gate, they were doing "random searches." I was selected.

"I'm beginning to think I did something wrong," I said to the woman patting me down. She ignored me.

While they emptied my backpack again , I asked the security guy if I could eat my granola bar, showing him that my hands were literally shaking from lack of blood sugar (2p.m. and I hadn't eaten since around 7 that morning). He ignored me. I ate my granola bar. He didn't say anything. I boarded the plane fuming.

Unfortunate thing #3 I don't know if other travelers agree, but I find that the experience at immigration depends a lot on who you get, not necessarily where you are going. Flying into JFK this summer - where they have more reason than anyone for over-zealous security - I got the nicest guy in the world. Heathrow and Logan airport experiences have been mixed.

I think the guy I got had missed his lunch break. Or something. He asked me a bunch of questions, many of which were written on the customs form I had just handed him, then glared at me as if I was lying - it took all my willpower to keep my face neutral - read through the list of things I had brought back as Christmas presents (you have to record them and approximate value in dollars), scribbled something in red sharpie (never a good sign) and sent me on my way.

They searched my suitcase as customs. I actually wanted to cry.

While I was helping them unpack, a woman came up to me with my customs form and said, "I understand you have a _____ _____ ________ and a _____ _____ (object names omitted because the people receiving them read this blog), could you please show them to me?"

The _____ _____ ________ is smaller than my thumb. I showed it to the woman; she frowned and said, "That's it?" It took a TON of willpower to calmly and neutrally say, "Yes."

Unfortunate things that didn't happen: Confiscated stuff. Missed flights. Missed bus. Canceled anything. Being turned away at immigration. So I should count myself lucky, I know. It was worth the trip to Prague anyway, in the end.

And it makes for a funny story.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

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