Židovské Muzeum

Our path took us from the Spanish Synagogue to Pinkas Synagogue, and out onto the street to the Josefov Old Jewish Quarter and Museum. We had followed the map handed to us by the ticket lady up to this point, and figured we might as well continue on by heading into this museum.
It’s laid out pretty much the same as the other locations within the Josefov realm. There are displays — some with placards in English — lining the walls, giving a glimpse into how Czech Jews lived, worked and celebrated before the Nazis came in and turned their worlds upside-​down.
The details are beautifully arranged, and even if you can’t read Czech, you get a sense of what they’re trying to impart by the way the items are displayed, or by the pieces around them.
This museum felt a bit smaller than the synagogues, though I’m not entirely sure it was. Maybe it was just that crowded when we went in. The street outside certainly was — there were people blocking the door to this museum and the one across the street, so it might just be that I was feeling the crush at that point.
Despite that, I did enjoy viewing the different pieces on display. We’d seen some of them — or items that were similar — along the way in the synagogues, but that didn’t diminish the power of the displays.
Definitely worth the time and the visit, if only for the impact of the history.

I would concur with David J: Hitler planned on staging his museum for the extinction of the Jews here, thereby amassing the most articles and antiques that displayed various aspects of Jewish life in the ghetto.
The sick spin from the Germans, best described by Wladyslaw Szpilman…
«There was to be a separate Jewish quarter of the city where only Jews lived, where they would enjoy total freedom, where they could continue to practice their racial customs and culture. Purely for hygienic reasons, this quarter was to be surrounded by a wall so that typhus and other Jewish diseases could not spread to other parts of the city. This humanitarian report was illustrated by a small map showing the precise borders of the ghetto.»
I found David J’s review to be excellent in every way. Instead, I concentrate on the insult to one’s humanity and the heart-​rending emotions difficult to keep in check, walking through the museum in which the names are spoken aloud as one spies them listed on a lit wall… life of children in Terezin whose teachers tried hard to shield them from the evil imminent fate, by teaching and holding regular school… their art work, their belongings… here one day, suddenly disappeared the next.
An entire half day could easily be devoted to poring through the various buildings, including the unforgettable truly cramped, humble space for the cemetery, in which bodies are stacked, one on top of the other.
The Khmer genocide killing fields, the ’37 Rape of Nanking, the Rwandan Tutsi genocide, Siege of Sarajevo, apartheid, DCR’s outrages, the Holocaust… an assault to one is an assault to all of humanity.

Este museo fue fundado con la idea de conservar objetos de valor de las sinagogas después de la destrucción del barrio judío a comienzos del siglo XX. Después de la ocupación nazi, este museo fue cerrado al público y transformado en 1942 en el Museo Central Judío, donde eran llevadas todas las piezas de valor que los nazis traían de Bohemia y Moravia. Al finalizar la segunda guerra mundial, el museo pasó a la Federación de Comunidades Judias y luego en 1950 al Estado, pasándose a llamar, Museo Estatal Judío. Con la caída del regimen comunista en 1989, el museo volvió a manos de la Federación.
Este museo cuenta con la mayor colección de arte judío del mundo, con más de 40.000 piezas y 100.000 libros y todos ellos provienen de Bohemia y Moravia.
Dentro del recinto tienes acceso al Viejo Cementerio Judío que data de comienzos del siglo XV. No han enterrado a nadie allí desde 1787. Se cree que hay enterradas unas 12.000 personas, pero debido a las constantes ampliaciones hacia arriba, capa a capa de tierra sobre las tumbas más antiguas, se cree que este cementerio alberga a mucha más gente.
Aquí se encuentra enterrado el rabino Low, creador del legendario Golem. Su tumba destaca entre las demás por la gran cantidad de piedras y papeles con deseos escritos por los visitantes.

No trip to Prague would be complete without a visit to the Josefov, or Old Jewish Quarter. Arguably Europe’s most complete example of a Jewish ghetto, this tiny area contains many old buildings, including synagogues, a cemetery and houses, most of which are now part of a unified museum.
History
The origins of the Jewish quarter go back to early mediaeval times, possibly as early as the 10^th century: the earliest pogrom is certainly recorded there around 1096. In the 13^th century a walled ghetto was established, and relatively enlightened local administrators granted it a degree of self-​government in 1292.
This didn’t stop regular pogroms, however, although the ghetto also became prosperous. In the latter half of the 18^th century, formal toleration of the Jews enabled them to live outside the ghetto, and it gradually declined. Much was rebuilt during the 19^th and early 20^th century, so the claustrophobic streets which once housed nearly 20,000 people no longer exist.
However, a selection of buildings did survive, and a Jewish Museum was established here in 1906 to save the remaining buildings and artefacts. Miraculously, it survived the Nazi occupation of Prague during World War II; although closed to the public in 1939, the Nazis established their own ‘Central Jewish Museum’ in 1942, to which artefacts from other, liquidated Jewish quarters were shipped, supposedly to form a museum to what they intended to be an extinct race. It is a supreme irony, then, that the museum is now a celebration of Jewish culture and the history of the ghetto.
The museum
The museum comprises: the Maisel Synagogue, Spanish Synagogue, Pinkas Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Klausen Synagogue and the Ceremonial Hall, together with an education centre, gallery, library and coffee shop. All the buildings are located within a five minute walk of each other in the Josefov district.
The exhibitions in the various buildings cover the life and development of the ghettos, a wide range of artefacts from Jewish religion and daily life, and — most heart rending of all — in the Pinkas Synagogue, the walls are inscribed with the names of the 80,000 Czech victims of the holocaust.
There is also an equally harrowing, yet strangely touching, exhibition of drawings made by dozens of children who were interned the Terezín transit camp from 1941 to 1945. This was the result of a deliberate policy by the inmates to make life for the children as ‘normal’ as possible, and included school lessons as well as recreational activities such as drawing.
The images, by children as young as 5, portray life within the camps, such as Nazi guards, other inmates and more usual subjects such as family members, the changing seasons and animals. Most of the children died subsequently in the Concentration camps. It’s the sort of place that everyone should visit at least once.
Practicalities
You can buy a combined ticket for all the sites, or one that also includes the Old New Synagogue (which is otherwise administered separately). Any of the individual buildings will sell tickets.
Many of the buildings do not have level access, and on busy days (most notably Sunday, when weekend visitors are in town) the individual buildings can get claustrophobically packed. Avoid Sundays (it’s not open on Saturday) and try and get there early in summer. The nearest metro is Starémêstá.