Jewish Heritage.

A millennium of Jewish life in Bohemia and Moravia — from the alleys of Josefov to the silence of Terezín.

Jews have lived in the Czech lands since the 10th century. Prague's Josefov — six synagogues, a cemetery of twelve thousand stones — is the oldest continuously used Jewish quarter in Europe. Rabbi Loew, the Maharal, taught here in the 1590s; the Golem is his legend.

Beyond Prague, a dense map of country communities — Mikulov, Třebíč, Boskovice, Polná, Kolín — each with its synagogue, school and cemetery on the hill. Moravian Jewry produced scholars, merchants and, in the 19th century, some of the first Zionist thinkers of Central Europe.

Then: Terezín. Between 1941 and 1945 the town of Theresienstadt held 155,000 Jews, most of them Czech. Fewer than 17,000 survived. A small remnant returned to rebuild; today we walk the restored synagogues, the Pinkas memorial, and the ramparts of Terezín together.

"Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations."

— Deuteronomy 32:7

Key places

Where it happened.

Josefov

Prague · the old Jewish Quarter, six synagogues

Old-New Synagogue

Prague · in continuous use since 1270

Old Jewish Cemetery

Prague · 12,000 stones, from 1439

Třebíč

Moravia · UNESCO Jewish Quarter + cemetery

Terezín

Bohemia · the ghetto-camp, 1941–1945

Mikulov

South Moravia · seat of the Moravian rabbinate

Key figures

Who to know.

Rabbi Loew (Maharal)

1512–1609

David Gans

1541–1613

Solomon J. Rapoport

1790–1867

Franz Kafka

1883–1924

Leo Baeck

1873–1956

Hana Brady (Terezín)

1931–1944

Jewish Bohemia & Moravia, explained.

Short film · 5:12 · film by Magni

Walk this chapter

Two tours — plus custom.

Prague Jewish Classic

Jewish

≈ 3 h · Prague walking tour

Terezín & Úštěk — On the Trail of the Shoah

Jewish

Full day

Custom tour

Build your own thread.

Tell us the theme, dates and group — we draft a custom itinerary within 24 hours.

Enquire →