The Talmud-Torah School (German: ''Talmud-Thora Schule'') was a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

Josefov Josefov (also Jewish Quarter; ) is a town quarter and the smallest cadastral area of Prague, Czech Republic, formerly the Jewish ghetto of the town. It is surrounded by the Old Town. The quarter is often represented by the flag of Prague's Jew ...

district in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, which operated between 1908 and 1942.

History

Talmud-Torah School (1908–1920)

The school was run by the Jewish Community of Prague. The director was the Chief Rabbi of Prague, who was directly appointed by the Jewish Community of Prague. Since 1905 the director of the school was Rabbi Haim Brody, who also lived in the school building. In 1925 he was succeeded by Rabbi Shimon Adler. Among the school's graduates were Hebrew scholar Otto Muneles or writer František R. Kraus. Kraus recorded his memories of the school in one of his books:

School for Religious Education (1920–1942)

From the year 1920 the school was transformed to a religious elementary school - the new name of the school was "School for Religious Education".

Max Brod Max Brod (; 27 May 1884 – 20 December 1968) was a Bohemian-born Israeli author, composer, and journalist. He is notable for promoting the work of writer Franz Kafka and composer Leoš Janáček. Although he was a prolific writer in his ow ...

was a guest speaker at the opening ceremony.

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

's sister Valli Pollak became one of the first female teachers there in 1920. In the 1930s, two branches of the school were established in

Letná Letná is a hill overlooking Prague historic centre and Vltava River just besides Prague Castle. It neighbours Stromovka, the largest park in Prague. The hill belongs to Holešovice and Bubeneč quarters of Prague 7. The main part of Letn� ...

and

Holešovice Holešovice () is a district in the north of Prague situated on a meander of the River Vltava, which makes up the main part of the district Prague 7 (an insignificant part belongs to Prague 1). In the past Holešovice was a heavily industrial su ...

districts. The curriculum included Czech, German, mathematics and the other common subjects. A particular focus of the curriculum was on Jewish culture and history. Optional courses of Hebrew were offered in the higher grades. After the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia "Jáchymka" was the only school in Bohemia, which Jewish children were allowed to attend. The school was closed in August 1942, when all the Jews were officially banned from getting education. The school building was then used to store the Jewish property confiscated by the Nazis.

Present

Currently, "Jáchymka" serves as the headquarters of the Terezín Initiative Institute,

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

sheltered workshop The term sheltered workshop refers to an organization or environment that employs people with disabilities separately from others, usually with exemptions from labor standards, including but not limited to the absence of minimum wage requirements. ...

Becalel. The building also houses a permanent exhibition about the history of the school.

Notable alumni

Petr Ginz Petr Ginz (1 February 1928 – 28 September 1944) was a Czechoslovak boy of partial Jewish background who was deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto (known as Terezín, in Czech) during the Holocaust. He was murdered at the age of sixteen when ...

(1928–1944), writer and artist *

Anna Hyndráková Anna Hyndráková (née Kovanicová; 25 March 1928 – 20 February 2022) was a Czech holocaust survivor and historian. She worked at the Jewish Museum in Prague. During World War II, she survived both forced labour and concentration camps includi ...

(1928–2022), historian * František R. Kraus (1903–1967), writer

References

External links

{{Commons category, Jáchymova 3
Jáchymka - náboženská škola - Holocaust.cz

Jindřich Brody - Holocaust.cz

www.rozhlas.cz

Jáchymka - exhibition catalogue - Issuu.com
Organizations disestablished in 1942 Educational institutions established in 1908 Schools in Prague Jews and Judaism in Prague