DENIK

Saturday May 5, 2007

Books from the United States will be Used by Students in Olomouc

Usov. A group of students from the Jewish Studies Department (Faculty of Philosophy, Palacky University in Olomouc) came to the town of Usov to pick up books. They received four hundred books on a long term loan bases from the foundation Respect and Tolerance, which is documenting the Jewish history in the region.

Books written in English, German and Hebrew were provided by Stanton Canter from the United States, who is the founding member of the foundation.

“There are about a thousand books in our library. After the consultation with the Jewish Studies Department we made a selection of books which will be most suitable for students. More books will be transferred to their library in the near future”, said a member of the foundation Ludek Stipl, who guided students through synagogues and Jewish sites in the town of Usov and Lostice.

The Respect and Tolerance Library also serves as a symbolic monument to the victims of the Holocaust. There are stamps (ex libris) of the foundation in all books. Each stamp contains a registration number and a different name of Holocaust victim from the Lostice area.

“The Loan of books is very useful for us, as our own library is not too large at this time. The Department was established about two years ago. We started with just two students, now we have eleven students in a grade one. We would like to accept more students in the future, therefore we really need a larger and better library”, said a member of a teaching staff Ivana Bednarikova - Prochazkova.

The Jewish Studies Department organizes also a series of lectures for all students of the Palacky University and for the public as well.

Students from the Palacky University in the Lostice Synagogue. May 2007

For more information please see: Library – Dr. Stanton Canter Library and also www.jud.upol.cz, Dr. Stanton Canter Library