Story of the month - August 2006
Torah returned back to Mirov
Mírov/ Hanusovice- Fifty years ago Mr. Jan Janku was staring through bars with the rest of political prisoners in the Mírov prison. At that time he was called MUKL- an abbreviation of Czech words - a man designated for liquidation.
A year before he was released he found a scroll of Torah wrapped in cloth and hidden in the attic behind a truss.
He brought it to the prison hospital, where he worked as a pharmacist and helper, but the same day he returned the scroll back to a hiding place so prison guards would not find it.
After half of century the Torah returned to him unbelievably. Yesterday he held it and was moved when he was telling the story.
“In 1957 a tough regime eased a little, perhaps one of the reason was that at that time a quite reasonable man started to work as an assistant director of the prison. In the hospital, where many decent men died before my eyes, I could move freely. One day I got also to the attic. There I found the Torah”, told the man from Hanušovice, who spent in the communist jail nearly nine years because of a false accusation for a treason. Yesterday he went again through the attic, courtyard and hospital and he recalled, how it was equipped and who died in different cells. He was imprisoned there with many prominent people including for instance a Jewish writer Hugo Sonnenschein, who inspired Ivan Olbracht to write a novel Strange Friendship of Actor Jesenius. Jan Janku visited the prison hospital for the first time since his release in 1957. He went to the attic in 1999, when the director of prison let him try to find the Torah for the first time. However his mission was disappointing – rotten beams near a hiding place were replaced by new ones and apparently during the renovation the Torah disappeared.
He thought it is gone for good. This spring he had a lecture in the Mohelnice Museum and at the end he mentioned a story of his lost scroll. The same day he held it in hand.
“During his speech I realized that we have in our collection the Torah, with an inscription in ink: “National reformatory prison Mírov”. The Torah came to us through complicated ways via a private collector. Mr. Janků recognized it immediately”, says Luděk Štipl from the Loštice foundation Respect and Tolerance, which documents the Jewish history in our region.
“It was a big surprise for me and I am happy that I saw the Torah again”, said Jan Janků yesterday during the recording of a document, which will be shown in the exhibition The Stories of Torahs in the Jewish Museum in Prague in October.
The scroll from Mírov originated in 19th century and it is not complete. From Five Books of Moses only the first one – Genesis is preserved. How it got to Mírov, no one knows.
Photos:
The former political prisoner Jan Janku encountered the Torah, which he found fifty years ago in the prison attic.
During his visit to Mirov, Jan Janku went through the hospital, where fifty years ago he knew every detail
Synagogue in Lostice will be saved
Loštice: It is for sure! The synagogue, which is in a state of disrepair and for a quarter of the century almost empty will be saved! In September 0,5 million crowns will be deposited in the account of the town - a grant from the Foundation of Czech – German Future.
The town adds another 300 000 crowns and a resulting sum will be spent on a new roof by the end of the year. It will be a nice present to the synagogue and its 200 Anniversary. The synagogue was built in classicist style in 1805 - 1806 in a place of a former wooden synagogue. Repair of the roof will start in September.
“The town was trying hard to obtain money and now it is successful thanks to activities and contacts of Loštice foundation Respect and Tolerance, which documents history of Jewish community” reminded Mayor Ctirad Lolek.
The Lostice application was supported by letters of recommendation from a leading official of the Teutonic Order – Mr. Robert Rac, a president of the German Minority Associations in Czech Republic - Irena Kuncová and people who were born in the area and now live abroad - Ernst Kukula from Germany and Edgar Ziegler from Canada. Mr. Lolek pointed out that other financial contributions could come from the Foundation for Holocaust Victims and from the Jewish Community in Olomouc
“It is important to begin and to present first results, then search for money will be easier. Later we will repair the exterior walls and afterwards the interior of the prayer hall including reconstruction of the adjacent wing - the house of rabbi. Our estimate for the restoration of the synagogue is about 10 million crowns “, said Lolek.
The Synagogue served for its purpose until German occupation in 1939, later it was used as a warehouse, and after the war also as a music school and museum. After restoration the building will be used for cultural events, mainly exhibitions and concerts, because the hall has excellent acoustics. It will be also seat of the foundation Respect and Tolerance and its collections.
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