Temple Sholom Dedication of Czech Memorial Scroll Program, 1990 (Cincinnati, OH)

April 20 1990

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This Scroll had been in the synagogue of Roudnice, Czechoslovakia, since it had been written (towards the end of the 19th century). It, like over 1500 scrolls throughout Czechoslovakia  had been taken by Nazi officials during the occupation and shipped to a central collecting point in Prague. Over 120 precious items, 130 rare books and 175 archives housed in the Roudnice Synagogue at that time were also shipped. Similar items of extraordinary value were removed from every synagogue throughout the country. Historians believe the Nazis planned to exhibit this Judaica as relics of culture no longer in existence.

In 1963, an English art connoisseur, working with the Czechoslovak government, arranged for a philanthropic financier in London to purchase all of the Scrolls. The Scrolls were then passed in trust to a non-profit institution, Westminster Synagogue of London. A Memorial Scrolls Committee was established.

Under the Committee each of the 1564 Scrolls was unpacked, examined, catalogued, repaired and numbered (this Scrolls is number 652). The condition, age, state of the calligraphy and the source of origin were all recorded. In 1980, the Constitution of the Committee was formalized, so that all work and transactions dealing with the Scrolls are now officially under jurisdiction of the Memorial Scrolls Trust.

The other items from the Roudnice Synagogue, along with the thousands of other Judaica items, remain stored in Prague, in what is now officially the State Jewish Museum. A very small proportion of that Judaica was seen in the United States through the touring exhibit known as “The Precious Legacy.” We are told that at the present time, the Roudnice Synagogue is being used as a school.