Reliving the past

The Jewish Quarter (Josefov) -Prague. 

In the midst of a town that now replicates more of a contemporary culture. Beneath the surface lies mounts of history that will fascinate anyone.

The Jewish Quarter located next to the area of Old town dates back to the 13th century.


This room is located in the Pinkas Synagogue. The exact date of its exact establishment is unknown. However, records closely date it back to the 14th century. This room is not simple and without being aware of its context, our eyes lack the capacity to unmask the truth behind the names written on the walls.

This room that the woman is standing in connects to other rooms to make up a synagogue. Each wall is covered with names of people who deserved anything but death.

The walls are filled with the names of the Jewish victims in the Second World War. It includes their place of residence, date of births and deaths and the date of their deportation. A wall of names represents the death of thousands. Many walls reflect the death of millions.

In my mind, it was a chaotic moment to observe the thousands and thousands of names that were tightly scribed onto a wall. It leaves you with an empty soul as the death of many people reflect how their lives were considered insignificant because of their religion.

The lack of space in between names is a reminder of the dead bodies that lay on top of each other squished out of their comfort to death.

Educating myself about events that have happened as a result of a lack of humanity always makes my heart sink. Death can be a beautiful thing yet I fail to find justification and peace with the death of Jewish people in the 1949’s. For them, it was disturbing and traumatic.

The tombstones in the Jewish Cemetery were all clumped and stacked ontop of each other  just as the people were when they were killed.

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