I need human help to enter verification code (office hours only)

Sign In Forgot Password
Home > About Us > Our Building > Our Holocaust Torah

Our Holocaust Torah

Czech Memorial Scroll

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun is honored to be the custodian of the Czech Memorial Scroll MST #879, a Torah with a remarkable and poignant history. Written in 1890 in the town of Luze, East Bohemia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now the Czech Republic), this scroll carries the legacy of a Jewish community whose roots in Luze stretched back to 1620. At its height, 182 Jewish families lived there, confined to a ghetto but permitted to build and worship in their own synagogue.

In the 1940s, the community was destroyed during the Shoah. The Torah, along with countless other sacred artifacts from synagogues across Bohemia and Moravia, was confiscated by the Nazis and sent to the Jewish Museum in Prague. There, museum staff—few of whom survived—carefully cataloged and stored the scrolls. For decades, it was believed the Nazis intended to create a “Museum of an Extinct Race.” Today, some historians suggest that the preservation of these Judaica may have been part of a plan by the Jewish community itself to safeguard its heritage.

After the war, with no surviving communities able to reclaim or restore them, the scrolls remained under the control of the Czech government. In 1963, philanthropist Ralph Yablon enabled London’s Westminster Synagogue to acquire 1,564 of these scrolls. They were brought to Kent House in Knightsbridge, where they were restored and distributed worldwide through the Memorial Scrolls Trust (memorialscrollstrust.org).

Through the dedication of Jo Ann and Bruce Engleman, MST #879 was placed on permanent loan to BTBJ and formally dedicated on October 4, 2004. Today, our Czech Torah is displayed in a glass case in the synagogue lobby, accompanied by maps, photographs, and text that tell its story.

This scroll is more than a historical artifact—it is a living memorial. It connects us to the Jewish community of Luze, to the resilience of our people, and to the sacred responsibility of remembrance. At BTBJ, MST #879 stands as a symbol of continuity, faith, and the enduring power of Torah.

Mon, January 19 2026 1 Shevat 5786