cancelled due to illness - Jewish surnames as a trace of their life and culture
FOR DISEASE CANCELLED WE WILL MAKE UP THE LAST TERM Surnames of Jews as a trace of their life and culture Monday 11 November at 6 pm What is a surname, why do we have them, where did they come from, what do they reveal Professor Emeritus of Masaryk University Prof. Rudolf Šrámek will present a synthesis of his research on the Brno Jewish cemetery in his lecture. Starting with a general introduction about the origin of surnames, the lecturer will take the audience to the specificity of surnames among Jews and learn about the peculiarities of these surnames, which are actually traces of their lives and culture. Prof. Šrámek, also known from his many years of research at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, is one of our leading linguists, an expert especially in the field of proper names. Admission is voluntary.
Pavel Kosatík: Entrepreneurship under the Star of David
Pavel Kosatík: Entrepreneurship under the Star of David Thursday, 31 October at 6 pm The programme will take place at the Villa Löw-Beer, Drobného 297, Brno Time has overlooked the historical fact that Jewish magnate families contributed significantly to the industrial boom and the spread of the reputation of the First Republic. Not only the Tugendhats and Löw-Beers of Brno, but also the Kolbens, Bondy's and Petschks of Prague, the Poppers of Chrudim and others. It is worth remembering that their success was due to hard work, business talent and individual courage. Most of them were also famous for their philanthropy. The stories of Jewish families not only have historical narrative value, but are also epic dramas swept away by the whirlwind of historical events: first the Nazis came out against them, and then the survivors faced new harshness from the Communists. Pavel Kosatík will come to Brno to present his new book. The author of thirty publications on modern Czech history, he is also the screenwriter of a number of TV documentaries and feature films. The discussion will be led by historian Táňa Klementová. In cooperation with the Museum of Brno - Villa Löw-Beer and the Mehrin Foundation. Free admission.
Does morality and ethics need religion?
Does morality and ethics need religion? Wednesday 23 October at 6 pm Professor of nuclear chemistry, RNDr. Jiří Hála, a member of the Jewish Community of Brno and one of the last survivors who spent three years as a child in Terezín, is publishing a new book, his fifth in a row. Unlike the first, professional ones, in which he focused on radioactivity, in his latest books he has set his sights primarily on the toxic attention paid in the past by the Catholic Church to the "children of Jerusalem". Does morality and ethics need religion? he compiled as editor from the reflections of nine Anglo-Saxon philosophers and one physician. The answer, just by the way the book's title is constructed, is not hard to guess. But the essays contained in the book force the reader to consider the subject in a broader context than is usual. A discussion between the publisher and the author. Admission is voluntary.
The influence of great history on the fate of Jews in the Shoah on the example of Miroslav
The impact of great history on the fate of Jews during the Shoah, using Miroslav as an example Wednesday 9 October at 6 pm For Jews in the South Moravian border region, the war began in the autumn of 1938, when they lost their homes, positions and property in a short time after the German Reich seized the border region. Most of them fled to the interior, especially to Brno and Prague, where an uncertain future awaited them. This was usually fulfilled in the form of later transports. Among the refugees were also Jews from Miroslav, which was one of the traditional 52 Jewish communities in Moravia. In the middle of the 19th century, over 800 people formed the local Jewish community. Until 1924 it was an independent political community. Before the outbreak of World War II, the number of Miroslav Jews was less than 300, half of whom lived outside the original ghetto. At this time, Jews were a solid part of Miroslav's colourful image, which consisted of the Czech and German languages and the Catholic, Evangelical and Jewish religions. The Jews of Miroslav were not only merchants, but also farmers, doctors and teachers. Several families owned local businesses and were among the major employers. When we examine in detail the fate of individual families in Miroslav during the Shoah, we discover how surprisingly diverse they were. Through specific stories, we can document the situations to which the Nazi persecution exposed its victims and how these victims reacted to them. The programme was prepared by Aleš Bednařík, who has lived in Miroslav since 1999. Since then, he has been privately researching the fate of Miroslav's Shoah victims with varying intensity. He is employed in the field of information technology. He studied computer science and sociology at Charles University in Prague. He will be debated by historian Táňa Klementová. Admission is voluntary. source: Yad Vashem/Collections/Photos/Misslitz, Czechoslovakia, family photograph next to the Donath family house, 1928/Carmit Sagie Collection/10469/10
Drawings from Terezín - Diary of Gisela Rottonara
Drawings from Terezín - Gisela Rottonara's Diary Monday 23 September at 6 pm Immediately after her deportation to the Terezín ghetto in July 1942, the almost 70-year-old Viennese painter Gisela Rottonara began documenting her surroundings in a cartoon diary. On the pages of her notebook she recorded her impressions, the corners of Terezín and the faces of the people. After less than six months in the ghetto, she died. However, the diary with the drawings lives on thanks to a fellow prisoner, to whom she entrusted it before her death. Please accept our invitation to the opening of Gisela Rottonara's drawings, which will be presented to the Czech audience for the first time. The exhibition is on loan from the Institut für Jüdische Geschichte Österreichs
Places where the Moravian Torah Scrolls were at home - end of the exhibition with Sheila Pallay
The Places Where the Moravian Torah Scrolls Were At Home - Closing of the Exhibition with Sheila Pallay Tuesday, September 17, 6 p.m. What do the places where the Moravian scrolls came from look like today, and how is the paradigm of the commemorative Torah scrolls that were forcibly collected in Prague in the 1940s and sold to London in 1964 changing? American photographer Sheila Pallay, accompanied by genealogist Julius Müller, toured these sites. In a joint interview with you, she will revisit the encounters she had with the places and the people. She will also present the book Light from Behind the Shadows, which was written as a result of their journey together. And, as they themselves write in the introduction to the book - This book is dedicated to those members of the Czech Jewish community who had the foresight to save the Torah scrolls and place them in a safe place. Without their efforts, these scrolls would have been destroyed forever. And also to those who were instrumental in saving the synagogues, because, in their opinion, it was "the right thing to do." Without them, our journey would never have taken place. Discussion in English with English translation. Admission is voluntary.
Involvement of the Protectorate Police in the Persecution and Deportation of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia - lecture by Austrian historian Niklas Perzi
The involvement of the Protectorate Police in the persecution and deportation of Jews in Bohemia and Moravia - lecture by Austrian historian Niklas Perzi Monday 24 June at 6 pm Historians and scholars have long portrayed the persecution, dispossession, deportation and murder of Czech and Moravian Jews as actions initiated and carried out exclusively by the German occupiers. Some contemporary scholars, such as Wolf Gruner or Benjamin Frommer, have already corrected this picture and traced the role of various institutions and authorities in the Protectorate - both Czech and ethnically German - from the president and central government and provincial officials to district authorities. Following on from the above, historian Niklas Perzi's lecture will focus on the extent to which the Protectorate's security forces were involved not only in deportations but also in the enforcement of anti-Jewish laws and regulations and in the search for and arrest of Jews. We will see that at virtually every stage of the persecution, Jewish victims encountered Protectorate officials. Niklas Perzi, a historian specializing in the history of the Czech lands in the 20th century. Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Historical Migration Research (ZHMFF) at the Institute for Rural History (IGLR) in St. Pölten, co-coordinator and co-editor of the bilateral book Neighbors. The lecture will be held in German with Czech translation. Admission is voluntary. Source.
Franz Kafka - Ruth Kohn: stories of courage
Franz Kafka - Ruth Kohn: stories of courage Arnold Villa Drobného 299/26 Sunday 23 June at 4 pm The intricate life story of the Czech-German artist and her "Kafkaesque" paintings will be presented at a discussion and exhibition opening at the Arnold Villa. A discussion between historian Táňa Klementová and internationally acclaimed artist Rut Kohn (b. 1937) will recall her life and work. Rut Kohn's parents, who lived in Třebušice, which became part of the occupied Sudetenland, refused to declare their German nationality in 1938. During the communist totalitarian regime, Rut was not admitted to grammar school because of her "unsuitable class background". She married Pavel Kohn, a writer and dramaturge of the Karlovy Vary theatre, who was the only survivor of the Holocaust. For political reasons he had to leave the theatre and for years he searched in vain for a permanent job. When the Kohns managed to visit West Germany in 1967, they decided to emigrate. In Germany, Ruth Kohn began to devote herself to the visual arts. She had her first major exhibition in 1983 in Munich. This was followed by exhibitions at the Kunstsalon in Munich, in Stuttgart, as well as at the most important art fair in Basel, Switzerland, in France and, after the fall of communism, also in the Czech Republic. In 2006, she was awarded the prize of the Most Important Czech Woman in the World. The curator of the exhibition is Marie Kopecká Verhoeven. The programme is organised by the Meeting Brno festival in cooperation with the Brno City Museum and the Arnold Villa.
Japanese professor in Little Mehrin
Japanese professor in Malý Mehrin Professor Masako Shibatu from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, is researching the Holocaust in Europe - and on her journey through the countries of Central Europe, she stopped by Malý Mehrin.
New 3D exhibition in the basement open!
New 3D exhibition in the basement open! From Tuesday 14 May Holograms of ritual objects from the Mikulov funeral fraternity Chevra Kadisha, a Purim mask in 3D form found in the genii of the Holešov synagogue, the opportunity to fold a Torah shield on an interactive touch screen and light candles at Shabbat dinner... this is just part of what you can see here. Visit a unique epicenter! Please note the change in opening hours on Wednesdays, now 2-6pm!
