My goal for today was to see the Jewish Quarter, including touring the Synagogues. This included doing my first "tour" with a guide, offered through the Jewish Museum. The tour started at 10:30... and went until 2 PM. I'm very glad that I did the tour, as I learned a lot of history. It actually felt like we went very fast through each of the Synagogues - some of which are converted to museums, some of which are still active (and very beautiful). Had I been on my own, I probably would have spent much more time in the first one or two and then not gotten much out of the later ones. The tour also included the Jewish Cemetery, which was amazing.
Obviously, any discussion of Jews in the Czech Republic will include a lot of discussion about the Holocaust. But the emotional impact of it goes much deeper than reading Anne Frank's Diary or anything we do in the US. At one of the Synagogues, the walls have the names of the Czech Jews who died in the concentration camps. Tens of thousands of names, covering the entire Synagogue. They play an audio recording of the names being read and prayers sung. In the part of the second floor where there aren't names, there is an exhibit of pictures drawn by children in one of the concentration camps.
Outside of the Holocaust, Jewish history in Prague isn't very happy. Much as I don't know any European history (other than the wars that the US was part of), I didn't know how limited the rights of Jews were in Europe, long before the Nazis existed. Over the past few hundred years there were multiple stories of the Jews in Prague being massacred. Occasionally the king would be unhappy about it, but that was because the Jews were considered property (ie, slaves) of the king. And after the Holocaust, the Communists had many horrible policies. Jewish gravestones were cut into pieces to be used as cobblestones, for instance.
After the tour, I was emotionally drained and very hungry. I managed to find a pizza place - ironically, my breakfast had also been at an Italian restaurant. I have now had more sit-down Italian meals in Prague than I have in Milan! After lunch, I headed to the Old Town Square, which is tourist-central. The touristy parts of Prague are like Disney World on a busy day. And it is winter and a weekday here! I cannot fathom how crowded it gets here during peak season. I took in a few of the Tourist sights and then wandered back to the hotel to charge my phone and have a cup of tea.
Later in the afternoon I headed out to Wenceslas Square and went to the Museum of Communism. Again, I don't know any European History. I had read a bit (in the guide book) about the Velvet Revolution, but I hadn't fully appreciated the arc of Communism in Czeckloslovakia. It is jarring to understand the timeline - I was alive for parts of it. There is video footage (shown there) of most of it. Most of the protests - and police beatings of the protestors - took place in Wenceslas Square. The videos showed Russian tanks rolling through the streets I had just walked on.
Throughout the museum, I couldn't help but compare the propaganda and political discourse to what is currently happening in the US. In particular, the focus on the celebrating the worker and vilifying those who traditionally held power (including academics and artists). It is strange to see similarities between Communist propaganda and the campaign discourse of a "billionaire" capitalist. However, there were plenty of instances where the Communists did really terrible things that are not happening in the US. Watching the video of the protests - and violent policy and military crackdown - my first thought was that it isn't like that in the US. Certainly there were not tanks at the Women's Marches! But, I then thought of the protests (usually reported as "riots") on inauguration day and that have been occuring throughout the country for the past few years related to the police murders of unarmed black men. Quick privilege check: which protests you think of first changes the amount of freedom (...from violent police retaliation) you feel in the US.
After that, I headed to a lovely tea shop. On the way, it started precipitating a bit - I'm willing to call it snow, though it may have been "ice pellets" or some such silliness. I got snowed on in Prague! I've been in many lovely tea cafes, but I think this is the best one I've ever been in. It was exceedingly challenging to pick which tea to drink. I reflected on whether a tea shop like this could possibly exist somewhere in the metro-Atlanta area and that I've just never found it. After the day of touring I had, it was wonderful to just sit and think for some time (with an amazing oolong tea). I also dug in to my guide book a bit more...
I roamed the city a bit more, thinking about dinner. I wasn't particularly hungry, but it was 8:30 PM. I wasn't up for something as overwhelming as a pub or a fancy sit-down meal, so I got a take-out quesadilla and went back to my hotel. I thought I might head back out for a beer... but the warmth of my room and the joy of not being on my feet has gotten to me. I think I had an excellent, if intense, day and I am glad I have two more full days to see Prague!
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