Two new books, both richly illustrated with photographs, have recently been published about Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic.
They add to a list of earlier publications, and while it seems that they are both only available in the Czech Republic, we would like to note them here.
Židovské hřbitovy a pohřbívání (Jewish cemeteries and burials)
By Jaroslav Achab Haidler
Haidler is an actor and a longtime researcher on Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic. (Read an article about him from 2001). He the force behind Project Keshet, an extensive database of information about Czech Jewish cemeteries that is online at the web site Chewra.com.
His richly illustrated, 192-page book (which is only in the Czech language) describes Jewish burial sites and cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia. He explains the epitaphs, signs and symbols, and Jewish burial customs and also includes stories, poems and anecdotes.
The book is arranged in seven chapters plus introduction:
Introduction
i. Houses
ii. Stones
iii. Text
iv. Symbol
v. Funeral
vi. Cemeteries
vii. Person
Cemetery Map
Zahrady života. Moravské židovské hřbitovy ve fotografiích (Gardens of Life: Moravian Jewish cemeteries in photographs)
By Helena Bretfeldova
Published by Albert Knihy, Boskovice, November 2018.
Helena Bretfeldova’s 336-page book is mainly a collection of 500 of her own color photographs of 50 Jewish cemeteries in Moravia. One section of photos concentrates on the carved symbolism. In a separate section of the book she also includes — in Czech and in English — historic and other details of each cemetery and brief information about the Jewish history of each town.
Bretfeldova, who is a Brno-based music journalist by profession, has been photographing Jewish cemeteries for a decade or more.
She told JHE that in the book she was interested in portraying the cemeteries and individual gravestones in an artistic fashion, rather than as strict documentation. She provides a bibliography of earlier books and publications on Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic.
Click here to see an excerpt of the book
See the video trailer:
3 comments on “Czech Republic: Two recent books on Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic”
The access to the books – ie idex woudl b helful. before ordering.
The idea of CZECH books being published without ENGLISH trnaslatgions (or german) makes it difficult for dedscedndants living inthe aenglaish World to process any itemsnoted in the books. SAD. The book writen by Dr. Vaclav Chvatal and Jiri Fiedler is both in Czech and German (Published n 2008). Is much esier to use for an Englaish SPeaker- using a German dictionary for translation. THEse are both frustrating. The Web site noted is poorly written in US WEnglaish. COuld not decipher nor did one note, wher to possibly enter the specific town/village/ shtetl tht is listed int eh cemetery listing. E.G. Feitler, Centgral NY State USA
Bretfeldová, Helena: Zahrady života. Moravské židovské hřbitovy ve fotografiích. (= The Gardens of Life. Moravian Jewish cemeteries in the photos)
ISBN 978-80-7326-297-6.
It is possible to send a copy anywhere. The book has a long part (309-332p.) in English (brief profiles of individual cemeteries).
Dobry den, přispěla jsem na vytvoreni Vasi knihy. Rada bych ji nyni ziskala. Kvuli nemoci v rodině jsem se neozvala dříve. Je ještě možno Vaši knihu Zahrady života získat?