European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse A amps Fife by Steve silk Hartford courant my Golem an Man created to protect tlu1 lews is said to roamed Prague Long ago. Affording to 7tii-Century legend the play mature was brought to lift during cabalistic rituals presided Over by one Jehuda Ben Bezalel also known As rabbi Judah Low. The Golem helped rabbi Low bring criminals to Justice and Oil e discovered a a on the eve of passover a Batch of poisoned mat of a a i he Golem May be , but the spirit of tlu1 real life rabbi i of still haunts Josefov the am Lent jewish Quarter of the get h capital. Is first settled in Prague nearly 1,000 years ago moving to the area now known As Osetrov in the late i Joos. During world War ii nazis nearly Era Dit aled Prague s jewish population the names of 77,000 vie Tims of tlu1 purge Are painted on the Walh of the it Ity s Pinkas synagogue. Among the jumbled medieval tombstones of the old a is11 cemetery is rabbi 1 cd s. I tis Gravestone is i overed with pebbles each left As a sign of resp i t by a passer by under Many of those Little stones Are slips of paper scrawled with the written wishes of dreamers by confiding their desires to the rub i the hopeful believed their requests would be granted. Insiders know the wish slip should be put in a Small Hole on the left Side of the Tombstone i in it the revered rabbi weren t buried there be old jewish cemetery would lure tourists of All faiths. 1 Itei ally thousands old gravestones i Road the tiny Wall eau closed burial ground so till ill ked art1 the Grace markers that the t Rine Teiry resembles a petrified Forest of Granite. Buna i spat e w As limited Tor the jew s in medieval Prague and instead of inferring their Brethren in the suburbs Prague s jewish c Community decided simply to Lay Down a new layer of dirt once the graveyard was full then a now level of bodies would be buried layer by layer Small Hills of dirt covered bodies Rose in the cemetery. As new coffins were placed atop the old the tombstones were raised to the higher level and crowded together. Now the one acre site is studded with 12,000 to 20,000 Graves a no one is certain How Many. Little shaded lanes twist through the Low Forest of stones which lean and till at crazed angles. The oldest Tombstone dates to 1 380, the most recent to 1787, the stones Many with Relief carvings depicting the deceased s profession ancestry or name Merit close inspection. Covered As they Are with i hebraic inscriptions. Verily quiet save for the chirping of his the i cemetery is an Island of Calm in the City. But in the adjoining jewish town mall nazi Era errors live on in a museum filled with children s drawings from the notorious Terezin conceit Talion Camp. Tie paintings on the third door mounted on a background of barbed wire Are particularly horrifying. Just up the Street lies tint old new synagogue one of he earliest gothic structures in Prague. Religious services Are still held in the inner Chambers of this thick walled holy place which seems set deep into the Earth far removed rom the concerns of the material world inside the t nol White washed Walls c contrast sharply with the dark wooden Beau lies lining the is alls. Mat k wrought Iron so Roll work creates dark tra Ceries Here and there w Hile burnished Hopper reflect tors splash Golden candlelight a throughout. Along one1 Wall is a Seal forever reserved. The seat of Rabin Judah 1 of. Above jumbled headstones some leaning precarious fill the old jewish cemetery in Prague. Below a building in the City s jewish Quarter has a pair of clocks a it one with roman numbers and one with hebrew characters. Stripes Magazine August 1b, 1990
