Figure 1.--The largest highest concentration of Czechoslovak Jews was in the relatively small eastern province of Carpatho Russia which the Austrians and Hungarians had called Ruthenia. Many Jews in Bohemia and other western areas were assimilated, but Jews here were still very traditional and the area was an important center of Hasidism. Here Hasidic boys study the Talmud in Uzhorod, now part of the Ukraine (1937). The area was occupied by the Hungarians when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia (1938). The Germans rounded up the Jews in Uzhorod and transported them to Auschwitz where they were murdered (April 1944). We believe this is one of Roman Vishniac's photographs.

Czechoslovakia was a new nation constructed from of bits and pices of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, some unrelated. The Empire was disolved after World War I. The new Czechoslvakian nation was a mult-ethnic state constructed around a Czech ethnic Bohemian-Moravian core. As a result, there were substahnyial differences from region to region. Jewish life varied considerably in Czechoslovakia depending on where they lived in the country. About one-third lived in Bohemia and Moravia. Most of the Czechoslovakia Jews lved in the east, Slovakia and Carpatho-Russia where there was substantialUkranian population. The Czech Jewish population with the exception of the extreme east (Carpatho-Russia) was urban. More than 80 percent of the Jews in Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia lived in towns (with over 5,000 people) and 60 percent in the larger towns and cities (over 50,000 people). The largest Jewish communities were in Prague and Brno (Bruenn). After independence, large numbers of Czech Jews moved from the small towns to larger towns and cities, becoming more concentrated. Small towns reported declines in Jewish popultions ranging from 20-50 percent. Many of these Jews moved to Prague, Brno, Ostrava, and industrial centers in the Sudeten area increased. We are not entirely sure why the Hewish population was primarily in the Eat.

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe which constitutes the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech lands. It was the Czech heartland of Czechoslovakia. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague. When Czechoslovakia was created after World war I, Biohemia became the Czech core around which the new multi-ethnic state was built. About one-third of Czechoslovak lived in Bohemia and Moravia. About 75,000 Jews lived in Bohemia. The Czech Jewish population with the exception of the extreme east (Carpatho-Russia) was urban. More than 80 percent of the Jews in Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia lived in towns (with over 5,000 people) and 60 percent in the larger towns and cities (over 50,000 people). After independence, large numbers of Czech Jews moved from the small towns to larger towns and cities, becoming more concentrated. Small towns reported declines in Jewish popultions ranging from 20-50 percent. Many of these Jews moved to Prague, Brno, Ostrava, and industrial centers in the Sudeten area increased. The largest Jewish communities were in Prague. We are not sure why the Jewish population in the Czech lands, especially Bohemia was so limited. One author suggests that both the Germans and Czechs were not receptive to including the Jews as part of their national identity. He writes, "And yet, despite this departure from Judaism, greater here [Bohenia and Moravia] than in either Germany or Hungary, the member of Kafka's gebneration were certainly not assimilated Jews. After all, with whom were the Jews pf Maravia and Bohenia to assimilate? In Germany [befire the NAZISs] they could hope to become Germans of the Mosaic faith, and in Hungary, where the absence of a native middle class made integration different, thy could also hopetob be recognized as true and KLoyal Magyars. But the situation in the CZech lands was more complex. The Germans of the region were destinguished by their extremne German nationalism and extreme anto-Semetic tradition. e the Magyars, who courted the Jews as allies in their efforts to control multi-national Hungary, they [the Czechs] did not welcome Jewisg support. Even in Prague, where there was a string German liberal traditionwarmly supported byb theJewish population, relations between the Jews abnd germnans were far from bring close--the rekationship is described by Brid as being one of Distanzliebe As fior the population of integration into the CZech community, which was growing ever strongerduring the coirse of the19th centuryahnd which was rapidly turning German towns into Czech towns, this was even likely than the German alternative. Wehave already observedthatJews often preferred German toCzech culture and their political loyalties lay with the Hapsburgs ij Vienna rather than with the Czech natinalists in Prague. Moreover, the Czechs, like the Germans, did not appear to want the Jews to even to make the attempt to become part of the nation." [Mendelsôn, pp. 135-136.]

Carpatho Russia

Most of the Czechoslovakia Jews lved in the east, Slovakia and Carpatho-Russia. There was a substantial Ukranian population in Carartho Russia. The Austrians abd Hungarians referred to them as Ruthenians. This was an essentially made up term becaise imperial authorities did not want to refer to them as Ukranians. Authoruties in Vienna had mamoth problems associated with governing a multi-ethnic empire with rising nationalist sentiment among the various people ruled. Calling the people Ukranians would suggest an unwanted associartion with the Russian governed Ukraine. The region was annexed by the Soviet Union after the War and is now part of the Ukraine. Some 100,000 Jews lived in Carartho Russia making up about 14 percent of the population. This was the higheest concentration of Jews in the country. It presumably reflects the favotable treatment of Jews by the Hungarian Kingdom which ruled Caratho Russia for long periods. The Jewish population was much more tradition and less assimilted than the Jews in the rest of the country, especially Bohemia.

Moravia

Moravia is and historic central European province. The area was inhabited by Celtic and German tribes before being over run by the Avars (6th-7th centuries). It was finally settled by Slavic tribes (late-8th century). The Slavs took the name Moravians from the Morava River. Moravia is wedged between Bohemia and Slovakia. Moravia is surrounded by by Bohemia on the west and northwest, by Silesia on the northeast, by Slovakia on the east, and by Lower Austria on the south. Moravia was the basis for a medieval kingdom, known as Great Moravia. It was incorporated into the kingdom of Bohemia (11th century) and has since generally been closely associatd with Bohemia. It was one of the 17 former crown lands of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian empire (1867-1918) and one of the five lands of Czechoslovakia (1918-28). It is now part of the Czech Republic. Over 40,000 Jews lived in Moravia before World War II, about 1 percent of the population, similar to Bohemia. Brno (Bruenn) had a particularly large Jewish population.

Silesia

Silesia is one of th most fought over provinces in Europe. The Prussians, Austrians and Poles all wanted it as well as the Czechs after World War I. It has chnged hands many times. Much of Silesia was in Grman hands aftr Frederick the Great launched the War of the Austrian Secession to seize it from Austria (1840). A newly independent Poland seized much of it back after World War I -- České Slezsko / Tschechisch-Schlesien. The Czechslso wanted a smll part, setting up a conflict between the to newly independent nations. It was one of the three historical Czech lands and now part of the Czech Republic. It lies in the north-east of the Czech Republic. It was a relatively small region where some 7,000 Jews lived.

Slovakia

Slovaks have existed as a cultural/ethnic identity group for some 1,500 years. Slovakia was one of the two principal constituents of the new Czecholovak nation. For much of its history Slovakia has been a subject nation. The population speaks Slovak, a member of the Slavic language family. Slovakia is a small central European country south of Poland. The Slovaks were for centuries ruled by the Hungarians often within the Austrian or Austrohungarian Empire. The Slovaks as related Slavs joined the Czechs to form Czechoslovakia, although there were tensions between the two ethnic groups. Many of Czechoslovakia Jews libed in Slovakia, over 135,000 people They were 4 percent of the population. While not aarge percebtage, it is much higher than in the Czech lands. This like Caratho Russia appeas to reflect thetreatmnent affird the Jews by the Hungarians who dojminated Slovakia for an extehnsive period.

Sudetenland

The Sudetenland is a German name mounabeous area, essentially the Bohemia rim bordering Germany and Austria. as well as a small area of Moravia and Silesia. It was not a Czech administratuive area. The region had a majority ethnic German population, but after World War I was added to Czechoslovakia because without it, the Czechs would have had a defenseless state. Some 28,000 Jews lived in the Sudetenland. Often they are included in the Bohemian population. One source says that the Jewish population increased after the creaionof Czechoslovakia, but censys figures suggesr it declined somewhat.

Sources

Mendelsôn, ʿEzrâ. The Jews of East Central Europe Between the World Wars.

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