Holocaust Torah - Temple Israel Columbus

The Czech Memorial Scrolls: A Testament to Survival

In the heart of Europe, a remarkable story of destruction and preservation unfolded during one of history’s darkest chapters. Today, more than 1,500 Torah scrolls from Bohemia and Moravia stand as silent witnesses to the vibrant Jewish communities that once flourished in what is now the Czech Republic. Temple Israel Columbus is honored to be among the congregations worldwide entrusted with one of these precious scrolls on permanent loan—Sefer Torah #421 from the Synagogue of Dobris—a sacred responsibility that connects us directly to this profound history.

A Thriving Community Cut Short

According to the 1930 census, 117,551 Jews called Bohemia and Moravia home. These communities maintained at least 350 synagogues across the region, each serving as a spiritual center for generations of families. But within just over a decade, this centuries-old presence would be nearly erased.

In 1942, the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Prague—the Nazi authority overseeing the persecution of Jews—issued a chilling order. Jewish communities throughout the Protectorate were commanded to send all their sacred objects to a newly established museum in Prague: their Torah scrolls, silver filials, books, and textiles. Communities carefully packed their most precious possessions and shipped them to the capital. The Germans employed Jewish workers to catalog these items, only to deport those same workers to concentration camps once their task was completed. By 1943, 82,309 Jews had been deported to Terezin and other camps. More than sixty synagogues were destroyed by war’s end. What the Nazis intended as a “museum of an extinct race” would ultimately become something far different—a collection that would preserve the memory of destroyed communities.

From Communist Control to London

After World War II ended, only a fraction of Czech Jews survived. Today, just 4,000 Jews remain in a country of ten million people. In 1950, the museum fell under communist state control. By the early 1960s, the Czechoslovak Communist regime began seeking to sell liturgical items to buyers abroad. In 1963, the entire collection of Torah scrolls was sold to London lawyer and businessman Ralph Yablon. The following January, the scrolls were wrapped, shipped to London, and stored at Kent House—the headquarters of the Westminster Synagogue, where Yablon was a member. Rather than keeping these sacred objects in storage, a decision was made to give them new purpose. The scrolls could be loaned for commemorative use to institutions around the world, ensuring that the destroyed communities would not be forgotten.

Our Sacred Trust: Sefer Torah #421

Over the past 35 years, the Czech Memorial Scrolls Centre of London has distributed more than 1,500 Czech Torah scrolls on permanent loan to Jewish congregations, Holocaust memorials, museums, and libraries worldwide. Each scroll carries with it the story of the community that once treasured it. The remaining scrolls are housed in a small museum at Kent House, where they serve as a permanent memorial to the fate of these sacred objects and to the rich history of the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia—a history that spans centuries but was nearly extinguished in just a few terrible years.

Temple Israel Columbus is blessed to be entrusted with the care of one such treasure from the ashes of the Holocaust—a restored Torah scroll from the town of Dobris, Czech Republic where Jews first settled in the 17th century. In 1992, Temple members Judy and Gary Cooper were among six people who traveled to Westminster Synagogue in London to transport Sefer Torah #421 back to Temple Israel Columbus.

For years, the scroll was housed in a beautiful display case created by Gary Cooper. Following Temple Israel’s renovation over a decade ago and our move to a new building, the Torah scroll now resides in our Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark), taking its rightful place among our most sacred objects.

Thanks to the generosity of Irene Levine and Lee Hess, Sefer Torah #421 is properly adorned with a beautiful cover depicting the Dobris Synagogue, a sterling silver breastplate and Torah crowns, and a Yad provided by Paula and Stuart Levine, z”l. Judy Tuckerman and Irene also arranged for an artistic likeness of the Dobris synagogue to be created. Like the breastplate, this artwork bears the names of the Dobris Jewish community at the time of their transport to Auschwitz, Terezin, and Treblinka—names provided by the Jewish Museum of Prague. This poignant memorial piece hangs on a wall adjacent to the entrance to our Sanctuary.

The Dobris synagogue itself was destroyed during World War II and lay empty and in ruins until its renovation in the 1950s, when it reopened as a public building. Today, the building that once housed the synagogue partially exists, converted into a civic cultural center with a concert and exhibition hall. While the Jewish community of Dobris was lost, their Torah scroll lives on in our care—a sacred link between past and present, between destruction and renewal, between a small Czech town and our Columbus congregation.