Our Fundraising Campaign Is Entering Its Second Phase

On Wednesday, 19th December 2018, we have successfully reached the goal of the first phase of our fundraising campaign thanks to a subsidy granted by the Pacov municipal government. Private individuals donated CZK 839,000 altogether while the Pacov municipality contributed the final CZK 111,000. Later that day the Tikkun Pacov Synagogue Association became the owner of the synagogue, having transferred the total sum of CZK 950,000 into escrow and signed the contract of purchase. Our ownership was officially entered in the Czech land register on Thursday, 17th January 2019, when we also collected the house key.

The synagogue is now free to be restored in a dignified way worthy of one of the most significant Jewish landmarks in Pacov. We are happy to embark on this journey and hope you will keep us company throughout its course.

Thank you to everyone who supported our fundraising campaign and our efforts to save the Pacov synagogue. We wish you as auspicious 2019 as it will surely be for the Pacov synagogue.

You can of course still contribute towards running costs of our association, which is going to manage the synagogue, and first and foremost towards synagogue restoration. Your help is invaluable to us and will be very grateful for any support.

Last week’s event attracted visitors from Pacov and abroad

Selected pictures from the quick tour of the synagogue and the following klezmer show are now available via our Facebook profile and Láskomina café Insta account at https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpne3aHBtWN/.

Thank you to all who attended, helped organizing, or otherwise supported our event. Our fundraising drive is now coming to an end and if we manage to collect the necessary CZK 950,000 in our transparent bank account No. 2701205032/2010 by the end of the year the restoration of the Pacov synagogue can start in a few weeks already. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Last year’s talk and dramatization revisited

A recording of public talk followed by dramatization of Hans Bader’s memoir of the November 1942 Pacov deportation as performed by Pacov high school students is now available on YouTube (in Czech only). Both took place as part of an event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the deportation of Jewish residents from Pacov to Theresienstadt concentration camp which we organized in cooperation with the Černovice Jewish Monument Association on 11 and 12 November 2017 under the title Crossroads and Irreversibilities of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands History. Recorded by Dušan Swalens.

 

Schoolchildren fascinated by the fate of Pacov Jews

“How long have Jews been living in Pacov?” “When were Jews deported from Pacov and what happened to them?” “Do you know any Pacov Jews?” “Have you ever been to the Jewish cemetery in Pacov?” “Do you know what matzo is and who baked it in Pacov?” Those and similar questions elicited a forest of raised hands from Year 5 pupils of the Pacov primary school during an introduction to the local Jewish heritage which took place in the main hall of Pacov Chateau on 26 March 2018. The schoolchildren were thus given the chance to explore the history and fate of their Jewish neighbours. The deep and spontaneous interest they showed throughout the talk gives us a reason to hope that the history of Pacov Jews will be embraced by the local cultural memory and the new generation rather than forgotten. A small gallery of photos is available at the school’s website www.zspacov.cz (Czech only)