Czech Survivor Torah
This Sefer Torah (#503) is one of the 1,564 Czech Memorial Torah scrolls, part of the sacred treasures looted by the Nazis between 1939 and 1945 from the Jewish communities of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. These scrolls, which were safeguarded by the Czech government for many years, were later acquired—with the goodwill of the Czech authorities—for Westminster Synagogue, where they arrived on February 7, 1964.
Some of these Torah scrolls remain at Westminster Synagogue as a permanent memorial to the martyrs of the communities from which they came. Many others have been distributed around the world, serving as living memorials to the Jewish tragedy and as beacons of light, symbolizing the hope for a future in which all people may live together in peace.
This scroll originated in the town of Brno and was written in the 19th century. Congregation B’nai Israel is honored to bear witness to the memory of that lost community—and all the communities destroyed in the Shoah. In their memory, we pledge to continue fostering a vibrant and flourishing Judaism for generations to come.