News

On Wednesday, January 27, 2021, for the sixteenth time, a festive commemoration was held on the premises of the Wallenstein Palace in Prague on the occasion of the Day of the Holocaust Remembrance and the Prevention of Crimes Against Humanity. The meeting was organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic and the Endowment Fund for Holocaust Victims in cooperation with the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, under the auspices of Senate President Mr. Miloš Vystrčil.

On 27 January we commemorate the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oświęcim-Brzezinka). In the Czech Republic, this day has been recognized as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust and the Day of Prevention of Crimes Against Humanity since 2004. In 2005, United Nations declared 27 January as an International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
On 27 January 2021, three major commemorative events will take place in Prague, Terezín and Jerusalem. Due to the current unfavorable epidemiological situation and taking into account the crisis measures of the Government of the Czech Republic, the events will take place in the online space. The online form of the events will enable a participation of a wider audience.

On Friday, a demonstration took place in Prague in support of the current US President Trump, coupled with a protest against governmental epidemiological measures and COVID-19 vaccination. Part of the protesters pinned the star of David with the inscription “unvaccinated” as a symbol of protest against vaccination on their clothes.

Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic and Foundation for Holocaust Victims issued the following statement: “The Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic and the Foundation for Holocaust Victims condemn the exemplary abuse and relativization of the Holocaust symbol associated with the suffering of millions of people. It is obvious that our society needs to be constantly educated. We recommended to all those who resort to such low manifestations of their ideas to visit places associated with the Nazi genocide in our country and abroad. We thank all those who publicly condemned these speeches during today’s Shabbat.“

Romani prisoners of concentration camps and relatives of the victims of Nazism, members of the Committee for Compensation of the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic also condemn the abuse of the Jewish star.

Today, the Prague Jewish Community issued an appeal to the general public: “Perhaps, due to today’s coronavirus pandemic, many people have a better understanding of what movement restrictions, limited shopping opportunities, visiting bans, curfews and other restrictions mean.
Nevertheless, for sure no one suffers from hunger, nobody is humiliated, people do not get their bicycle, car, radio or television confiscated. People can go out, visit the park. People’s property is not stolen from them and people are not transported to Terezín and from there, further on to the East in the cattle cars of the trains. Therefore, we beg general public and address the public with the following statement: “Do not use the yellow stars, this way you offend the victims of Nazism.“

Statement by Cardinal Dominik Duka Czech Cardinal D. Duka on Annual Report on Anti-Semitism 2019 unofficial translation

The Annual Report on Manifestations of Antisemitism in the CR in 2019 has been drafted by the FJC for the internal needs of the Jewish communities in the Czech Republic and also for the needs of other institutions that process data on antisemitism. The aim of the report is to provide a compact picture, within the scope of the acquired information, of the manifestations of antisemitism and of the trends and social climate in relation to manifestations of antisemitism.

The Czech-Israeli Mutual Chamber of Commerce does not regard the ruling of the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg dated 12 November 2019 as a convincing legal, but regrettably a political decision, which in essence will significantly hamper both the businesses interests of the European Union and the Member States in the Middle East region, and indeed those of the State of Israel and of Palestinians themselves. By the virtue of interpreting consumer legislation, the decision expresses the political attitude of the EU relative to Jewish Settlements, and not the interest in consumer protection.

The Czech Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution that condemned both antisemitism and anti-Israel boycotts as well as affirmed Israel’s right to self-defense. Both Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz and Israel’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic Daniel Meron tweeted their appreciation of the resolution.
“I wish to thank our Czech friends for this step, which reflects the true friendship between our countries. I call on more Parliaments to follow suit.” Katz tweeted.
Meron tweeted “Thank you!,” explaining that the resolution “strongly condemning all manifestations of antisemitism, including against State of Israel, and condemning any call for boycotting Israel.”

At a meeting on September 18th and 19th 2019, the Steering Committee of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic (ECC) discussed the issue of anti-Semitism.

In 2018, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic registered 347 anti-Semitic incidents. Such incidents, mainly the violent ones, are not always reported by their victims so the real number of anti-Semitic attacks can be in fact higher. However, violent anti-Semitic incidents continue to be rare in the Czech Republic. In 2018, there were recorded 2 cases of physical aggression with an anti-Semitic motif, 3 cases of vandalism of Jewish property by anti-Semitic inscriptions and 9 incidents involving …

The annual report on anti-Semitisms in 2015 (the Report) has been prepared by the Federation Jewish Communities (FJC) for internal needs of Jewish communities in the Czech Republic (CR), but also for the needs of other institutions processing the data on anti-Semitism. The Report aims to provide a comprehensive image of anti-Semitism and social climate related to anti-Semitism. The Report brings not only the data from the last year, but also compares recorded manifestations of anti-Semitism with the developments in …