April 28

Spent the morning in Josefov – the Jewish Quarter. There is an empty synagogue, a storey and a half high, all the walls are painted white, and written on the walls, ceiling to floor, in print about 2cm high are the names of the 80,000 Jews from Czechoslovakia who died in concentration camps during the war – rows and rows on wall after wall – it is quite a powerful reminder. There is also a small museum filled with the art done by Jewish children while they were in the camp Terezin. This was used for a time as a “propaganda” camp, a “spa” where newsreels showed happy children drinking milk and lemonade, but really, the conditions were as deplorable as any other camp. The parents got permission to continue to educate their children, and the art teacher catalogued and kept much of the children’s work – they considered it “art therapy” to help the children deal with what they were experiencing – under each picture was the child’s name, birthdate, internment date, and death date. Also walked through the old Jewish cemetery which dates back to the early15th century – 12,000 tombstones. The cemetery contains several burial layers on top of each other, with many of the tombstones being lifted and placed back on top after each progressive layer. It is about the size of 2 football fields, with the tombstones crammed haphazardly on the surface.

Walked over to Wenceslas Square – which is really a long rectangle in the centre of the street leading up to the National Museum. Many historic moments in Czech history occurred here – the most memorable, in our lifetime, being the spot where in 1969 Jan Palach, a university student, set himself on fire to protest the Soviet invasion, and the balcony where Alexander Dubchek and Vaclav Havel announced the end of communism in 1989 (now a Marks and Spencers store!) Somewhere nearby (we didn’t look very hard) is a Museum of Communism, above a McDonalds.

Continued on to the Municipal House – a very Art Noveau building, used mostly for meetings concerts now. Ran into the Americans we had met at Prague Castle the day before!

Finally, we walked through Old Town Square at a time when the famous Astronomical Clock performed! Every hour, Death rings a bell, turns over an hourglass, and the 12 apostles parade past 2 windows and nod to the crowd below. At the end, a cock crows and the hour rings. I have it on video, if anyone wants to see it!

Last night we went to Agharta Jazz Centrum to listen to some jazz. This is a tiny underground cave-like bar – maybe 20 tables – listened to Jiri Stifin (the Czech version of PJ Perry, Owen says) and the boys – I liked it!!! (Maureen and Vern, maybe we have to come to Prague to find jazz I like!!) Jiri played piccolo, flute and oboe, 2 guys on guitar – and a drummer – all of them excellent. We stayed for 2 sets, but had to head home to pack for our 9:15 a.m. departure to Munich tomorrow.