Exploring the traces of Jewish Český Těšín

Restoration of the Jewish Community

After 1945, the synagogue of the Shomre Shabos Association once again began to serve as a place of prayer, both for the renewed association and for the Jewish community, i.e. all Jews in the town. However, the main figure of the restored association, Natan Bergman, emigrated after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and with him most of the community. The head of the post-war Jewish community for several years was its pre-war chairman, Dr. Leo Ziffer.

As the number of observant Jews in the town declined after the Communist takeover, both due to wartime hardships and emigration, the independent Jewish community in Český Těšín was dissolved and turned into a synagogue congregation. It had 22 members in the mid-1950s.

Photograph of members of the restored Shomre Shabos association in front of the synagogue, 1945. Published in the book The Lost World of Jews in Těšín Silesia, from the Nori Harel archive.


ContinueBack to map

Terms and Privacy

© 2024 USC Shoah Foundation, All Rights Reserved