Mountain Synagogue Hartmanice

Today Steve and I drove to Hartmanice, a mountain town about 20 miles from Sušice. The area is close to the German border and in the winter, the snow can be as high as 2 meters. After World War II, all of the Germans in the town and the surrounding areas were expelled. Czechs were moved in to occupy the villages, but they were unprepared for the brutal winters, and most left. The villages were then used by the Czech government, as far as I understand, for target practice.

The restored Mountain Synagogue is now as a museum of the Czech, German, and Jewish history of the area. On the first floor, the walls show images of the surrounding villages in the thirties and forties. Beneath each image is another photo taken within the last few years. The barren landscapes show the complete disappearance of these thousand-year-old villages.

On the second floor, that thousand-year history is depicted with images and text in Czech and German. Czech history is drenched in sadness and today some of it came home to me today. When World War II was ending, the Nazis took about 700 women from Auschwitz and marched them 700 kilometers through Germany and into Hartmanice. "The Death March" was their way of "hiding" the concentration camp survivors. As they marched, without shoes through the winter landscape, women died and were buried in the forests, conveniently disposed. That way, the Nazis didn't have to hide 700 bodies. They stopped at various camps and more women joined the March. In Hartmanice, they spent a night on a farm, and 12 women died there who are now buried in the Jewish cemetary outside the village.

In the museum, a few videos are available. One plays the story of a woman, Eva Ehrben, now living in Israel, who managed to survive the March. I cannot describe the impact of her words. Tomorrow, I will try to post more about this amazing museum.