Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mordechai Maisel (1528-1601) was known for his philanthropy, paying for the paving
of the ghetto streets, providing for Jewish widows and orphans, and building and be-
queathing the Maisel Synagogue (rebuilt in neo-gothic style in 1905).
MENDELSSOHN IS ON THE ROOF
decorated with statues of famous composers. It housed the German administra-
tion during WWII, when the Nazi authorities ordered that the statue of Felix
Mendelssohn - who was Jewish - must be removed.
In
Mendelssohn is on the Roof,
a darkly comic novella about life in wartime
Prague, the Jewish writer Jiří Weil weaves a wryly amusing story around this
true-life event. The two Czech labourers given the task of removing the statue
can't tell which of the two dozen or so figures is Mendelssohn - they all look the
same, as far as they can tell. Their Czech boss, remembering his lectures in 'ra-
cial science', tells them that Jews have big noses. 'Whichever one has the
biggest conk, that's the Jew.'
So the workmen single out the statue with the biggest nose - 'Look! That one
over there with the beret. None of the others has a nose like his' - then sling a
noose around its neck and start to haul it over. As their boss walks across to
check on their progress, he gapes in horror as they start to topple the figure of
the only composer on the roof that he does recognise - Richard Wagner.
Spanish Synagogue
About two blocks east of the Maisel Synagogue is the
Spanish Synagogue
Vězeňská 1; 9am-6pm Sun-Fri Apr-Oct, to 4.30pm Nov-Mar; Staroměstská)
. Named
after its striking Moorish interior and dating from 1868, its exhibit continues the story
of the Jews in the Czech Republic from emancipation to the present day.
