Jews in the Bohemian Lands, 19th–20th Centuries: New Permanent Exhibition of the Jewish Museum in Prague at the Spanish Synagogue

The Jewish Museum in Prague (JMP), which focuses primarily on the cultural and social history of Jews in the Bohemian/Czech lands, has several permanent exhibitions, two of which provide an extensive survey of the history of the Jewish community in the territory of what is now the Czech Republic from the beginnings of settlement in the 10th century through to the present. The purpose of the current report is to take a closer look at the follow-up exhibition in the most beautiful of Prague synagogues – the temple in Dušní Street, now better known as the Spanish Synagogue. Requiring several years, the preparatory work for the exhibition was intensive and demanding in terms of expertise and costs, as it also involved modernizing the synagogue building and its furnishings. Unfortunately, the opening date of the exhibition coincided with yet another peak of the COVID-19 pandemic on 16 December 2020. Due to the government’s antipandemic measures, it had to close after two days, and remained closed for five more months.