The Jews of Prague were always treated like outsiders. Despite the fact that they lived among the Czech for more than 800 years.
For much of their time in Prague, the Jews lived in a small section of the city, walled off from the rest of the community. Limited in the type of jobs they could hold and where they could live.
Despite the limitations, the Jewish quarter was filled with beautiful synagogues and schools, and several wealthy Jews even became advisers to kings.
The irony, is that when the ghettos were razed in the early part of the 20th century, the synagogues where left intact. They became collecting points for objects of Jewish art.
Then when the Nazis rose to power, these synagogues became one of museums to a people the Nazis hoped to wipe out.
Today, only 4,000 Jews remain in Prague. Most of the synagogues still standing are part of the Jewish Museum, all within walking distance. A haunting tribute to the once thriving community of central Europe.
