Czech, German or Jew: The Jewish Community of Prague during the Inter-war Period

Abstract

The increasing acculturation of the German-speaking Jews of Prague to Czech society beginning in the late nineteenth century was not the simple exchange of one dominant culture for another. Nor did the formation of the Czechoslovak republic signify the completion of a shift in identity from German to Czech, rather this process continued throughout the inter-war era, and German-speaking Jews maintained their position to a greater degree than has sometimes been assumed.¹ It was only with the virtual destruction of all Bohemian Jewry during the Second World War that the German-speaking Jewish community in Prague disappeared.