Czech Scrolls

The Czech scrolls are living witnesses to the communities that existed in Europe and were destroyed by the Nazis during the Shoah (the Holocaust).  Information and history of the scrolls can be found on the website of the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust.

At Finchley Progressive Synagogue we are fortunate to have three scrolls on long-term loan from The Trust.  Each of these is a witness, a survivor and has a story to tell about the world from which it came.  One scroll is from Austerlitz (also known as Slavkov), one is from Kolodeje (or Kaladay) and the third is an Orphan Scroll (which means we do not know the community from which it came).

In the academic year 2008-9 Ivriah was involved in a project designed to educate the next generation of young people about the scrolls and their valuable place in our community and in the world.  This was generously supported by the UJIA and Leo Baeck College.

In January 2009, Rabbi Neil Janes attended a Holocaust Memorial Day interfaith service in Finchley at a local church.  He brought with the Orphan Scroll to show to the congregation, for it to bear witness and to give others a chance to learn about the Torah, about the Holocaust and Jewish life today.

On the 18th April 2009, we rededicated our scrolls within our community, commemorating the events of the Holocaust, celebrating the life of the communities which perished, commiting ourselves anew to the place of the scrolls as living witnesses and writing the story of our community into the life of the scrolls.