WHY WERE THE CZECH TORAH SCROLLS NOT DESTROYED ?
Researched and written by Alan Cohen
It is estimated that the Nazis destroyed a minimum of 30,000 Torah scrolls in the lands they occupied during World War II. Only a few more than 1,900 survived the war. Of these, most were Czech scrolls. Chevrei Tzedek is proud to care for one of these scrolls.

The story of the Czech Scrolls begins in 1941. Konstantin von Neurath was appointed as the Nazi governor of Bohemia-Moravia, the present day Czech Republic. Under pressure, he agreed to enforce the Nazi Nuremberg laws and he kept the synagogues open until he came under increased pressure in February and March of 1941 and ordered the synagogues closed. At this time a delegation of Prague Jews visited him and asked if they could collect and preserve the Torah scrolls and other artifacts of the synagogues that were being closed, and von Neurath agreed. In September of 1941 von Neurath was fired when he refused to deport the Jews to concentration camps and Polish ghettos. For more information on von Neurath see below.
Von Neurath's replacement was the fanatical Nazi Reinhard Heydrich. He allowed Hans Gunther and his “Central Office for the Settlement of the Jewish Question”, to round up and deport the Jews of Prague. Gunther also ordered the rapid completion of the project of emptying out synagogues of Torah scrolls and other Jewish artifacts and transporting them to Prague’s Jewish Museum and other warehouses. Gunther allowed the Jews who were cataloguing the scrolls and other artifacts to continue their work. When they finished, they too were deported to Terezenstadt and eventually to Auschwitz and other death camps. Only two survived the Shoah. For more information on Hans Gunther and speculation on possible reasons that these items were not destroyed see below.
Soon after the war, Czechoslovakia came under Communist control. The Communist government, like the Nazi government before it, did not permit Jewish religious life. The Torah scrolls were transferred to a damp warehouse in a former synagogue outside of Prague. Here they remained for almost two decades.
In 1964, a small group of British Jews – an art dealer and a philanthropist, in consultation with a rabbi and a scholar – arranged the purchase of 1,564 scrolls from the Communist government and transported them to London. The Memorial Scrolls Trust was created to care for these scrolls and distribute them to congregations around the world.
Over the past 60 years, they have distributed most of the scrolls to worthy congregations. Many congregations have been able to restore their scrolls, and over 100,000 bar and bat mitzvahs have been celebrated using scrolls that Prague Jews rescued from the clutches of the Nazis.
For information on other scrolls that survived World War II see below.
Von Neurath's replacement was the fanatical Nazi Reinhard Heydrich. He allowed Hans Gunther and his “Central Office for the Settlement of the Jewish Question”, to round up and deport the Jews of Prague. Gunther also ordered the rapid completion of the project of emptying out synagogues of Torah scrolls and other Jewish artifacts and transporting them to Prague’s Jewish Museum and other warehouses. Gunther allowed the Jews who were cataloguing the scrolls and other artifacts to continue their work. When they finished, they too were deported to Terezenstadt and eventually to Auschwitz and other death camps. Only two survived the Shoah. For more information on Hans Gunther and speculation on possible reasons that these items were not destroyed see below.
Soon after the war, Czechoslovakia came under Communist control. The Communist government, like the Nazi government before it, did not permit Jewish religious life. The Torah scrolls were transferred to a damp warehouse in a former synagogue outside of Prague. Here they remained for almost two decades.
In 1964, a small group of British Jews – an art dealer and a philanthropist, in consultation with a rabbi and a scholar – arranged the purchase of 1,564 scrolls from the Communist government and transported them to London. The Memorial Scrolls Trust was created to care for these scrolls and distribute them to congregations around the world.
Over the past 60 years, they have distributed most of the scrolls to worthy congregations. Many congregations have been able to restore their scrolls, and over 100,000 bar and bat mitzvahs have been celebrated using scrolls that Prague Jews rescued from the clutches of the Nazis.
For information on other scrolls that survived World War II see below.