There was a large and thriving community of Jews, both religious and secular, in Czechoslovakia before World War II. Many perished during the Holocaust. Today, nearly all of the survivors have inter-married and assimilated into Czech and Slovak society.

Academics and scientists

Engineering

* Itzhak Bentov, inventor *

Daniel Mandl Daniel Mandl (April 20, 1891 – March 23, 1945) was a civil engineer, inventor, and a student of anthroposophy. Life Daniel Mandl was born in Prostějov, Moravia. He studied engineering at the University of Vienna, Austria. During World W ...

(1891–1944), civil engineer, inventor, victim of the Holocaust

Social science

* Guido Adler (1855–1941), musicologist, composer, writer, born in Ivančice (Eibenschütz), Moravia * Yehuda Bauer, Czech-born Israeli historian of the Holocaust * Samuel Bergman, philosopher *

Pavel Bergmann Pavel Bergmann (14 February 1930, in Prague – 17 April 2005, in Prague) was a Czech historian, philosopher, a signatory of the Charter 77 manifesto, and a founding member of the Civic Forum. Early life Pavel Bergmann was born in Prague, Czech ...

, historian, philosopher and political activist; signatory of charter 77; nephew of

Hugo Bergmann Hugo Bergmann ( Hebrew: שמואל הוגו ברגמן; December 25, 1883 – June 18, 1975) was an Israeli philosopher, born in Prague. Biography Hugo Samuel Bergmann was born and raised in Prague, Austria-Hungary. He was a member of the P ...

Berthold Bretholz Berthold or Berchtold is a Germanic given name and surname. It is derived from two elements, ''berht'' meaning "bright" and ''wald'' meaning "(to) rule". It may refer to: *Bertholdt Hoover, a fictional character in the anime/manga series ''Attack o ...

, Moravian historian * Vilém Flusser (1920–1991), self-taught philosopher * Ernest Gellner (1925–1995), philosopher and social anthropologist * Stephan Korner, philosopher * Ernest Nagel, philosopher *

Samuel Steinherz Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

(1857–1942), Czechoslovak mediaevalist

Mathematics

* Nikolai Brashman (1796–1866), mathematician * David Gans (1541–1613), mathematician *

Joseph Kohn Joseph John Kohn (born May 18, 1932) is a professor emeritus of mathematics at Princeton University, where he researches partial differential operators and complex analysis. Life and work Kohn's father was Czech-Jewish architect Otto Kohn. A ...

(born 1932), mathematician * Ernst Kolman (1892–1972), philosopher of mathematics * Charles Loewner (1893–1968), mathematician * Assaf Naor (born 1975), mathematician * Alfred Tauber (1866–1942), mathematician * Olga Taussky-Todd (1906–1995), mathematician

Medicine

* Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis; born in Příbor (Freiberg), Moravia *

Carl Koller Karl Koller (December 3, 1857 – March 21, 1944) was an Austrian ophthalmologist who began his medical career as a surgeon at the Vienna General Hospital and a colleague of Sigmund Freud. Koller introduced cocaine as a local anaesthetic for ...

(1857–1944), ophthalmologist * Pavol Steiner (1908–1969), Olympic water polo player, swimmer, and cardiac surgeon * Rudolf Vrba (1924–2006), pharmacologist (born in Slovakia)

Natural science

* Gerty Cori (1896–1957), biochemist * Martin Fleischmann, chemist

Arts/entertainment

Bedřich Feuerstein Bedřich Feuerstein (15 January 1892 – 10 May 1936) was a Czechs, Czech architect, painter and essayist. Feuerstein was born in Dobrovice and studied at the Czech Technical University under professor Jože Plečnik. Between 1924 and 1926 he ...

(1892–1936), architect, painter and essayist *

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

(1932-2018), film director, actor and script writer * Juraj Herz (born 1934), film director, actor, and scenic designer (born in Slovakia) * Arnošt Goldflam (born 1946), playwright, writer, director, screenwriter and actor * Hugo Haas (1901–1968), actor and film director * Miloš Kopecký (1922–1996), actor *

Hugo Lederer Professor Hugo Lederer (16 November 1871, in Znaim – 1 August 1940, in Berlin) was an Austro-Hungarian-born German sculptor. Lederer studied in Dresden under sculptor John Schilling from 1890, then briefly under Christian Behrens. His great ...

(1871–1940), sculptor * Francis Lederer (1899–2000), actor * Herbert Lom (1917–2012), actor * Robert Maxwell (1923–1991), media mogul * Emil Orlik (1870–1932), painter *

Alfréd Radok Alfréd Radok (17 December 1914 in – 22 April 1976) was a distinguished Czech stage director and film director. Radok's work belongs with the top Czech stage direction of the 20th century. He is often cited as a ''formalist'' in his work. Bio ...

(1917–1976), writer and director in theater and film * Karel Reisz (1926–2002), film director * Ivan Reitman (born 1946), film director (born in Slovakia) * Emery Roth (1871–1948), architect (born in Sečovce at the present-day territory of Slovakia) *

Jan Saudek Jan Saudek (born 13 May 1935) is an art photographer and painter. Jan Saudek's art work represents a unique technique combining photography and painting. In his country of origin, Czechoslovakia, Jan was considered a disturbed artist and oppre ...

(born 1935), art photographer *

Anna Ticho Anna Ticho (; 27 October 1894 – 1 March 1980) was an Israeli artist who became famous for her drawings of the Jerusalem hills. Beit Ticho, the house in Jerusalem that she shared with her husband is now a branch of the Israel Museum and a caf� ...

(1894–1980), artist * Jiří Weiss (1913–2004), film director and screenwriter * Adrianna Demiany (née Roskovanyi) (born 1942), Slovak-Hungarian-Canadian Journalist (Born in Košice at the present-day territory of Slovakia)

Athletes

Kurt Epstein Kurt Epstein (January 29, 1904 – February 1, 1975) was a Czechoslovakian Olympic water polo player and survivor of Nazi concentration camps. Early life Epstein was Jewish, and born to Maximilian and Helena Epstein. He grew up in Roudnice nad L ...

(1904–1975), Czechoslovak national water polo team, Olympic competitor, incarcerated by the Nazis in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz *

Arie Gill-Glick Arie Gluck (Hebrew: אריה גליק; April 13, 1930 – June 23, 2016) was an Israeli runner and coach. He competed in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games under the surname Gill or Gill-Glick. Early and personal life Gluck was born in Czechoslovakia ...

(1930–2016), Israeli Olympic runner *

Ladislav Hecht Ladislav Hecht (; hu, Hecht László ; August 31, 1909 – May 27, 2004) was a Jewish Czechoslovak-American professional tennis player. He won the gold medal in singles at the 1932 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine, and won the 1934 Hung ...

(1909–2004), Czechoslovak-American tennis player, world #6 * Gertrude "Traute" Kleinová (1918–1976), table tennis, three-time world champion, incarcerated by the Nazis in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz * Pavol Steiner (1908–1969), Olympic water polo player, swimmer, and cardiac surgeon *

Olga Winterberg Olga Winterberg (אולגה וינטנברג; May 3, 1922 – 2010) was an Israeli Olympian in the discus throw. She was the first woman to represent Israel at the Olympics. Winterberg was the Israel Women's Champion in the Discus Throw in 1960, ...

(1922–2010), Israeli Olympian in the discus throw

Music

* Karel Ančerl (1908–1973), conductor, respected for his performances of contemporary music and particularly cherished for his interpretations of music by Czech composers *

Karel Berman Karel Berman (14 April 1919 in Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia – 11 August 1995 in Prague, Czech Republic) was a Jewish Czech opera singer, composer and opera director. Life After extensive musical education, Karel Berman started his career ...

(1919–1995), opera singer and composer * Ignaz Brüll, composer and pianist * Arthur Chitz (1882–1944) musicologist, composer, pianist, and conductor *

Alexander Goldscheider Alexander Goldscheider (born June 22, 1950) is a Czech-born British composer, music producer, writer and computer specialist. Life and career He read music at Charles University in Prague, and received a PhD for his analysis of the music of ''The ...

(born 1950), composer and producer *

Alfred Grünfeld Alfred Grünfeld (4 July 1852 in Prague – 4 January 1924 in Vienna) was an Austrian pianist and composer. Life Alfred Grünfeld was born as the second of eight children to Jewish leather merchant Moritz Grünfeld (born 1817 Kolín nad Labem) a ...

(1852–1924), pianist and composer * Pavel Haas (1899–1944), composer *

Eduard Hanslick Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...

(1825–1904), music critic * Gideon Klein (1919–1945), composer of classical musicCzech Jewish Museum
"The life and work of the Czech Jewish composers Gideon Klein and Egon Ledeč" Accessed 10 November 2006. *

Eliška Kleinová Eliška Kleinová, born Elisabeth "Lisa" Klein (February 27, 1912, Přerov Přerov (; german: Prerau) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 41,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Bečva River. In the past it was a major ...

(1912–1999), pianist, music educator; sister of Gideon Klein * Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957), composer * Hans Krása (1899–1944), composer *

Egon Ledeč Egon Ledeč (16 March 1889, Kostelec nad Orlicí – October 1944, Auschwitz) was a Czechoslovak violinist and composer of Jewish origin. Ledeč was one of the artists sent to Theresienstadt and is shown as concertmaster in Karel Ančerl’s orche ...

(1889–1944), music composer *

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

(1860–1911), music composer and conductor, Czech-born * Herbert Thomas Mandl (1926–2007), concert violinist, professor at the Janáček Academy of Music in Ostrava, Holocaust survivor who was a contemporary witness to the rich cultural life in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) ghetto * Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870), composer and piano virtuoso * Zuzana Růžičková (1927–2017), contemporary harpsichordist, interpreter of classical and baroque music * Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942), composer and pianist *

Julius Schulhoff Julius Schulhoff (Julius Šulhov) (2 August 182515 March 1898) was a Bohemian pianist and composer of Jewish birth. As a composer, he was best known for his virtuosic salon pieces for solo piano, which included a grand sonata in F minor, twelve é ...

(1825–1898), pianist and composer * Walter Susskind (1913–1980), conductor * Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944), composer, conductor and pianist * Jaromír Weinberger (1896–1967), composer

Politicians

* Victor Adler (1852–1918), socialist politician, born in Prague * Madeleine Albright (born 1937), served as the 64th United States Secretary of State *

Ludwig Czech Ludwig Czech (14 February 1870 – 20 August 1942) was a German-speaking Jewish Czech member of the German Social Democratic Workers' Party in the Czechoslovak Republic who actively participated in the Czechoslovak politics of the so-called Firs ...

(1870–1942), leader and several times minister for the German Social Democratic Workers Party in the Czechoslovak Republic * Jan Fischer (born 1951), prime minister of the Czech Republic (2009) * Bruno Kafka (1881–1931), German-speaking Jewish Czech politician, leader from 1918 to his death of the Czechoslovak German Democratic Liberal Party, member of the National Assembly * Ignaz Kuranda, politician * Artur London (1915–1986), communist politician and co-defendant in the

Slánský trial The Slánský trial (officially English: "Trial of the Leadership of the Anti-State Conspiracy Centre Headed by Rudolf Slánský") was a 1952 antisemitic show trial against fourteen members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), incl ...

; born in Ostrava, Silesia, Austria-Hungary * Rudolf Margolius (1913–1952), Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade (1949–1952), a victim of the

* Rudolf Slánský (1901–1952); Communist politician and the party's

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

after World War II; fell into disfavour with the regime and was executed after a show trial *

Michael Žantovský Michael Žantovský (born 3 January 1949, Prague) is a Czech diplomat, politician, author, journalist, lyricist and psychologist. He is a former Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Kingdom, as well as to Israel and the United States. Ed ...

, politician and author; appointed to serve as the Ambassador to Israel in July 2003 * Vladimír Železný (born 1945), media businessman and politician, member of the European Parliament, founder of TV NOVA

Religious leaders

* Samuel Abramson, rabbi of Carlsbad * Tzvi Ashkenazi, better known as Haham Zevi, chief rabbi of Amsterdam, prominent opponent of the Sabbateans * Nehemiah Brüll, rabbi (born

Rousínov Rousínov (until 1921 Nový Rousínov; german: Neu Raußnitz, Neuraussnitz) is a town in Vyškov District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,900 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Čechyně, Královopolsk ...

, Moravia) * Israel Bruna, rabbi (born Brno) *

Aaron Chorin Aaron Chorin ( he, אהרן חארין; August 3, 1766August 24, 1844) was a Magyars, Hungarian rabbi and pioneer of early Reform Judaism, religious reform. He favored the use of the organ (music), organ and of prayers in the vernacular, and was ...

, rabbi (born Moravia) *

Joseph H. Hertz Joseph Herman Hertz (25 September 1872 – 14 January 1946) was a British Rabbi and biblical scholar. He held the position of Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1913 until his death in 1946, in a period encompassing both world wars and the ...

(1872–1946), Chief Rabbi of the British Empire * Isaac ben Jacob ha-Lavan, Bohemian tosafist * Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525?–1609), rabbi *

Mordecai Meisel Mordecai Marcus Meisel ( cs, Miška Marek Majzel; 1528, Prague – 13 March 1601, Prague) was a philanthropist and communal leader in Prague. Biography Born to the Meisel family. In 1542 and 1561 his family, with the other Jewish inhabitants, w ...

, Philanthropist and communal leader at Prague * Karol Sidon, playwright, chief rabbi of Prague, and Convert to Judaism Salomon Weisz, Cantor & Bar Mitzvah teacher in Znojmo and Trebic, Cantor of Moravia & Bar Mitzvah teacher in Prague from 1946 to 1968.

Writers

Henri Blowitz Henri Georges Stephane Adolphe Opper de Blowitz (28 December 182518 January 1903), previously Heinrich Opper and also known as Heinrich Opper von Blowitz, was a Bohemian journalist. Biography Blowitz began life as Heinrich Georg Stephan Adolf Op ...

, journalist * Max Brod (1884–1968), author, composer, and journalist *

Avigdor Dagan Avigdor Dagan (Hebrew: אביגדור דגן; born Viktor Fischl; 30 June 1912 – 28 May 2006) was a Czech-Israeli writer, playwright, literary translator, and diplomat. Prior to adopting the Hebraic name in 1955, his name was Viktor Fischl, ''D ...

(1912–2006), writer * Egon Hostovsky (1908–1973), writer * Franz Kafka (1883–1924), novelist *

Siegfried Kapper Siegfried Kapper was the literary pseudonym of Isaac Salomon Kapper (21 March 1821, Smíchov7 June 1879, Prague), a Bohemian-born Austrian writer of Jewish origin. Born in Smichow, Kapper studied medicine at Prague University, later completing a ...

(1821–1879), writer * Ivan Klíma (born 1931), novelist, playwright * Leopold Kompert (1822–1886), author *

Heda Margolius Kovály Heda Margolius Kovály (15 September 1919 – 5 December 2010 Grimes, William (9 December 2010). ''The New York Times''.) was a Czech writer and translator. She survived the Łódź ghetto and Auschwitz where her parents died. She later escape ...

, author and translator *

František R. Kraus František R. Kraus (גדעון בן יצחק קראוס ''Gideon ben Yitzhak'' with his Hebrew name) (October 14, 1903, Prague - May 19, 1967, Prague) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak History of the Jews in the Czech Republic, Jewish anti-f ...

(1903–1967), writer, journalist and reporter; wrote one of the first books ever about his experience in Auschwitz, published in 1945 * Arnošt Lustig (1926–2011), author of novels, short stories, plays and screenplays whose works have often involved the Holocaust *

Jiří Orten Jiří Orten (born Jiří Ohrenstein; 30 August 1919 in Kutná Hora – 1 September 1941 in Prague) was a Czech poet. His work was influenced by surrealism and folklore. Life Orten was born in Kutná Hora as Jiří Ohrenstein. His first book ...

(1919–1941), poet *

Ota Pavel Ota Pavel (born Otto Popper) (2 July 1930, in Prague – 31 March 1973, in Prague) was a Czech writer, journalist and sport reporter. He is primarily an author of autobiographical and biographical novels. Biography He was born in Prague as the ...

(1930–1973), writer, journalist and sport reporter * Leopold Perutz (1882–1957), German language novelist and mathematician *

Karel Poláček Karel Poláček (22 March 1892 – 21 January 1945) was a Czech writer, humorist and journalist of Jewish descent. Life He was born in Rychnov nad Kněžnou into the family of a Jewish merchant. He attended the gymnasium there, but did poor ...

(1892–1945), writer and journalist * Tom Stoppard (born 1937), playwright, known for plays such as ''The Real Thing'' and ''Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead'', and for the screenplay for ''Shakespeare in Love'' *

Hermann Ungar Hermann Ungar (April 20, 1893 in Boskovice – October 28, 1929 in Prague) was a Czech-Jewish writer (in the German language) and an officer in Czechoslovakia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Biography Ungar's father, Emil, was a cider maker who s ...

(1893–1929), writer of German language and an officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia * Jiří Weil (1900–1959), writer, novels ''Life with a Star'' (''Život s hvězdou'') and ''Mendelssohn is on the Roof'' * Franz Werfel (1890–1945), Czech-born writer; married Mahler's widow

Other

Jacob Bassevi Jacob Batsheba Bassevi von Treuenberg (born Schmieles; 1570, Verona – 2 May 1634, Mladá Boleslav, Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemia) was a Bohemian Court Jew and financier. Bassevi, sometimes also written Baschevi, was a son of Avraham Basch who orig ...

(1580–1634), Bohemian Court Jew and financier * George Brady (born 1928), brother of Hana Brady * Hana Brady (1931–1944), Holocaust victim * Izrael Zachariah Deutsch, deaf memoirist * Salo Flohr (1908–1983), leading chess master of the early 20th century * Tomáš Galásek, football player *

Petr Ginz Petr Ginz (1 February 1928 – 28 September 1944) was a Czechoslovak boy of partial Jewish background who was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp (known as Terezín, in Czech) during the Holocaust. He was murdered at the age of si ...

(1928–1944), boy deported to the Terezín concentration camp during the Holocaust *

Isaak Löw Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal Isaak Löw Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal (10 June 1759 in Prostiboř – 12 December 1849 in Vienna) was an Austrian merchant. Life During the famine in Ansbach in the middle of the 18th century, Hofmann's parents had emigrated from Pretzendo ...

(1759–1849), merchant * Frank Lowy (born 1930), businessman * Richard Réti (1889–1929), chess grandmaster * Yoshua Samuel Rusnak (also "Yehoshua Sh'mu'el Rusnak"; died 1915), diasporan Jew and Zionist based in Kosice, Slovakia; many of his family members were murdered in the Holocaust at Auschwitz * Wilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900), first World Chess Champion * Irene Capek (1925–2006), Jewish holocaust survivor, humanitarian and local Australian politician

References

Footnotes

{{Lists of Jews by country, noredlinks=yes Czech Jews Jews Jews,Czech