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Parchment scroll, each skin 71 cm in height. 58
lines of text per column, written in black ink.
Modern wooden rollers.
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SMU's Dr. Serge Frolov with Czech Torah Scroll |
Bridwell Library's Czech Torah Scroll was used
during the 19th century in the synagogue at Zamberk, a village in the northeastern mountains
of the Czech Republic, on the Polish border. According to the
Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust
(2001), Zamberk was home to a Jewish community since at least
the 17th century. Fires devastated the Jewish ghetto there in 1810 and
1833; it is likely that the Torah scroll dates from after the second
fire. The Jewish population of Zamberk diminished in size during the
later 19th century; by 1930, only 31 Jews still lived there. The
remaining Jews of Zamberk were deported by the Nazi government to the Theresienstadt ghetto
in 1942, and were sent from there to death camps.
Although the Torah scroll was stolen from Zamberk by the Nazis
for their "Jewish Museum" in occupied Prague, it
was one of 1,564 Czech Torah scrolls recovered after World War II by
the Memorial Scrolls Trust. It was taken to London, where is was
designated "Number 915. Czech Memorial Scrolls. Westminster
Synagogue 1964-5724." In 1976, with the aid of Mr. Norman Alweis and
Shirley G. Alweis of Dallas, Bridwell Library Director Decherd Turner requested that
a Memorial Scroll be deposited by the Trust at Bridwell
Library in honor of Dr. Levi A. Olan (1903–1984),
Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas. The Torah scroll from Zamberk arrived in January, 1977, and has been available for study
in Bridwell Library's Special Collections ever since.
According to Ann Blackman's Seasons of Her Life. A Biography
of Madeleine Korbel Albright (1988), the ancestors of former U.S. Secretary
of State Albright attended the synagogue in Zamberk (walking four
miles from their
village of Kysperk to attain a minyan) during the period when this scroll was in
use there.
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