In the Shadows of the Holocaust and Communism by Alena Heitlinger

Author:Alena Heitlinger [Heitlinger, Alena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General, Social Science, Jewish Studies
ISBN: 9781351512886
Google: Ex4uDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-07-12T01:30:38+00:00

Children of Maisel Street Today

Since the collapse of communism in November 1989, the Children of Maisel Street have held reunions in Prague in 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003; these have been highly successful. Vera Eisenberg, the author of the name “Children of Maisel Street,” and one of the co-organizers of the reunions, came up with the idea of the reunion as part of her émigré experience:

It was actually a continuation of an inspiration I had in the 80s during my emigration in New York. At that time several of my friends from the Prague Jewish Community also arrived in New York, and out of sheer nostalgia I organized several Chanukah and Purim reunions of Czechoslovak Jews of our generation. Then came 1989 and I thought that we New Yorkers could meet other friends who also lived as émigrés in various countries in the world.25

Eisenberg’s co-organizer of the four reunions, Switzerland-based Eva Sternküker, recalls the massive work involved in organizing the first reunion, of which she nonetheless has the fondest memories:

It took a lot of detective work, looking for addresses, writing letters. The reunion itself was emotionally highly charged, because the majority among us saw each other and friends who remained in Czechoslovakia for the first time in more than twenty years. I would say that the first meeting was the most touching; the only disturbing moment was a certain difficult-to-define barrier among “you there” (somewhere in the West) and “us here” (those who remained at home). However, this shadow disappeared by the second meeting, and what has remained is the pleasure from knowing that it was successful, that we saw each other, and that we want to meet regularly.26

The fourth reunion took place in May 2003, when more than 130 Czech and Slovak Jews, by now middle-aged came together; about half from abroad. As in the 1960s and 1970s, the reunions included a series of lectures in “our” room on the third floor of the Prague Jewish town hall on various Czech, Slovak, or global Jewish themes by volunteer speakers, followed by discussions and informal gatherings. Each of the reunions started on Thursday night and lasted until Sunday noon, with Saturday free during the day for religious observance or informal gatherings. Most participants stayed for a Sabbath dinner at the communal kosher dining room in the Prague Jewish town hall, and a few also attended an orthodox religious service in the Old-New Synagogue or a Reform one at the Spanish synagogue. However, as in the 1960s and 1970s, interest in religion remains rather low, and is far from being the main tie that keeps “Children of Maisel Street” together.

I was pleased to give the opening lecture at the May 2003 reunion. Entitled “Jewish Identity of the Postwar Generation in Czechoslovakia,” the lecture summarized the preliminary findings from this study. Since the “Children of Maisel Street” served as the key group for my snowball sampling of Czech/Slovak Jews of the postwar generation, I was delighted to be able to share my research results with the group that produced most of the data.

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