Secrets in the Attic

The poster presents a current project of the Jewish Museum in Prague in cooperation with The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies, Norway, the Regional Museum in Chrudim and the Museum of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic, supported by EEA and Norway grants. In the project, we conserve, research and present finds from Bohemian and Moravian genizot that constitute an important part of the cultural heritage of the local Jewish community, yet remain almost unknown to the general public. Genizot in Central Europe are protected and closed spaces, usually in a synagogue attic, which were for centuries used by a local community as a storage area for worn-out ritual objects, especially textual relics. Beside the expected objects requiring genizah according to halacha or local minhag, like old scrolls and prayer books, ritual textiles and synagogue furnishings, there are – rather surprisingly – quite a lot of items that do not require genizah, such as ordinary garments and shoes, which conform in type with caches in non-Jewish buildings. By analyzing the material content and spatial context of a geniza, we can get closer to understanding the life of a particular community in the diaspora, the local customs, and values, including those not described in textual sources.