Czechia

The Bohemian lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia) were part of the Habsburg monarchy until the First World War, and of the First Czechoslovak Republic between 1918 and 1938. Following the signing of the Munich Agreement in September 1938, the border territories along the nowadays German and Austrian frontier were annexed by Germany (and a small part of Silesia by Poland). Most of these areas were reorganized as the Reichsgau Sudetenland, while areas in the West and South were attached to neighboring German Gaue. Further territorial losses between September and November 1938, led to the federalisation of Czechoslovakia (Czecho-Slovakia). In March 1939 Nazi Germany occupied the rest of the Bohemian lands, creating the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, with its own government and administration under close German supervision. The German-occupied Protectorate functioned up to the end of the war in May 1945.

In 1939, the Bohemian lands had a total population of about 11 million inhabitants (10,674,386 according to the 1930 census). After the Munich Agreement, most of the approximately 25,000 Jews from Sudetenland escaped or were expelled into the interior of the country. In the Protectorate, the occupiers regarded some 118,000 inhabitants as Jews. This Jewish community had modernized and had largely assimilated with German and Czech society in the Bohemian lands. In the context of rising nationalism and antisemitism, the first exclusionary measures were already taken during the Second Republic (1938-39). After the occupation, the Germans, as well as the semi-autonomous authorities of the Protectorate, imposed laws and various ordinances to discriminate against Jews and confiscate their property. In autumn 1939, some 5,000 Jews were deported from Vienna and Ostrava to Nisko. Before further emigration was banned in 1941, 26,000 Jews emigrated legally and several more illegally from the Protectorate. In 1941-42 several thousand Jews were deported to the ghettos of Litzmannstadt, Riga and Minsk, where they shared the history of the local Jewish population. In November 1941 the Theresienstadt [Terezín] ghetto was created; over 80,000 Jews from the Bohemian lands, but also more than 60,000 from Germany, Austria, and other Nazi-controlled territories were deported there between 1942 and 1945. Theresienstadt became a transit ghetto, because most of the prisoners were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and other extermination camps. About 33,000 Theresienstadt (mostly elderly) inmates perished in the ghetto due to the harsh conditions. In 1943-44, approximately 17,500 prisoners were deported to the Theresienstadt Family Camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau which was probably created for propaganda purposes. Most of the prisoners were killed in two large actions. At the end of the war there were 2,800 Jews in the Bohemian lands (most of them from “mixed” families), but the number of survivors was larger (about 14,000, together with the surviving deportees). Altogether, about 80,000 Czech Jews perished in the Holocaust.

During the interwar period, approximately 70–100,000 Roma lived in the territories of the whole Czechoslovak Republic. The vast majority lived in Slovakia. After the Anschluss in 1938, anti-Roma sentiment radicalized, and the population faced increasing discrimination. After the establishment of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, legislation and praxis towards Roma and Sinti was adjusted to the regulations already valid in Germany. Around 6,500 Roma were racially categorised by official authorities, many were deported into the detention camps Lety near Pisek and Hodonin near Kunstadt and later deported to Auschwitz. The Roma population in Bohemia and Moravia was almost completely destroyed.

The archival system in Czechia consists of the state archives, particularly the National Archives in Prague, and 7 regional archives, which are subordinate to the National Archival Administration [Odbor archivní správy a spisové služby] of the Ministry of Interior. The 70 district archives are subordinated to the regional archives. Furthermore, there are five archives of the territorial self-governing units worth emphasizing, in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Ústí nad Labem. In addition to the mentioned archives, there are also several specialised and private archives, memory institutions, museums and libraries.

Collections relating to the Second World War and the Holocaust can be found not only in the abovementioned archives, but also in the Military History Archives, the National Film Archives, the Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the State Security Archives (which holds the archives of the former communist security services and extensive materials from the Ministry of the Interior, including the criminal police) and municipal archives. Furthermore, there is the Terezín Memorial in the former Theresienstadt ghetto which acts as a museum, archive and research institute. Non-state institutions doing research and collecting documents on the Holocaust include the Jewish Museum in Prague and the Terezin Initiative Institute, also based in Prague, which was founded by former inmates of the Theresienstadt ghetto. EHRI has identified a number of archival guides on Czechia which are listed in the extensive report. EHRI has prepared a Terezín [Theresienstadt] Research Guide which links together the fragmented collections on this ghetto, interprets their history and provides contextual information. The “Jewish Councils” Research Guide also contains data about relevant collections in Czechia.

Disclaimer: The EHRI Extensive Report was updated in 2024.

A. EHRI approach to Czechia: Pre-existing Research and archival guides, expert support

In the case of Czechia, EHRI was able to rely on a number of pre-existing works, including Livia Rothkirchen’s The Jews of Bohemia and Moravia. Facing the Holocaust (2005), works by Miroslav Kárný, the Theresienstädter Studien und Dokumente and other publications. EHRI identified a number of resources useful for Holocaust researchers:

• [2008] Sedláková, Monika. “Co skrývají Okupační vězeňské spisy” in Terezínské listy 36 (2008): 198–210.
• [2005] Ptáčníková, Světlana/Vaničková, Vladimíra, “Judaika v Archivu Ministerstva vnitra” in Sborník Archivu Ministerstva vnitra 3 (2005): 321-342.
• [2005] Tůma, Oldřich/Jitka Svobodová/Ulrich Mählert, Vademecum Contemporary History Czech Republic. A Guide to Archives, Research Institutions, Libraries, Associations, Museums and Places of Memorial (Prague: Institute for Contemporary History, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2005).
• [1987] Státní ústřední archiv v Praze. Průvodce po archivních fondech a sbírkách (Praha: TEPS, 1987).
• The National Archives Portal is the central database of archival collections in Czechia.
• Holocaust.cz portal provides access, apart from other materials, to the database of Holocaust victims and to a growing body of digitised archival material (mostly from the National Archives, but also from other archival institutions).

B. Characteristics of the Czech archival system and specific challenges

The Archival system in Czechia consists of the state archives, particularly the National Archives in Prague, and 7 regional archives, which are subordinate to the National Archival Administration [Odbor archivní správy a spisové služby] of the Ministry of Interior. Two other archives, in Opava and Brno, are also de facto regional archives, but are called Zemský, or Land archives, for historical reasons. Furthermore, there are 70 district archives which are subordinated to the respective regional archives. In addition to the mentioned archives, there exist also several specialed and private archives, memory institutions, museums and libraries. Furthermore, there are five archives of the territorial self-governing units worth emphasising, in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Ústí nad Labem.

C. EHRI identification and description results on Czechia

C. I. In Czechia

Collections relating to the Second World War and the Holocaust can be found not only in the abovementioned state archives, but also in the Military History Archives, the National Film Archives, the Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the State Security Archive (which holds the archives of the former communist security services). Furthermore, there is the Terezín Memorial in the former Theresienstadt ghetto which acts as a museum, archive and research institute. Non-state institutions doing research and collecting documents on the Holocaust include the Jewish Museum in Prague and the Prague-based Terezín Initiative Institute, which was founded by former inmates of the Theresienstadt ghetto. In October 2018, EHRI imported 165 top-level archival descriptions prepared by the Jewish Museum in Prague within the framework of the cooperation between EHRI and the Yerusha project.

C. II. In other countries

EHRI has yet to determine which archival institutions and collections outside of Czechia are relevant to Holocaust research on Czechia. Some holdings of Yad Vashem and Beit Terezin (Israel) have been included in the EHRI research guides. The USHMM has conducted an extended copying program in the Czech archives, in particular in the National Archives in Prague. Yad Vashem has copied a significant amount of material from the Archives of the Jewish Museum in Prague.