‘The Museum of an Extinct Race’ – Fact vs. Legend:
‘The Museum of an Extinct Race’ – Fact vs. Legend:

A Contribution to the Topic of the So-Called Jewish Councils in Central Europe

Summary/Abstract: One of Prague’s most important tourist attractions is, without a doubt, the local Jewish museum, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Most of the visitors know about its existence from tourist guides or from friends or relatives who have already been to Prague; alternatively, they have come across the collections of the Prague Jewish Museum at their displays abroad. Aside from the well-preserved monuments in the former Jewish ghetto, the synagogues that house the museum’s exhibitions, and the museum’s diverse collections, what also may inspire some tourists to visit the museum is the legend surrounding the genesis of its collections during the Second World War. A general idea still prevails that the museum was founded at the behest of the Nazis who intended to create a ‘museum of an extinct race’ in Prague for propaganda purposes and cynically compelled the Jews of Prague themselves to carry out their goal; as if the Nazi authorities had not concealed their plans from the Jews during the war and as if the employees of the Prague Jewish community – who were entrusted with this task – were already aware of the result and the extent of the tragedy that befell European Jewry.

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