List of Czech and Slovak Jews
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There was a large and thriving community of Jews, both religious and secular, in Czechoslovakia before World War II. Many perished during the Holocaust. Today, nearly all of the survivors have inter-married and assimilated into Czech and Slovak society.
Academics and scientists
Engineering
- Itzhak Bentov, inventor[1]
- Daniel Mandl (1891–1944), civil engineer, inventor, victim of the Holocaust
Social science
- Guido Adler (1855–1941), musicologist, composer, writer, born in Ivančice (Eibenschütz), Moravia
- Yehuda Bauer, Czech-born Israeli historian of the Holocaust[2]
- Samuel Bergman, philosopher[3]
- Pavel Bergmann, historian, philosopher and political activist; signatory of charter 77;
- Berthold Bretholz, Moravian historian[4]
- Vilém Flusser (1920–1991), self-taught philosopher[5]
- Ernest Gellner (1925–1995), philosopher and social anthropologist[6]
- Joseph Goldberger, discovered cure for pellagra
- Anna Hájková, (1978-) Holocaust historian and Theresienstadt expert
- Stephan Korner, philosopher[7]
- Julie Moschelesová (1892–1956) A pioneering geographer in Czechoslovakia who emigrated to Australia
- Ernest Nagel, philosopher[8]
- Samuel Steinherz (1857–1942), Czechoslovak mediaevalist[9]
Mathematics
- Nikolai Brashman (1796–1866), mathematician[10]
- David Gans (1541–1613), mathematician[11]
- Joseph Kohn (1932–2023), mathematician[12]
- Ernst Kolman (1892–1972), philosopher of mathematics[13]
- Charles Loewner (1893–1968), mathematician[14]
- Assaf Naor (born 1975), mathematician[15]
- Alfred Tauber (1866–1942), mathematician[16]
- Olga Taussky-Todd (1906–1995), mathematician[17]
Medicine
- Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis; born in Příbor (Freiberg), Moravia
- Carl Koller (1857–1944), ophthalmologist[18]
- Pavol Steiner (1908–1969), Olympic water polo player, swimmer, and cardiac surgeon
- Rudolf Vrba (1924–2006), pharmacologist[19] (born in Slovakia)
Natural science
- Gerty Cori (1896–1957), biochemist[20]
- Martin Fleischmann, chemist[21]
- Eva Smolková‑Keulemansová, (1927-2024) professor of analytical science at Charles University.
- Rudolf Vrba, coauthor of the Vrba–Wetzler report, chemist
Arts/entertainment
- Bedřich Feuerstein (1892–1936), architect, painter and essayist[22]
- Miloš Forman (1932–2018), film director, actor and script writer[23]
- Arnošt Goldflam (born 1946), playwright, writer, director, screenwriter and actor[24]
- Hugo Haas (1901–1968), actor and film director[25]
- Juraj Herz (born 1934), film director, actor, and scenic designer[26] (born in Slovakia)
- Miloš Kopecký (1922–1996), actor
- Hugo Lederer (1871–1940), sculptor[27]
- Francis Lederer (1899–2000), actor[28]
- Herbert Lom (1917–2012), actor[29]
- Peter Lorre, actor
- Robert Maxwell (1923–1991), media mogul[30]
- Emil Orlik (1870–1932), painter[31]
- Alfréd Radok (1917–1976), writer and director in theater and film[32]
- Karel Reisz (1926–2002), film director[33]
- Ivan Reitman (1946-2022), film director (born in Slovakia)
- Emery Roth (1871–1948), architect (born in Sečovce at the present-day territory of Slovakia)
- Jan Saudek (born 1935), art photographer[34]
- Anna Ticho (1894–1980), artist[35]
- Jiří Weiss (1913–2004), film director and screenwriter[36]
- Adrianna Demiany (née Roskovanyi) (born 1942), Slovak-Hungarian-Canadian Journalist (Born in Košice at the present-day territory of Slovakia)[37]
Athletes
- Kurt Epstein (1904–1975), Czechoslovak national water polo team, Olympic competitor, incarcerated by the Nazis in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz[38][39]
- Arie Gill-Glick (1930–2016), Israeli Olympic runner
- Ladislav Hecht (1909–2004), Czechoslovak-American tennis player, world #6
- Gertrude "Traute" Kleinová (1918–1976), table tennis, three-time world champion, incarcerated by the Nazis in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz
- Pavol Steiner (1908–1969), Olympic water polo player, swimmer, and cardiac surgeon
- Olga Winterberg (1922–2010), Israeli Olympian in the discus throw
Music
- Karel Ančerl (1908–1973), conductor, respected for his performances of contemporary music and particularly cherished for his interpretations of music by Czech composers[40]
- Karel Berman (1919–1995), opera singer and composer[41]
- Ignaz Brüll, composer and pianist[42]
- Arthur Chitz (1882–1944) musicologist, composer, pianist, and conductor[43][44]
- Alexander Goldscheider (born 1950), composer and producer
- Alfred Grünfeld (1852–1924), pianist and composer[45]
- Pavel Haas (1899–1944), composer[46]
- Eduard Hanslick (1825–1904), music critic[47]
- Gideon Klein (1919–1945), composer of classical music[48][49]
- Eliška Kleinová (1912–1999), pianist, music educator; sister of Gideon Klein
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957), composer[50]
- Hans Krása (1899–1944), composer[51][52]
- Egon Ledeč (1889–1944), music composer[48]
- Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), music composer and conductor, Czech-born[53][54]
- Herbert Thomas Mandl (1926–2007), concert violinist, professor at the Janáček Academy of Music in Ostrava, Holocaust survivor who was a contemporary witness to the rich cultural life in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) ghetto
- Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870), composer and piano virtuoso[55]
- Zuzana Růžičková (1927–2017), contemporary harpsichordist, interpreter of classical and baroque music[56]
- Erwin Schulhoff (1894–1942), composer and pianist[57]
- Julius Schulhoff (1825–1898), pianist and composer[58]
- Walter Susskind (1913–1980), conductor[59]
- Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944), composer, conductor and pianist[60]
- Jaromír Weinberger (1896–1967), composer[61]
Politicians
- Victor Adler (1852–1918), socialist politician, born in Prague[62]
- Madeleine Albright (1937–2022), served as the 64th United States Secretary of State[63]
- Ludwig Czech (1870–1942), leader and several times minister for the German Social Democratic Workers Party in the Czechoslovak Republic
- Jan Fischer (born 1951), prime minister of the Czech Republic (2009)[64]
- Bruno Kafka (1881–1931), German-speaking Jewish Czech politician, leader from 1918 to his death of the Czechoslovak German Democratic Liberal Party, member of the National Assembly
- Ignaz Kuranda, politician[65]
- Artur London (1915–1986), communist politician and co-defendant in the Slánský trial; born in Ostrava, Silesia, Austria-Hungary[66]
- Rudolf Margolius (1913–1952), Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade (1949–1952), a victim of the Slánský trial[67]
- Rudolf Slánský (1901–1952); Communist politician and the party's General Secretary after World War II; fell into disfavour with the regime and was executed after a show trial[68]
- Michael Žantovský, politician and author; appointed to serve as the Ambassador to Israel in July 2003[69]
- Vladimír Železný (born 1945), media businessman and politician, member of the European Parliament, founder of TV NOVA
Religious leaders
- Samuel Abramson, rabbi of Carlsbad[70]
- Tzvi Ashkenazi, better known as Haham Zevi, chief rabbi of Amsterdam, prominent opponent of the Sabbateans
- Nehemiah Brüll, rabbi (born Rousínov, Moravia)[71]
- Israel Bruna, rabbi (born Brno)[72]
- Aaron Chorin, rabbi (born Moravia)[73]
- Joseph H. Hertz (1872–1946), Chief Rabbi of the British Empire[74]
- Isaac ben Jacob ha-Lavan, Bohemian tosafist[75]
- Judah Loew ben Bezalel (1525?–1609), rabbi[76]
- Mordecai Meisel, philanthropist and communal leader at Prague[77]
- Karol Sidon, playwright, chief rabbi of Prague, and Convert to Judaism
- Salomon Weisz, cantor & Bar Mitzvah teacher in Znojmo and Trebic, cantor of Moravia and Bar Mitzvah teacher in Prague from 1946 to 1968.
Writers
- Henri Blowitz, journalist[78]
- Max Brod (1884–1968), author, composer, and journalist[79]
- Petr Brod (b. 1951), journalist [80]
- Avigdor Dagan (1912–2006), writer[81]
- Egon Hostovsky (1908–1973), writer[82]
- Franz Kafka (1883–1924), novelist[83][84][85]
- Siegfried Kapper (1821–1879), writer[86]
- Ivan Klíma (1931–2025), novelist, playwright[87]
- Leopold Kompert (1822–1886), author[88]
- Heda Margolius Kovály, author and translator[89][90]
- František R. Kraus (1903–1967), writer, journalist and reporter; wrote one of the first books ever about his experience in Auschwitz, published in 1945
- Jiří Langer (1894-1943), poet, scholar and essayist, journalist and teacher
- Arnošt Lustig (1926–2011), author of novels, short stories, plays and screenplays whose works have often involved the Holocaust[91]
- Jiří Orten (1919–1941), poet[92]
- Ota Pavel (1930–1973), writer, journalist and sport reporter
- Leopold Perutz (1882–1957), German language novelist and mathematician
- Karel Poláček (1892–1945), writer and journalist[93]
- Tom Stoppard (born 1937), playwright, known for plays such as The Real Thing and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, and for the screenplay for Shakespeare in Love[94]
- Hermann Ungar (1893–1929), writer of German language and an officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia[95]
- Jiří Weil (1900–1959), writer, novels Life with a Star (Život s hvězdou) and Mendelssohn is on the Roof[96]
- Franz Werfel (1890–1945), Czech-born writer; married Mahler's widow[97]
- Alfred Wetzler, writer
Other
- Jacob Bassevi (1580–1634), Bohemian Court Jew and financier[98]
- George Brady (1928–2019), brother of Hana Brady[99]
- Hana Brady (1931–1944), Holocaust victim[100]
- Izrael Zachariah Deutsch, deaf memoirist[101]
- Salo Flohr (1908–1983), leading chess master of the early 20th century[102]
- Petr Ginz (1928–1944), boy deported to the Terezín concentration camp during the Holocaust[103]
- Isaak Löw Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal (1759–1849), merchant[104]
- Ignác Kolisch, chess player
- Frank Lowy (born 1930), businessman[105]
- Richard Réti (1889–1929), chess grandmaster[106]
- Yoshua Samuel Rusnak (also "Yehoshua Sh'mu'el Rusnak"; died 1915),[107] diasporan Jew and Zionist based in Kosice, Slovakia; many of his family members were murdered in the Holocaust at Auschwitz[108][109][110]
- Wilhelm Steinitz (1836–1900), first World Chess Champion[111]
- Irene Capek (1925–2006), Jewish holocaust survivor, humanitarian and local Australian politician