Department of Jewish History and Jewish Studies

Research activities & services

Department head: [email] PhDr. Iveta Cermanová, Ph.D.
Research worker: [email] PhDr. Alexandr Putík
Specialist: [email] Mgr. Daniel Polakovič
Specialist: [email] Mgr. Jiří Fiedler

The main focus of this department is the political, administrative, economic, social, religious and cultural history of Bohemian and Moravian Jews in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The current centre of interest includes the following topics: political and social history of the Jews in the 17th and 18th centuries, Shabatianism in the Czech lands (A. Putík), demography and genealogy of Bohemian Jewry (A. Putík, D. Polakovič), autonomy of Jewish communities in Moravia in the 16th-18th centuries, Jewish communities in the Czech lands in the 16th-18th centuries and their reflection in rabbinic literature (D. Polakovič), research into epigraphic sources on the history of the Jews in the Czech lands (D. Polakovič, I. Cermanová), research into Hebrew manuscripts and extant fragments in the Czech lands (D. Polakovič, I. Cermanová), censorship of Hebrew books in the Czech lands, intellectual history of the Jews in the Czech lands in the 18th and 19th centuries, Jewish historical literature (I. Cermanová) and history of Jewish settlement in the Czech lands (J. Fiedler). Specialist staff undertake extensive source research in the archives of the Jewish Museum and in other archives in the Czech Republic and abroad. The data obtained serves mainly for research purposes or for inclusion in special databases. Departmental staff publish the results of their research in "Judaica Bohemiae", an annual journal, and in other specialist publications, and also give presentations at specialist conferences and public lectures. Computer documentation on Jewish cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia - "Yuchasin" - is being gradually put together (under the supervision of D. Polakovič) and preparatory work is currently underway for the creation of the computer database "Yuchasin" (co-ordinated by A. Putík).

Consultation: by appointment