The Jewish Community in Czech Cites and its Memory. A few remarks about the connection of the terms Jews - memory - city - identity
Abstract
The subject of this paper is the question of how historical or group memory is constructed and how far the memory of the minority is connected to the memory of the majority. This theme is presented through an analysis of memoirs of Czech Jewish authors about the city.
This paper considers two levels. On one hand (in connection, for example, with Tzvetan Todorov) the "obsession with the cult of memory" level is the fundamental moment for building shared (collective, in this case, Jewish) identity.
The paper asks how, in the memoirs of the city, i.e. in what contexts, does the city appear. At the same time, in concordance with the concept of Pierre Nora, the author presumes that the objectification of common (cultural or group) memory not only influences the community itself, but also participates in the creation of the image of that community from the outside.
She therefore wonders how much of what is captured in Jewish memories corresponds with memory of the places themselves, that is, Czech cities.