Abstract
On 26 July 1648, Swedish troops of General H. Ch.
Königsmark raided and occupied Hradčany and Lesser Town of Prague, whereupon for the next 15 weeks they unsuccessfully besieged both towns on the right bank of the Vltava, the Old and New Town of Prague. The success of the Prague defenders can be attributed to the fact that all groups of the population (students, burghers, nobility, and religious) actively joined the weak military garrison, while Prague Jews also performed their tasks.
Their duty was to keep fire watches and extinguish fires day and night, and they had to work on repairs of the walls as well. The events of 1648 left a significant mark on Jewish memory, but this paper focuses on the image of Jews in the works of Christian authors.
On the basis of an analysis of eight accounts, diaries and chronicles, it concludes that the references to Jewish participation in the defence of the city are free from the usual stereotypes and assesses the enormous commitment of Jewish fellow citizens in an extremely positive light.