Book contents
Postscript
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 June 2023
Summary
We are back in Prague, Klein's city. Many years have passed since the end of the Second World War. A short metro journey from the city centre to Želivského will take you directly opposite the New Jewish Cemetery. The information office will provide you with a plan of the cemetery and direct you to Lisa's plot. It is at the far-eastern end of the massive site. Walk down the right-hand path, closest to the perimeter wall, towards the well-visited grave of Franz Kafka. On the wall on your right, you will soon find Gideon Klein's name included in the memorials to those Czech artists slaughtered in the Holocaust. In the northern hinterland of the cemetery, you will find he is also memorialised on the reverse of his grandmother Kateřina's gravestone. In 2011, on my own intervention, Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) for Klein and his mother were placed outside the Rašínovo apartment in Prague: brass plaques, now widespread in what was Nazi-occupied Europe, are set into the pavement outside the last residential addresses of Holocaust victims, in memory of those who never returned.
Prague now enjoys a vibrant Jewish life, a revival which has gone from strength to strength since the Velvet Revolution. The Jewish Quarter is not only one large museum in its own right but also boasts active synagogues, kosher restaurants and an energetic Jewish lifestyle. But take time out, when there, to make your way to the Pinkus Synagogue. As you enter, and as your eyes adjust to the muted light, you will notice busy patterns on the walls. As you look more closely, you will find that these are the names of the Czech Jews who were murdered by Hitler's followers. Close on 80,000 names, handwritten. Find the northern wall, close to the Holy Ark, and look up. There you will find Gideon Klein's name. And somewhere, there is Ilona, and Aunt Reginka, and Edith, and Arnost. And you can find Rafael Schächter, Viktor Ullmann, Hans Krása and Pavel Haas, along with Gustav, and Gonda, and Jakob, and of course Frantiská. And far, far too many other names from this story.
Then leave the synagogue, and walk through the enchanting Prague streets, and remember what Hana Žantovská said about Gideon's love of ‘the Vltava bridges and riverbanks, books of poetry, small coffee shops’.
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- Information
- Don't Forget about MeThe Short Life of Gideon Klein, Composer and Pianist, pp. 283 - 288Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2022