Year/Month

Events and restrictions for Jews in Czechoslovakia, 1939 - 1945

1939 - III

15.III.1939 Germany invades. Establishment of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Czech Bar Association - of its own volition - cancels the certification of Jewish lawyers. 16.III.1939 - Hitler in Praha. 17.III.1939 The Merkur Trading Company is granted the right to hang up signs reading "ciste arijsky obchod" - "purely Aryan shop". The Czech government dismisses all Jewish doctors from working in hospitals and health facilities funded by Social Security. Jews forbidden from belonging in non-Jewish sports teams and from attending sporting events as spectators.

1939 - IV

Jews purged from civil service

1939 - VI

21.VI.1939 Reichsprotektor issues 1st decree on Jewish property, which defines who is a Jew according to the so-called "Nuremberg Laws" and forbidding Jews disposition over their real estate, businesses, stocks and bonds, precious metals, jewels, pearls etc.

1939 - VII

12.VII.1939 By decree of the Reichsminister of Culture, Jewish children excluded from attending German schools.

1939 - VIII

5.VIII.1939 Bohemian state authorities in Praha forbid Jews to visit restaurants or cafes, unless separate rooms for them are available. The same was true for public baths (washing facilities), however all public swimming pools were closed to Jews entirely.

1939 - IX

1.IX.1939 WWII begins with German invasion of Poland. Simultaneously, draconian punishments (prison, death penalty) introduced for all people living in the Reich for listening to foreign radio broadcasts. 23.IX.1939 Jews ordered to hand over radios within 24 hours.

1939 - X

Food rationing introduced. 10.X.1939 Jewish bank accounts are converted into special blocked bank accounts. All transactions over 1,500 K per person/per month subject to approval from the Ministry of Finance. 23.X.1939 labor contracts with Jews can be cancelled as of the 1st of any month with 6 weeks' notice. Jews are not eligible to receive unemployment or other benefits in these cases.

1939 - XI

15.XI.1939 German-language universities in the Protectorate become Reichs-German institutions and are closed to Jews. 17.XI.1939 All Czech universities are closed after demonstrations on 28.X.1939.

1939 - XII

Jews forbidden to be outside after 20:00 h.

1940 - I

23.I.1940 All bank payments to Jews had to occur via blocked Jewish bank accounts. 26.I.1940 -- Decree of the Reichsprotektor on the exclusion of Jews from Public and Economic Life. All Jewish businesses can be closed and dissolved per order. Their property has to be turned over to a specified organization.

1940 - III

1.III.1940 -- all Jewish ID cards ordered marked with a "J". 5.III.1940 -- all people defined as Jews according to the Nuremburg laws required to register with the Jewish Religious Community of Praha. Heydrich's SD founds the Auswanderungsfond fuer Boehmen und Maehren (Emigration Fund for Bohemia and Moravia) = state-organized thieving society.

1940 - IV

Jews no longer allowed to work in textile businesses.

1940 - V

17.V.1940 Jews forbidden to enter all public parks and gardens.

1940 - VI

3.VI.1942 Reichsprotektor issues a decree licensing the keeping of pigeons (including carrier pigeons). Jews excluded from obtaining such licenses.

1940 - VII

5.VII.1940 Jews forbidden to rent cars. Jews forbidden from using steam-driven boats - e.g., like the pleasure boats on the River Vltava.

1940 - VIII

5.VIII.1940 By decree of the Police Directorate of Praha, shopping hours for Jews in all stores set at 11:00 - 13:00 and 15:00 - 16:30 hours. 15.VIII.1940 All restaurants and cafes in Praha - except for a few designated as Jewish - were closed to Jews. 7.VIII.1940 Jews forbidden to use any railway dining facilities or sleeping cars in trains. Jewish children excluded from Czech-language schools including private schools.

1940 - IX

4.IX.1940 Jews forbidden entry to all forests in Greater Praha region whether state or privately owned. 6.IX.1940 by decree of the Bohemian State Office in Praha, Jews forbidden to visit theaters or cinemas. 10.IX.1940 Jews allowed to stay only at the Hotels Fiser and Star, and for some time also at Hotel Tatra. 12.IX.1940 By decree of the Police Directorate of Praha, in city trams Jews are only allowed to use the last car - the one pulled by the engine car. If the car has only one entrance, Jews are allowed only to use the back half of the car. Jews are not allowed to use trams consisting of only one car. 13.IX.1940 Jews are only allowed to move into flats already inhabited by other Jews.

1940 - X

7.X.1940 By decree of the Reichsprotektor, flats vacated by Jews can only be rented out again on the basis of a permit issued by the Zentralstelle or Oberlandrat (German district authority). Jews are excluded from receiving ration coupons for/purchasing rationed clothing. The purchase of clothing for Jews is limited to second-hand shops only. The only new textile products open for sale to Jews are sewing materials valued at a maximum of 2 K per quarter.

1940 - XI

1.XI.1940 Jews forbidden to change their places of residence (unless officially ordered to do so). Praha Jews forbidden to leave the city limits of Greater Praha. 22.XI.1940 By order of the Zentralstelle, Jews forbidden to use buses, except for war vetarans and blind Jews, but only if there is space on the bus. Jews forbidden to use city buses altogether.

1940 - XII

9.XII.1940 Jews not allowed to frequent the environs of the Praha Stock Exchange, or the streets: Panska, Nekazanka, Senovazna, or Dlazdena.

1941 - I

7.I.1941 By decree of the Postal Administration, Jews are forbidden to have telephones and telephones are removed from Jewish flats and homes.18.I.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for apples. 23.I.1941 Jews ordered to hand in driver's licenses within 10 days. Driving schools forbidden to accept Jews as students.

1941 - II

8.II.1941 Jews required to hand in fishing licenses. All fishing forbidden. 10.II.1941 The limited shopping hours for Jews extended to apply to shopping done by Gentiles on behalf of Jews. Later, shopping for Jews was limited to the hours of 15:00 to 17:00 h only.

1941 - III

14.III.1941 Training courses offered to Jews by the Jewish Community forbidden.

1941 - V

2.V.1941 By decree of the Reichsprotektor, business properties vacated by Jews can only be rented out again on the basis of a permit issued by the Zentralstelle or Oberlandrat (German district authority). Such permits were generally only issued for rental contracts with German immingrants.

1941 - VI

13.VI.1941 18.I.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for extra sugar rations. 22.VI.1941 Invasion of Soviet Union. 26.VI.1941 Jews allowed to visit barbers only between 08:00 and 10:00 hours.

1941 - VII

5.VII.1941 - German law forbidding marriages and extra-marital relations between Jews and non-Jewish citizens of the Reich of "German or related blood" introduced in the Protectorate with retroactive validity to 16.III.1939. 29.VII.1941 Jews forbidden to frequent either bank of the River Vltava.

1941 - VIII

29.VIII.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for legumes.

1941 - IX

1.IX.1941 -- Jews forbidden to leave individual city district in large communities (e.g., Prague, Brno, Plzen, Ostrava, etc.) or the towns themselves in smaller cities without written police permission (which was virtually never granted). Simultaneously, Jews required to wear a yellow Star of David with the word "Jude". Petr Ginz of Prague notes in his diary that one can see so many such stars on Dlouha trida (a main street in a very Jewish section of central Prague) that the street is being called the "Milky Way". 6.IX.1941 Jews forbidden to visit public libraries. 10.IX.1941 By decree of the Bohemian State Office in Prague - the public reproduction of any music composed, played or conducted by Jews is forbidden. The same applies to the music of non-Jewish composers, if its text was written by a Jew. 24.IX.1941 Jews in Prague allowed to use only the Post Office in Prague II, Ostrovni 9 and that only between the hours of 12:00 and 17:00, later reduced to 13:00 and 17:00. Similar rules applied in most Czech cities.

1941 - X - 1

1.X.1941 By decree of the Ministry of Finance, Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for tabacco or tabacco products. Jews found smoking can be handed over to the Gestapo and tortured to determine who supplied him/her with the tobacco. 3.X.1941 By decree of the Reich, any labor contracts entered into with Jews are considered "special". On the 31st of that month more specific rules were issued excluding Jews from benefits such as paid sick leave, health insurance, vacation, over-time pay, or extra wages for work during holidays or Sundays, bonuses for children, marriages, or births, Christmas or annual bonuses, bonuses to cover funeral expenses. Jews could be fired immediately without notice. Safety regulations required to protect workers did not apply to Jews. 12.X.1941 Jews are allowed to "request" in writing that the Zentralstelle in Prague deal with/dispose of their property. Generally, this was a written declaration handing over all their property to the SS just prior to deportation.

1941 - X - 2

14.X.1941 Jews can only be employed with written permission of the Zentralstelle. On the same day, by decree of the Ministry of Transport, Jews are only allowed to use the lowest available class on any train. Jews are excluded from the use of express trains. In "osobni vlaky" (slow-moving trains making all stops), Jews are allowed to use only the last carriage. When buying tickets, they had to show their ID and an official permission to travel and/or official order to appear at some place. 15.X.1941 All Jewish savings accounts at Czech banks have to be converted into blocked Jewish bank accounts. 16.X.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for marmelades or jams. 18.X.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for shaving soap.

1941 - X - 23

23.X.1941 By decree of the Ministry of Agriculture, Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for fruit of any type whether fresh, preserved or dried, cheese, sweets, fish and fish products, poultry or game. It was also not allowed for Gentiles to sell or donate any of these products to Jews.

1941 - XI

Jews ordered to hand over all skis, ski-clothing and ski-boots. Jews ordered to hand over all sewing machines. 4.XI.1941 Jews only allowed to use trams after submitting a signed and stamped paper from employer indicating the necessity of transport to and from work. 27.XI.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for wine or liquors.

1941 - XII

1.XII.1941 Jews excluded from public transport in Brno. 4.XII.1941 By decree of the Police Directorate of Praha, Jews are forbidden to visit any public collections, museums, exhibitions, reading rooms, picture galleries or archives. 11.XII.1941, Hitler declares war on U.S. after Pearl Harbor attack. 12.XII.1941 Jews forbidden to visit the Praha Christmas Market at Karlovo namesti. 24.XII.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for coffee or coffee products.

1942 - I

2.I.1942 Praha Jews forbidden to use the streets next to Celakovskeho sady at Muzeum or in Jerusalemska Street near St. Henry's Church, as there were green areas (small parks) there. 12.I.1942 Sale of Czech-language newspapers to Jews forbidden. 15I.1941 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for pork. Jews ordered to hand over all furs and woolen clothing. 23.I.1942 Jews forbidden to use city trams for any reason between 15:00 h Saturdays and 01:00 h Mondays. 23.I.1942 By decree of the Ministry of the Economy and of Labor, the sale of caps is forbidden to Jews. 31.I.1942 Jews are forbidden to use public phones.

1942 - II

21.II.1942 By decree of the Police Directorate of Praha, Jews are forbidden to use laundries, dry-cleaners and clothes dying facilities. 25.II.1942 By decree of the Postal Administration, non-Jews living in common households with Jews are forbidden to use telephones. Telephones are confiscated.

1942 - III

7.III.1942 Law forbidding marriages between Jews and non-Jewish citizens of the Protectorate. Partial Jews forbidden to marry each other.

1942 - IV

3.IV.1942 By decree of the Ministry of the Economy and of Labor, the sale of suitcases, rucksacks, attache cases, pouches, wallets, travel needs, straps and shopping bags is forbidden to Jews. 9.IV.1942 By Protectorate government decree, partial Jews and spouses of Jews or partial Jews in the civil service are suspended from service.

1942 - V

3.V.1942 Praha Jews forbidden to walk across Namesti Miru (then Reichsplatz), as there were green areas (small parks) there. 8.V.1942 By decree of the Praha Electric Works, tram conductors are required to insist that Jews exit any tram during rush hour, or if a station is full. 27.V.1942 Jews forbidden to buy any non-rationed food products. 29.V.1942 Jews forbidden to visit barber's shops. Barbers and hairdressers forbidden to visit Jews in their homes.

1942 - VI

1.VI.1942 Sale of German-language newspapers to Jews forbidden. 5.VI.1942 Praha Jews forbidden to be on Vaclavske namesti, Na prikope, Narodni trida, Hybernska and all streets leading to Main Station or the zoo at Praha-Troja from 15:00 hours on Saturdays until 08:00 hours on Mondays. Similar orders issued in other cities of the Protectorate. 23.VI.1942 By decree of the Ministry of Transport, Jews allowed only to use the last compartment of the last car of any train. They are forbidden to use the services of baggage carriers, to use waiting rooms or any other facilities at train stations. Jews forbidden to keep pets.

1942 - VII

17.VII.1942 By Protectorate government decree, the employment of Jews according to the Reichs law of 31.X.1941, and it is especially emphasized that no set time limit to the work week applies to Jews. Savings in wages that Protectorate firms make have to be handed over to the Zentralstelle. 24.VII.1942 Jewish schools ordered to close. Private education of Jewish children also forbidden.

1942 - VIII

31.VIII.1942 Jews forbidden to store potatoes in cellars.

1942 - IX

21.II.1942 By decree of the Police Directorate of Praha, Jews are forbidden to use cloth pressing facilities (mangels). 8.IX.1942 Half-Jews are no longer accepted into Czech schools and are only allowed to finish grades 2 through 4, if already there. Quarter-Jews were allowed to be accepted into schools, but only if there place is not required by a full-Aryan. People of mixed parentage are not allowed to study to become teachers.

1942 - X

10.X.1942 By decree of the Zentralstelle, public transport in Praha only allowed for Jewish doctors, officials of the Jewish Community and Jewish workers in war industries.

1942 - XI

2.XI.1942 By Reich decree, Jews with Protectorate citizenship living outside the borders of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia lose their Protectorate citizenship and become stateless. Their property is subject to confiscation by the Reich. This decree allows for the confiscation of property of those Jews who did not sign the agreement with the Zentralstelle on the disposal of their property prior to deportation.

1942 - XII

1.XII.1942 -- Hotel Fiser closes as last hotel in Praha allowed to house Jews. 1.XII.1942 By decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, all ration coupons issued to Jews require a large stamp with the letter 'J'. Furthermore, Jews are excluded from purchasing meat, eggs, milk, artificial honey and white bread. Any ration coupons for eggs that had already been issued had to be returned. Coupons for white bread could be used to purchase rye bread. Special rations for the sick, for pregnant women and nursing mothers do not apply for Jews. 12.XII.1942 Jewish children excluded from receiving ration coupons for honey.

1943 - I

11.I.1943 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for sauerkraut.

1943 - IV

5.IV.1943 Jews excluded from receiving ration coupons for yeast.

1943 - VII

Upon the death of a Jew, all of his/her property is subject to confiscation and cannot be inherited. Jews forbidden to wear mourning for the dead.

1944 - VII

Majdanek liberated by Soviets.

1944 - XI

Gassing stops at Auschwitz.

1945 - I

Auschwitz liberated by Soviets.

1945 - IV

30.IV.1945 Hitler commits suicide in Berlin

1945 - V

5.V.1945 Praha uprising erupts. 8./9.V.1945 WWII in Europe ends.

Information taken from the book "Město za mřížemi" (City Behind Bars) by Karel Lagus and Josef Polák, Nakladatelství Miloš Uhlíř - Baset, 2006 (ISBN: 80-7340-088-X) and from the online collection of the Jüdische Nachrichtenblatt-Židovské listy at the Leo Baeck Institute's site.