Memorial Scrolls Trust
The Memorial Scrolls Trust (MST) has the sacred responsibility for 1564 Czech Torah and other scrolls, part of a collection of over 200,000 Jewish artifacts which miraculously survived the Holocaust in Prague, Torah scrolls, books, ceremonial objects etc. were collected from all over Bohemia and Moravia and shipped from 118 towns to the Jewish Museum in Prague, where Jews were forced to catalogue the items, filling 40 buildings in the center of the city. After the the Communist coup in 1948 the Jewish Museum was allowed remained open, however the scrolls were moved to a damp warehouse in what had previously been the Michle Synagogue on the outskirts of Prague. The scrolls are allocated on Permanent Loan by the MST, only to be returned if the scroll-holder closes down.
History
In 1964 Ralph Yablon z”l, bought the 1564 scrolls from the Czech Government. He generously donated the scrolls to the Westminster Synagogue in London UK, who set up the Memorial Scrolls Trust as an independent charity to arrange for scrolls to be repaired and restored where possible. Every scroll has a brass identity plaque attached with the scroll number. The scrolls unsuitable for use in religious services are used for educational purposes and memorials. The MST Czech scrolls can be found in over 1300 communities and organizations from Alaska to New Zealand and from Mumbai to Buenos Aires. The Memorial Scrolls Trust has a small museum in Kent House, Knightsbridge London, the home of the Westminster Synagogue where it displays a unique collection some 150 Torah scrolls and 500 wimples and binders, welcoming visitors from all over the world. Find scrolls here.
History
In 1964 Ralph Yablon z”l, bought the 1564 scrolls from the Czech Government. He generously donated the scrolls to the Westminster Synagogue in London UK, who set up the Memorial Scrolls Trust as an independent charity to arrange for scrolls to be repaired and restored where possible. Every scroll has a brass identity plaque attached with the scroll number. The scrolls unsuitable for use in religious services are used for educational purposes and memorials. The MST Czech scrolls can be found in over 1300 communities and organizations from Alaska to New Zealand and from Mumbai to Buenos Aires. The Memorial Scrolls Trust has a small museum in Kent House, Knightsbridge London, the home of the Westminster Synagogue where it displays a unique collection some 150 Torah scrolls and 500 wimples and binders, welcoming visitors from all over the world. Find scrolls here.
Holocaust Memorial Torah Scroll MST#88
Part of a precious legacy of surviving religious treasures, Torah Scroll MST#88 is one of 1564 bought from the Czechoslovak government in 1964. The scrolls had been confiscated by the Nazis from desolated synagogues and martyred communities of Bohemia and Moravia and lay piled in the disused Michle synagogue in Prague for more than 20 years. Unfortunately there is no provenance for MST#88 and is known as an Orphan scroll, from an unknown town in Bohemia and Moravia.
Requested by Rabbi Ronald Roth, he personally collected Sefer Torah MST#88 in 1984, which is on display in the lobby of Beth El Synagogue.. The collection that remains with the Memorial Scrolls Trust is a permanent memorial to the martyrs from whose synagogues they came; Those distributed throughout the world are memorials to the Shoah, the Jewish tragedy. It is hoped these scrolls, revered in all religions are used to bring people of all faiths together.