On-line exhibition

Going into Battle with Prayer. The Story of Rabbi Hanuš Rezek

During World War II Jews from Czechoslovakia significantly participated in the fight against Nazi Germany. They were entering the Czechoslovak foreign troops both in the East and the West. The estimates vary, but their representation in the United Kingdom in 1943 accounted for approximately 32% of the soldiers, in the Soviet Union in 1942 around 35% and in the Middle East they were supposed to form as much as 50% of all soldiers. A considerable proportion of Jews in the Czechoslovak Foreign Army was due to their significant number among the refugees. They were mostly leaving Czechoslovakia via Poland to France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Jewish soldiers fought in the famous battles of World War II - at Tobruk, Sokolov, Dukla and Dunkirk. Their active participation in the foreign resistance was a sign of allegiance to the Czechoslovak state proving their full civic responsibility.

With the online exhibition "Going into Battle with Prayer" we want, on the background of selected documents and photographs, to honor JUDr. Hanuš Rezek (Rebenwurzel), the military field rabbi in the Czechoslovak Foreign Army who served in the Middle East and later in the UK. His psychological and moral support was being recalled even after many decades following the Second World War by numerous former soldiers in their testimonies. In addition to daily tasks associated with religious practice, Rezek was in an intense contact with individual soldiers and used to have long talks with them in which he tried to encourage and motivate them in their struggle for the liberation of Czechoslovakia. After the Second World War Rezek returned to Prague, where he tried hard to restore the Jewish community and religious life. He was also at the birth of the organization The Circle of Jewish Participants in the Czechoslovak Resistance, and sought, among other things, to refute the false claim that the Jews had not participated actively in the fight against the Nazi Germany. Hanuš Rezek died tragically in a plane crash in December of 1948.

We would like to thank Mr. Yehoshua Rezek, son of Hanuš Rezek, for providing digital materials to the Shoah History Department of the Jewish Museum in Prague.

The exhibition was curated by Magdalena Sedlická.

  • Hanuš Rezek, Student identity card from Masaryk University in Brno

    Hanuš Rezek (Rebenwurzel) was born on January 22, 1902 in Strážnice in the district of Hodonín. He graduated from the local high school, and then studied law at Masaryk University in Brno.

    In the picture we can see a confirmation issued by the Brno University that Hanuš Rezek is a regular student of the Faculty of Law.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek, A membership card of the Club of Czechoslovak Tourists, 1937

    Ever since he was young, Rezek actively participated in a number of associations. He also held various posts in Zionist organizations, e.g. being the head of Maccabi Sports Association. In the town of Vsetín he was a representative of the Social Democrats in the local council.

    Above, we can see Rezek's membership card of the Club of Czechoslovak Tourists from the second half of the 1920s.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek in Luhačovice with his fellow students from Masaryk University, 1933

    After graduating from the law school in Brno Hanuš Rezek worked as a trainee-lawyer in Vsetin. Because of his political beliefs he was arrested by the Gestapo after the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and imprisoned for about two weeks. After being released, he and his wife managed to get an authorization for legal emigration to Palestine. In November of 1939 they left the territory of the Protectorate.

    The photograph shows Rezek during his studies at Masaryk University in Brno.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek with his wife and son, 1941

    During his legal practice Hanuš Rezek met his future wife Judith Wintrová who came from a Zionist family from the city of Olomouc. They married in 1939. On November 11, 1940, approximately a year after leaving the Protectorate, their son Yehoshua was born in Palestine.

    The photograph shows the family in 1941.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek, An enlistment card, 1942

    On May 19, 1942, Hanuš Rezek was re-enlisted in Haifa, becoming a soldier of the Czechoslovak 200th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment-East. With the increasing number of Jewish soldiers in the Czechoslovak foreign army in the Middle East a need arose to ensure a rabbi for the troops who would take care of the needs of religious soldiers. Many hoped that the chosen person would also become a representative of and spokesman for Jewish soldiers when dealing with the army leadership.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek as a member of the Czechoslovak Foreign Army in the Middle East, 1942

    Sabbath worships in the Czechoslovak troop were led by Rabbi Arje who commuted from Jerusalem. In the pre-war period Samuel Arje was a rabbi in Prague-Smíchov. He was considered an expert on the Talmud and was a member of many Zionist organizations. Before the war, he left for the British Mandate of Palestine. Hanuš Rezek became his pupil and in October 1942 was temporarily transferred to the Czechoslovak military mission in Jerusalem for being trained as a Jewish cantor. In December, he led his first military worships, and in January 1943 he returned to his anti-aircraft regiment.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek with his wife and son, 1943

    Rezek was promoted in January 1943 to lieutenant of spiritual service. He was also officially appointed the military chaplain for Jewish religion in the Czechoslovak Foreign Army in the Middle East. He was also a military field rabbi of the Czechoslovak troop in Tobruk. According to many witnesses he was very popular among the Jewish soldiers and enjoyed their confidence. They often turned to him with their problems.

    The photo shows him in uniform in 1943 together with his wife Judith and son Yehoshua.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek with soldiers of the Czechoslovak Foreign Army, 1940s

    After the end of military operations in the Middle East in July 1943, Czechoslovak soldiers were transferred to the UK. Hanus Rezek again served as a Jewish chaplain there. Although part of the Jewish soldiers came from an assimilated environment, common celebrations of Jewish holidays became an important event in which they all reminisced about their families and loved ones they had left behind in the Protectorate.

    In the picture we can see Hanuš Rezek in the first left row, the sixth one from left.

    detail

  • Funeral at military cemetery at Adinkerke, 1944

    Most of the soldiers of the Czechoslovak foreign army in Great Britain, over four thousand two hundred men, embarked on ships on 30 August 1944 and in a few days they were transported to ports in Normandy. The photo shows Hanuš Rezek and a Catholic priest burying the fallen men in the autumn of 1944 at the military cemetery of Adinkerke. In his diary for that day he put down the following note: "In the afternoon the coffins were brought (...) and their transport to the cemetery was taken care of. There I performed a ceremony for six Jews, and Lieutenant Petružela for three members of the Catholic and Evangelic religions. At the request of the battalion commander no funeral speeches were made and only he said goodbye to the fallen men."

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek with soldiers of the Czechoslovak Foreign Army, 1945

    The Czechoslovak Independent Armored Brigade was ordered to assume the siege of the strategic port of Dunkirk where they were transferred on October 5, 1944. Although the frontier line moved 100 kilometers to the east, the city was still in the hands of about twelve thousand German troops commanded by Hitler's ally Frisius. Czechoslovak general Liška became the commander of the Allied forces in the area. More significant combat actions occurred on October 28 and November 5, 1944. Despite the efforts of the Czechoslovak army the combat positions did not change much. The last significant military action at Dunkirk occurred on April 10-16, 1945. In this fighting a total of 195 soldiers, 46 of them being Jews, were killed or died from injuries.

    This picture shows Hanuš Rezek with other Czechoslovak soldiers.

    detail

  • Precious gift (an article from by the Bulletin of the Jewish Religious Community in Prague), 1946

    After World War II Hanuš Rezek lived and worked in Prague where he intensively participated in the restoration of the Jewish community and religious life. On October 28, 1945 representatives of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada donated two Torahs to the Czechoslovak Jews. One of them was given to the Jewish community in Prague, the other to the Bratislava community. The ceremony of the donating of the Torahs was held on January 15, 1946, being attended also by Rabbi Rezek. A report about this event was brought by the Bulletin of the Jewish Religious Community in Prague.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek at the ceremony of receiving the Torah, 1946

    Hanuš Rezek attended the ceremony of receiving the Torah donated to the Prague Jewish Community by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada. The ceremony was held on 15 January 1946 at the Jewish Town Hall and a procession then carried the Torah into the Old-New Synagogue where it was stored. On this occasion, Rabbi Rezek gave a speech of thanks and said a prayer.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek in the Spanish Synagogue, 1946

    On March 13, 1946, a commemoration ceremony was held at the Spanish Synagogue to honor the Czech Jews who had been murdered in the family camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau in the night of 8 March 1944. The ceremony was attended by, in addition to representatives and members of the Jewish community, various state officials such as members of the Office of the President, the Cabinet and several ministries.

    The photo shows Hanuš Rezek giving a speech at the commemoration ceremony in the Spanish Synagogue.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek accompanying British official, 1946

    Rezek was highly involved in the Zionist movement and the Prague Jewish religious community. He performed several functions, being the Chief Secretary, the cult officer and a deputy of the chief rabbi, Gustav Sicher. Among other things, he was concerned with securing ritual objects needed for daily religious practice of the renewed Jewish community. The photo shows Hanuš Rezek accompanying a foreign delegation during their tour of the Prague Jewish Town.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek, A membership card of the Circle of Jewish Participants in the Czechoslovak Resistance, 1947

    Hanuš Rezek was one of the founders of the Circle of Jewish Participants in the Czechoslovak Resistance. This organization was a follow-up to the pre-war association called the Circle of Czechoslovak Legionnaires of Jewish Origin. On April 20, 1947 an inaugural meeting was held in Ústí nad Labem where Hanuš Rezek was elected chairman of the Preparatory Committee. One of the important tasks of the organization was to commemorate the part of Jewish soldiers and resistance fighters in the liberation of Czechoslovakia. Gradually, the organization became to be focused mainly on recruitment to Haganah, participation in the struggle for the creation of the state of Israel, and the mass emigration to Palestine where the members of the organization were supposed to found a new settlement. Above we can see Rezek's membership card from the Circle of Jewish Participants in the Czechoslovak Resistance from 1947.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek chairing the Circle of Jewish Participants of the Resistence in Luhačovice, 1948

    On 4-5 July 1948, a general meeting of the Circle of Jewish Participants in the Czechoslovak Resistance was held in Luhačovice. It was attended by over six hundred delegates. At the meeting a new committee of the Circle was elected, Hanuš Rezek becoming Chairman. The photo shows Rezek at the general meeting in Luhačovice. The first one from left is Zikmund Helísek, a former member of the Czechoslovak foreign army in the USSR, who became Vice Chairman of the Circle.

    detail

  • Yehoshua Rezek with his sister Daniela

    In 1947, daughter Daniela was born to Judith and Hanuš Rezek in Prague. The photo shows Daniela and her brother Yehoshua in 1950, i.e. at the time when they had already been living in Israel.

    detail

  • A plane of the Czechoslovak Airlines reported missing (a newspaper article), 1948

    In December 1948, Hanuš Rezek and other members of the Maccabi association were invited to Israel. Rezek along with others flew from Prague on December 21, 1948. The plane was expected to land in the afternoon in Athens, Greece, which did not happen. The plane crashed in the Taygetus mountains and all nineteen passengers and five crew members were killed. The photo shows a clipping from a contemporary article informing about the disappearance of the plane.

    detail

  • Hanuš Rezek’s death announcement , 1948

    For his wartime activities Hanuš Rezek was awarded the Czechoslovak War Cross, the Czechoslovak Medal for Valor and the Czechoslovak Medal of Merit of the First Degree, among others. He also received the British medals Africa Star and the 1939-1945 Star. Half a year after her husband's death Judith Rezková with both children emigrated to Israel.

    detail
All on-line exhibitions