1564 STORIES
The Czech Torah Scrolls and the space between myth and truth.
1564 STORIES
The Czech Torah Scrolls and the space between myth and truth.
a documentary film project exploring an untold story
When 1564 Torah Scrolls arrived at the doorstep of the Westminster Synagogue in February of 1964, delivered from their decaying storage of the abandoned Michle Synagogue outside of Prague, it was the end of one journey and the beginning of another. The fact they they existed at all was a miracle. But the reason for their survival, and the motivations and methods by which they were saved, remains a topic of discussion and debate.
Today, in nearly 800 synagogues, institutions, museums, and places of distinction around the world, a Czech Torah Scroll resides. Whether its condition allows it to be used in worship, or if its damage was beyond repair - relegating it to a memorial behind glass - many of those who encounter a Czech Scroll are often unaware of the full story of it's journey.
While often described as simply being collected to be used in a Nazi "Museum of an Extinct Race", the story is a narrative with many facets, parallel facts, contrary ideas, and myths intertwined. The truth takes effort to uncover, and can easily be obscured by misinformation and the passing of time. In this documentary film, we will tell the Scroll’s journey, and how the real narrative, while sometimes clouded by myth, reveals an important, often overlooked truth.
dale bluestein - producer / director / videographer / editor
A story that needed to be told.
15 years ago, when I first learned about the story of the Czech Scrolls, I was amazed. Here, my very own Synagogue in Minneapolis had one of these precious links to a people and life that had perished. The Scroll they held and worshiped with was in our care. It was so powerful and moving.
Then, to learn the story that they were collected by the Nazis to be used in this so-called Museum, it was even more stunning. I started to research and learned... that the story wasn't true. There was so much more to tell.
So I decided to try to tell it.
A long journey.
With trips to London, Prague, Israel and many Synagogues in across the
United States, I have been gathering pieces of this story since 2009. Much of my work has been research based, but in 2014 I began filming. In 2022, I had the opportunity to work on a documentary film about the restoration of a Synagogue building in Pacov, Czech Republic.
Looking to finish in 2024
February of 2024 marked 60 years since the arrival of the Scrolls in London. It was a profound experience being there to document the event.
The final push
The goal is to complete the film by the end of 2024. Now that I have been to the significant locations and spoken to many of the subject's experts, it is time to bring the film together. This Fall will be the final push.
work along the way
Soferet Alex Casser does work on MST Scroll #3 in her studio in Alexandria, VA in 2019.
The Michle Synagogue building today
Index card describing the condition when the Czech Scrolls were brought into the Westminster Synagogue in 1964.
Outside the Westminster Synagogue in London
The existing collection of Scrolls maintained at the Memorial Scrolls Trust
Commemorative marker outside the Jewish School that became the Jewish Museum during the war in the Jewish quarter in Prague.
Contact me
If you would like to know more about the project or have ideas or information that you think could be helpful in the ways of support, I would love to hear from you.
