Christmas at the Hussite Church (2007)

In December 2007 a party from Fairfield went to Kladno on their way to Israel . Their schedule meant that they had to be in Kladno on Christmas Day, which seemed an unfortunate choice since the museum and other places of interest would be closed, the church would want to focus on the importance of Christmas and families would want to be left alone.

A few of days before the Americans flew to Europe Eva reported that they had found a survivor – Petr Hermann – who was deported from Kladno as a 16 year old boy, and who, after living for 30 years in Venezuela, had come back to live in Prague. The day before they left, Ellin emailed him and asked if they could meet.

Christmas 2007 at the Hussite Church was different. After the Christmas service, there was a special ceremony in the synagogue cum church. Instead of staying at home with their families many people came to be there. The church which normally attracts 30 to 40 people was full.

The Mayor – Dan Jiranek - was there
The town historian
The Director of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem – Karel Sedlacek
The Pastor and his wife
and Petr Hermann

The pastor's wife began the ceremony by making a public apology to all the Jews for the Czech complicity in not doing enough to save the Jews. One has to wonder if there was much that they could have done.

After the prayers and presentations, the choir sang Jewish and Israeli songs and Mr Sedlacek sounded the shofar