Dr. Hanus Rezek

Post war he was the Acting Chief Rabbi of the Prague Jewish community. His daughter Daniela was born in Prague 1947. On a plane trip to Palestine to hold discussions about the Maccabiah Games he and two others from Prague died when the plane crashed near Athens after taking off from Rome. Following his sudden death his widow Judit nee WINTER left Prague for Palestine with her two small children Yehoshuah and Daniela. They both now live in Israel with their large families.

Petr Erben, In my footsteps ( Po vlastnich stopach) Petr Kalina Praha 2003 (in Czech)

P 109 translated by Zita Weiss, 14 June 2007.

They got an invite to the next Maccabiah Games in Tel aviv. They decided to send 4 representatives and those nominated were Dr Rezek, Rabbi prague whose offices were in Maiselova 18 where we used to meet. The others were Ervin Diamant, Mikki Kanner and Petr Erben. We answered positively to Tel aviv and I took on the job of getting permission for our departure. It must be explained that after February 1948 all departures from Czechoslovakia were dependent on the Ministry of the Interior and it was very difficult to obtain this paper. They gave it only for permanent exit and only if you could get a visa from the country you were going to visit. That was a big problem for all of us with the exception of Haganah who wanted to emigrate permanently. They didn’t allow overseas visits. At that time they allowed the three older members to go but I was refused. I thought it was because I was single and so without family I might not return.

Article in Rosh Chodesh number 1/2002 ( Vestnik 1/2002 p 18) supplied by JK translated also by Vlasta.

110 years ago Rabbi, preacher and barrister Hanus Rezek was born in Straznice. Before WW2 he was a rabbi in Prague, and then he became a rabbi with the Czech army in exile a cleric in the military (military chaplain). In august 1943 he was in England, later promoted to field rabbi and he celebrated the High Holy Days in France in 1944. He left the service because of anti Semitism and became deputy to chief rabbi Sichera and his secretary. He was involved in the post war renewal of the Jewish community in Prague. On 22 December 1947 he flew to Palestine with Czech airlines and the plane crashed over Greece.

This artcile was contributed by Petr erben to Rosh Chodesh

The Communist coup d'etat was carried out with the aid of "actions committees." By February, 1948, a Jewish Actions Committee of the Communist party presided over by (Mr.) Laura Simek was in full charge of Jewish affairs and by April most of the recognized Jewish representatives had been eliminated from responsible positions within the Jewish community. Zionists were hit hardest. Ernest Frischer was the first to be removed from his post as chairman of the Association of Jewish Communities of Bohemia-Moravia. Kurt Wehle, secretary general of the Association, fled the country. At the same time, Adolf Bebes, chairman of the Zionist Organization, was also eliminated from the Association. Of the original leaders, only Frantisek Fuchs, the noted representative of liberal Judaism, was permitted to stay on as vice-chairman. The chairmanship went to Emil Ungar, an official in the Ministry of Health, the other vicechairmanship to Edmund Schwarz, both designated by the Actions Committee. A memorandum protesting the removal 360 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK of Zionists from the Council was rejected by the Actions Committee. In June, Karel Stein, noted Zionist leader, was compelled to resign from the leadership of the Prague Jewish community. A few days later, the Actions Committee ordered Hanus Rezek, acting chief rabbi of Prague, to leave his post. After the establishment of control by the Actions Committee, the Jewish press concentrated on attacking anti- Semitism and fascism in America and Great Britain. Only the following information is available thus far on the attitude of the new regime to concrete questions of Jewish interest: In April, 1948, the Agudas Israel in London submitted a complaint to the Prague government against the Jewish Actions Committee for its restrictions on religious activities. In June, a new constitution was adopted containing provisions against racial propaganda and formally guaranteeing religious freedom.

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