Rudolf Dub, z’l

Baruch Dayan HaEmet. Some very sad news came in last night from Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Our dear friend Rudolf Dub passed away yesterday in the town of Prostejov (about 25 KM Southwest of Olomouc).

Rudolf was an active participant in the ceremonies that took place in 2017 around the return of the Torah Scroll to Olomouc and apparently was quite a character in real life!

I got to know Rudolf a little bit after the ceremony. He called my hotel room late one night and offered to meet me for a beer to talk about his experience. (BTW, I highly recommend this hotel if you happen to be visiting Olomouc in the future!)

I have to admit I was kind of exhausted that night, but I begrudgingly agreed to go out for a beer with him and he took me to a pub (Martin’s Goose) that was located very close to the parking lot where the old Olomouc synagogue once stood.

Thank you Google Translate for the menu translation:

Martin’s goose near Moritz 9. – 12. 11. 2017 Roasted goose begins the process of winter delicacies, which have been tested by tradition. To make it taste like a fairy tale, we prepare it according to a proven recipe. Hostinský pivovar Moritz also invites you to this specialty. Menu: Appetizer: Goose pâté with cranberries and toasted baguette Soup: Slow-cooked poultry kaldoun with noodles Main course: ¼ Roast goose, red cabbage with apples, pickled Otnické cabbage, homemade Karlovy Vary and bacon dumplings, original Slovak lokše Dessert: Cold sponge dessert with forest fruit.

Orders by phone 585 205 560

www.hostinec-moritz.cz

www.facebook.com/Moritz-Olomouc

In fact, Rudolf parked his car in the parking lot where the Jewish community of Olomouc still owns rights to the space and gets incremental revenue to support the community.

The synagogue was burned the ground by the Nazis in March, 1938, days after the Nazis conquered Czechoslovakia without firing a shot. There are horrific photos of the building on fire and the Nazis preventing the Czechoslovak Fire Brigades from dousing the flames.

It sadly was never rebuilt, due mainly to finances and the lack of a Jewish community of any size to support it.

March 15, 1938, the Olomouc Synagogue which had stood at the site since 1897, was torched by the Nazis on the first day of the occupation of the town. The Nazis refused to let the Czechoslovak/Jewish Fire Fighting Brigades douse the flames.

We had been in town both to facilitate the return of the Torah to Olomouc and to participate in a Jewish Cultural Festival sponsored by the Olomouc Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum in Prague and the Jewish Community Center of Olomouc. We were wined and dined like kings that weekend, fantastic hospitality!

For more information on our experience in 2017 with the Torah, I refer you to my personal blog:

https://slipman.blog/category/torah/

But I digress. We had a very nice, memorable conversation that evening in the pub.

Through broken English, Rudolf shared his impressions both of Olomouc and also of the general state of the Jewish community in the Czech Republic. Rudolf’s English was not very fluent, but he and I managed to make ourselves understood using English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Sign Language and some broken German!

Over the years Rudolf and I had been in touch primarily through his frequent Facebook invitations to come to Olomouc, or to participate in one program or another through his local Maccabi organization in the Czech Republic.

We had last spoken a few months ago over What’s App.

May Rudolf’s memory be for a blessing and may his family, friends and relatives be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.