'The Words That Would Not Burn" | Canton Jewish Community Federation

Czech Torah Scroll No. 144

"The Words that Would Not Burn"

A project is underway to preserve the history of a 19^th century Czechoslovakian Torah scroll for future generations. The unassuming title ascribed to this sacred parchment on display at Canton’s Beit Ha’am, “Scroll No. 144,” bears somber witness to the unspeakable evils of the Holocaust. Etched into a plaque situated next to the Torah are “the words that would not burn” – embodying the remarkable spirit and resilience of the Jewish people and of Canton’s Jewish community.

#144 and how it came to reside in Ohio

(Shaaray Torah Synagogue, Canton, Ohio)
A Sacred Trust
Thousands of Jewish communities were destroyed during the Holocaust. As the Nazis
committed genocide against the Jews of Czechoslovakia they collected Jewish objects at
the Jewish Museum of Prague for storage, study and monetary evaluation. Following the
war the objects became part of the new Jewish Museum of Prague and subsequently
were sold and given to Westminster Synagogue in London, England.

For over 60 years, the Memorial Scrolls Trust, London, has safeguarded 1,564 Torah and
other sacred scrolls—survivors of the Holocaust and enduring symbols of Jewish resilience. Of these, 1,400 have been entrusted to communities worldwide.

In 1982, with great ceremony, Scroll #144 - the Pardubice Scroll was entrusted to Shaaray
Torah Synagogue in Canton, Ohio. Too fragile for ritual use, this Torah is displayed as a memorial to the Jewish life once flourishing in Pardubice, a town in what is now the Czech Republic. Its presence reminds us that although the people of that community were destroyed, their faith and spirit endure.

From Destruction to Preservation

This Torah is on long-term loan from the Memorial Scrolls Trust (London). It is one
of 1,564 scrolls rescued from synagogues across Czechoslovakia after the Holocaust.
This particular scroll was handwritten by a scribe around 1850.

The Scrolls of Bohemia and Moravia

Jews had lived in Bohemia and Moravia for more than a thousand years. Their
communities enriched every aspect of regional life — spiritual, cultural, and
economic. When the Nazis came to power, that ancient continuity was shattered. In
1938, following the Munich Agreement, Germany annexed the Sudetenland. By
1941, deportations began; by 1942, the Nazis ordered all Torah scrolls, ritual silver,
and sacred books from Jewish communities to be seized and sent to the Jewish
Museum in Prague. There they lay — mute witnesses to devastation — until 1964,
when the surviving scrolls were purchased from the Czechoslovak government and
transferred to London.

The Memorial Scrolls Trust

Founded that same year, the Memorial Scrolls Trust (MST) became caretaker of
these sacred remnants. Through its painstaking conservation work, each scroll was
numbered, restored when possible, and sent on permanent loan to congregations
worldwide. Every scroll carries the memory of a destroyed community, transforming
tragedy into testimony. Today, more than 1,400 scrolls continue to live among
communities across the globe — tangible links between loss and renewal.
Learn more about the Memorial Scrolls Trust:

LEARN MORE

Why is the Memorial Scrolls Trust (MST) still important?

The Czech Torah scrolls are survivors and silent witnesses of the holocaust, coming from a land whose Jewish population never exceeded 118,000, in a population of 7 million. Czech Jews performed well in every aspect of society.

It is now over 60 years since Ralph Yablon z"l rescued 1564 Torah and other scrolls from further damage and loss from the Czech communists, after they survived the Shoah. By 2000, all the suitable scrolls had been allocated to communities and organizations around the world.