MARTIN KVASNICA & PETER SALNER - CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL - IN ENGLISH

THE OLD JEWISH CEMETERY IN BRATISLAVA IS THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF MANY IMPORTANT FIGURES. OF THESE, THE BEST KNOWN IS MOSHE SCHREIBER, ALSO KNOWN AS CHATAM SOFER (B. 1762 FRANKFURT AM MAIN – D. 1839 PRESSBURG/BRATISLAVA). FOR 33 YEARS, HE LIVED AND WORKED IN BRATISLAVA AS THE HEAD RABBI AND TEACHER AT A FAMOUS YESHIVA. HIS LIFE WAS FULL OF WORK, AS WELL AS DRAMATIC UPHEAVAL, WHICH EVEN AFFECTED HIS FINAL RESTING PLACE.
THE CEMETERY SERVED ITS PURPOSE UNTIL THE YEAR 1846 AND THEN THE HOLOCAUST MARKED A NEW CHAPTER IN ITS HISTORY. FROM 1942-1944 IT WAS ALMOST COMPLETELY DESTROYED. ONLY A FEW GRAVES FROM WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE RABBI’S CIRCLE WERE SAVED. GRADUALLY THEY SUNK UNDERGROUND AND IN THE 1980S THERE WAS ACTUALLY A TRAM STOP DIRECTLY ABOVE THEM. THIS PRECIOUS JEWISH HISTORICAL SITE WAS THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION, BUT IN THE END SURVIVED.
THE BOOK DESCRIBES ITS HISTORY AND RENEWAL FROM BOTH AN ETHNOLOGICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE. DURING CONSTRUCTION OF THE MEMORIAL, JEWISH RELIGIOUS LAWS WERE STRICTLY ADHERED TO, WHICH LED TO TENSIONS BETWEEN ORTHODOX JEWISH NORMS AND MODERN CONSTRUCTION APPROACHES. THE RESULT IS A WORK, WHICH AT ONCE RESPECTS RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND PROVIDES A MODERN, SACRED MONUMENT IN CONTEMPORARY BRATISLAVA.

PHDR. PETER SALNER, DRSC. ETHNOLOGIST (1951, BRATISLAVA), GRADUATED FROM THE PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY OF COMENIUS UNIVERSITY. HE WORKS AT THE INSTITUTE OF ETHNOLOGY AT THE SLOVAK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. P. SALNER IS AUTHOR OF NUMEROUS BOOKS AND SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON BRATISLAVA AND ITS JEWISH COMMUNITY. SINCE 1996, HE HAS ALSO HELD THE POSITION OF CHAIRMAN OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN BRATISLAVA.

ING. MARTIN KVASNICA (1958, ŽILINA) GRADUATED FROM THE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING FACULTY OF SLOVAK TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA AND CURRENTLY WORKS AS AN INDEPENDENT ARCHITECT. HE IS THE CREATOR OF NUMEROUS WORKS OF ARCHITECTURE, OF WHICH THE MOST RENOWNED IS THE CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL (BRATISLAVA). MORE AT http://www.for.sk/kvasnica.html

PETER SALNER – MARTIN KVASNICA
CHATAM SOFER MEMORIAL
THE INSTITUTE OF ETHNOLOGY OF SLOVAK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 2013
THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN UNDER VEGA 2/2075 AND VEGA 2/0099/11 PROJECTS ENTITLED "THE ADAPTATION OF THE CITY INHABITANTS IN THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL CHANGES."
THE PROJECT WAS SUPPORTED BY:
NADÁCIA EZRA
URBAN & PARTNER
KEHILA BRATISLAVA
LAYOUT AND DESIGN: MARTIN KVASNICA
TRANSLATION: JANET LIVINGSTONE
REVIEWERS: EGON GÁL AND DANIEL LUTHER
PRINTER: REMPRINT
ISBN 978-80-971477-2-3
ORDER: ZNO BRATISLAVA, KOZIA 18, 81448 BRATISLAVA, SLOVAK REPUBLIC, +421-2-5441 6949, znoba@stonline.sk
PRICE: € 15,-