A memorial service will be held Monday, March 16 at Meiselova 15 in Prague for Jiří Fiedler, the pioneer of Jewish heritage research in the Czech Republic who along with his wife was brutally murdered in January 2014 during a robbery in their Prague apartment, apparently by a young man whom Fiedler had helped.
The Czech media has reported that the young man arrested last month for the crime had gained Fiedler’s trust by asking advice on Jewish cemetery research, apparently setting him up for the robbery-murder .
Respekt writes that Dalibor C. contacted Fiedler through the Prague Jewish Museum where he asked for help with mapping a Jewish cemetery in northern Moravia. He had three meetings with Fiedler and then came for the fourth time to commit murder, the weekly writes.
Police told the CTK news agency that the 29-year-old suspect was arrested in the Karlovy Vary Region in western Bohemia on February 18. The Respekt newspaper said he was found to have pawned jewellery, books and other items stolen from the Fiedlers’ apartment. It said he had confessed to the crime and faces life imprisonment if convicted.
The double murder of Fiedler, 78, and his wife shocked the Jewish heritage world and remained an unsolved mystery for more than a year.
Fiedler had served as a guide and mentor to many researchers. His 1991 book “Jewish Sights of Bohemia and Moravia,” was a milestone in the post-communist rediscovery of Jewish heritage in the Czech Republic, and he continued his work as a director of research at the Prague Jewish Museum, contributing to a growing online database of Jewish heritage.
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1 comment on “Memorial service planned for murdered Czech Jewish heritage expert. He apparently helped arrested suspect with cemetery research”
never read about over here
once again I have to notice how selective newspapers inform
especially in a turbulent Europe nowadays
somebody you imagine to know ,a murderer
it hurts me
as a Jew you ought to be always alert,vigilant…so my family taught me ,again and again.
sad,sad,sad… .