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Czech city Moravské Budějovice linked to Belo Horizonte in Brazil by a Czech Torah scroll that survived the Shoah.

May 2026

Belo Horizonte is a city in Brazil with an active Jewish community. We were delighted that following an enquiry from Rabbi Lucca Myara MST#711 has been allocated to his community Congregação Israelita Mineria, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Unlike many other countries, Brazil welcomed Jews before and after the Shoah, including many from the Czech lands.

Andrew Keene the MST vice chairman has strong links to Brazil and carried the Torah scroll to Brazil to hand it over to its new custodians. This is now the third MST Czech Torah in Brazil.

MST#711 was written in 1878 and one of the scrolls collected in Moravské Budějovice and shipped to the Jewish Museum Prague during the Shoah. Jews lived in the city from the 14th century until the Holocaust. Unfortunately their synagogue was destroyed by the communists, however the cemetery remains. 93 Jews were deported from the town and murdered.