The Life of Rabbi Dr. Richard Feder

Richard Feder (August 26, 1875 Václavice, Moravia – November 18, 1970 Brno, Czechoslovakia) was a Czech rabbi, pedagogue, writer, teacher and a spiritual leader of the Czech Jewry during its most trying times. He was also the last post-WWII chief rabbi of Czechoslovakia until his death in 1970. Between that and 1989, which was marked by the fall of the communist regime in the country, due to massive impact of the holocaust on Czechoslovakia’s Jewry – as well as en mass emigration of Jews from the country – the seat of the chief rabbi had been vacant. It was only in 1992 that the current chief rabbi Karol Sidon was appointed.

Richard Feder was born on August 26, 1875 into a large but poor Jewish family in Václavice near Benešov. His exceptional talents were already recognized in the basic school in his native village of Václavice, so he was transferred to the elementary school in nearby Benešov. After graduating from the academic high school in Prague, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Philosophy in Vienna. There, he received two doctorates from the  philosophy faculty and at the Jewish theological faculty. After seven years of study, he joined his first rabbinical post in Kojetín on September 19, 1903.

Later, he served in Louny and in Roudnice nad Labem, only to become the rabbi of one of the most prominent Bohemian kehilloth of Kolín. Besides performing his rabbinical duties, he taught German and German Business Correspondence at the Business Academy from 1917 until 1938 when he retired. 

Dr. Richard Feder excercised his extensive knowledge not only in the Jewish community and the local business school. As the head of the District Education Corps in Kolín, he influenced the city's cultural life for many years. He often lectured to a diverse audience about the history of religion, Czech Jews but also topics such as Jan Hus, Buddhism and Czech literature.

After the dismantling of the first Czechoslovak Republic and the occupation of the Czech lands by Nazi Germany, Feder was already a zaken, aged sixty-six. On June 13, 1942 he was summoned into the transport designated AAd to the Terezín concentration camp with his entire family. There, too, he became a rabbi, and in limited and harsh conditions he helped many inmates with knowledge, wisdom and kindness. Although strictly prohibited by the Nazis, he did not hesitate to conclude Jewish marriages and, if possible, maintained a religious life to spiritually support his fellow Jews. 

Tragically, he was the sole survivor of his entire family to see the liberation of the camps in 1945. His wife, Hild, died in Terezin, while his sons of Viktor and Eugene and daughter Ruth and their families were all murdered in Auschwitz. Rabbi Feder returned to Kolín, where he worked until he was appointed the regional rabbi of the Moravian-Silesian religious communities in 1953. Coincidentally, in 1953 he celebrated 50 years of rabbinical activities.

He was appointed to the new office in Brno on April 19, 1953, together with the newly elected chief cantor of the community, Alexander Neufeld, who welcomed him at the threshold of the synagogue with a Torah scroll. After another 17 years, Feder worked in Brno, attending Moravian Jewish communities, synagogues, old-age homes but also churches and non-Jewish venues. He lectured, taught and wrote. In 1961 he was named the chief rabbi of Czechoslovakia, but did not leave Brno. On his 90th birthday, he was awarded the state award of “Reubuild Merit“ 1965. It was an extremely rare occurence for a communist government to honor a Jew.

Richard Feder died on November 18, 1970 at the age of 95 and was buried at the Jewish Cemetery in Brno. He was one of the greatest rabbincal figure of Czechoslovakia’s modern period. Should you happen to visit the Czech Republic for a Jewish heritage tour, it would be a good idea to make sure Brno is included in the itinerary if you wish to pay your respects to him.

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