Children at the Maccabi sports field

This is a photo of a farewell summer party during summer camp at the Brno Maccabi. It was taken sometime in the 1930s.

During the summer holidays, they regularly organized children’s camps at Maccabi. Everything was very nice. When the summer was already drawing to a close, they’d organize a celebration with singing and dancing. Food was prepared, and plays were put on. The way it was at Maccabi was that the children would come there for the day. They didn’t stay there overnight, only during the day. We used to go to Maccabi on a streetcar rented by the Jewish Community. The stop was by the old theater. The children would gather there at 7:30am, and the streetcar would already be waiting there. The route led towards Pisarky. From Pisarky it took only a little while, as it was only a short walking distance from there. It was this little outing to Maccabi. 

When they arrived, a perfect breakfast would be waiting for them. After breakfast they’d play and study in various groups led by teachers and student volunteers. There’d be up to 80 children there. The Maccabi also had a kitchen, a dining room and one large room. There the children would gather when it was raining. After lunch at the camp, you had to lie down and rest a bit. In the afternoon, at around 4pm, it was time to go back to Pisarky to take the streetcar. The trip into town on the streetcar took about a half hour, and around 5pm the parents would pick up their children. Everyone envied us the fact that we lived there and didn’t have to go into town. The second camp session was already preparing to say goodbye to summer, to say thank you to the teachers and workers. The party took all month to prepare, along with an entertainment program. The parents and relatives that acted in it came too. Only Jewish children attended the camp. Only Jewish ones, because the Maccabi was Jewish.