BEFORE the start of World War Two there were more than 35,000 Jews living in Prague.
Just a few years later, after Hitler's army was defeated and it was safe for the Czech Republic's surviving Jews to return to their homes in the nation's capital, only 3,500 moved back.
A large number of those who never returned died in the Nazi's concentration and labour camps, or simply fell victim to Hitler's Final Solution.
The loss of so many residents changed the face of Prague's Jewish Ghetto, the neighbourhood just a stone's throw from Old Town Square.
Before the Second War dozens of synagogues offered services, shops and businesses catered to the specific needs of the population, and a cemetery provided a place to bury the dead.
After to conflict six synagogues remained – only one providing a place to worship with the others turned into museums and memorials – and the glorious Art Nouveau buildings that define Prague were filled with residents who practiced a variety of faiths.
While Prague's Jewish Ghetto got the most press during World War Two, when Jews from around Czech were moved to the capital and locked within the wall of this inner-city neighbourhood, it had been home to this persecuted slice of the population for centuries.
The first Jews migrated to Prague in 920, and were given a place to live in the city's fifth district in the 1200s, and over the next few centuries they survived under various regimes who either flat-out hated them or barely tolerated their existence.
On five different occasions they were expelled from the city, and only bought their way back by paying high taxes, and there were even rulers during Austria's Hapsburg Dynasty that also locked the residents behind the walls and only let them out during the day when they were needed to work menial professions.
Today visitors to the Czech capital can do various tours of the Jewish Ghetto – walking jaunts with local guides or self-guided excursions with an audio devise giving commentary – with most expeditions visiting three synagogues as well as the town hall and cemetery.
I did a tour with a local guide this afternoon and the Two most impressive buildings we saw were the Pinkas Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue, but for very different reasons.
The Pinkas Synagogue was constructed in the 16th Century, utilising the Renaissance style of design, but inside is what's memorable about this building.
In the 1950s, just 10 years after the end of the war, the names of the more than 77,000 Czechs who died on Hitler's command were written on the internal surfaces, in the same way that the names of America's dead are engraved on The Wall in Washington DC.
The names are written in disturbingly small print, with the family name etched in red paint and the first names of all the members of that clan who perished drawn in black.
Standing back and looking at the walls there seem to be only a few red names, and lots of black words between the scarlet letters, indicating just how many members of each family were killed by the Germans.
The inscription at the entrance simply states "this synagogue, where for centuries Prague’s Jews came to worship, is now a memorial to some 80,000 innocent men, women and children who have no grave and would otherwise remain forgotten''.
The Spanish Synagogue, which is a stroll from this thought-provoking memorial, is worth a mentions because of it's Versace-like decorations.
Every surface in this structure is covered with tiny golden tiles, some just making patterns while others become part of an ornate picture, and the windows are filled with stained glass in the same autumnal tones.
This place of worship was built during the 1800s to commemorate, according to our guide, ''the great time the Jews had in Spain''.
At that stage Prague's Jews were trying to assimilate, to become closer to the Catholics to reduce some of the drama, so the men and women were allowed to sit together during services and there was an organ to accompany the singing.
It was left to decay during the Communist years, but renovated after liberation in 1989, and now it is a tribute to over-the-top decorating.
Our tour also visited the Jewish Cemetery, the graveyard in the Ghetto that accommodates the remains of more than 120,000 residents.
The oldest headstone was erected in 1350 and when the cemetery was full a layer of dirt was added so new bones could be laid to rest on the next level, with our guide explaining that today the are thought to be at least 12 layers.
The Jewish Ghetto is just another Prague neighbourhood now, and it doesn't even look anything like the original because the first one was completely demolished in the 1890s and the current Art Nouveau buildings put on a new grid of streets.
But it's fascinating to walk around a collection of blocks that provided the backdrop for so many significant moments in religious history
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