The Last Jew from Hlohovec

The Last Jew from Hlohovec is a film about memory, identity, and the consequences of fear that silenced hundreds of people long after the war ended.

Jozef Neumann came from an Orthodox Jewish family and was born after the war in 1946. He was the last member of the Jewish community to have his bar mitzvah in Hlohovec's synagogue before its demolition in 1960. His story frames the narrative of a community that was once the natural heart of Hlohovec but vanished from the city after the war — under the pressure of war, totalitarianism, and fear that survived entire generations.

Against the backdrop of personal stories of people such as sculptor Jaroslav Róna, physician Mira Klein, professor Juraj Stern, and actress and director Dalia Shimko, the film reveals that not only Hlohovec but all of Slovakia lost not just their Jewish neighbours, but a vital source of cultural, human, and intellectual strength.