The manuscript of the seats of the Kolín synagogue, written in Hebrew script in Yiddish, containing over four hundred property and debt deposits on synagogue seats as well as records concerning donations for synagogue accessories, allows us to gain a closer insight into the structure and administration of the Jewish community in Kolín, as well as its internal politics and economic situation, but more broadly into the life of Czech Jewry in general. The records reflect the moral standards and customs of the community, and details of a more intimate nature also speak of family relationships and ties. This is the first accessibility of archival material of this type in Czech, which is all the more significant as it introduces the reader to a period that was pivotal for the Jewish population (from the issuance of the so-called familiants' law of Charles VI in 1727 through the threat of expulsion of Jews from Bohemia in the 1940s to Josephine reforms in the early 1780s).
