--1993 Division of Czechoslovakia--

Founded in 1918, it united within its political framework the Jewries of the "historic countries" (Bohemia, Moravia, and part of Silesia), connected with the Hapsburg Empire from 1526 and under its direct control from 1620, and of Slovakia and Carpatho-Russia, an integral part of Hungary, from the tenth century. As of January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist as a separate entity and its territory became two independent nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Jewish communities of the various regions hence differed substantially in their demographic, economic, and cultural aspects, with influences of assimilation to the Czech and German cultures prevailing in the west, and the Hungarian in conjunction with the traditional Orthodox Jewish way of life in the east.