Within Josefov you will find a community that for centuries was forced to fend for itself and then experienced horrific purges under Nazi occupation in World War II. Although more than 118,000 Jews were recorded as living in the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, only 30,000 survived to see the end of the Nazi occupation.

Josefov's synagogues are lovingly regarded as monuments to the survival of Judaism in central Europe, and the Old Jewish Cemetery, with generations buried one upon another, is an odd relic of the cohesion of Prague's ghetto. Most of the historic buildings in Josefov were destroyed. Today there are upscale clothing stores and coffee shops lining Pařizká Street, which is the main avenue on the eastern edge of Josefov.

The Jewish Museum in Prague is an organizaton which manages six of the most historic sites in Josefov:

1. The Maisel Synagogue, built in 1590 by Mordechai Maisel.
2. The Spanish Synagogue, built in 1868.
3. The Pinkas Synagogue, built in 1535 by Aaron Meshullam Horowitz between his own house and the Old Jewish Cemetery. The synagogue is now a memorial to the Jews murdered by the Nazis.
4. The Old Jewish Cemetery, established in the mid-15th century, contains more than 20,000 graves.
5. The Klausen Synagogue, one of the small buildings erected in 1573 by Mordechai Maisel.
6. The Ceremonial Hall, built in 1911, contains historic documents and ceremonial objects from the Prague Burial Society.

The Old-New Synagogue is another historic site in the Jewish Quarter. It was built in early Gothic style around the middle of the 13th century. Originally called the New Synagogue to distinguish it from an older house of prayer which is no longer standing. Now it is known as the Old-New Synagogue.