Photo Gallery: People
Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
Franz Kafka Grave - Detail
Detail of Kafka Gravestone Inscription
The inscription on Franz Kafka's gravestone is in Hebrew. See the English translation below.
Dr. Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
Hebrew inscription
New Jewish Cemetery - Prague
See English translation below.
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Foto © Hyde Flippo
Translation of Hebrew Inscription (photo)
Line-by-line English tombstone translation
1. [On] Tuesday, June 3, 1924 (1/2 Sivan 5684 on the Jewish calendar)
2. The glorious young man Anchel Kafka [Franz's Jewish name] passed on
3. Son of the respected Mr. Hanich Kafka [Hermann's Jewish name]
4. And mother Yettel Kafka [Julie's Jewish name]
5. May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life.*
NOTE: Parts of this translation (mostly abbreviations in Hebrew) are missing; any help from someone who knows "gravestone Hebrew" is welcome. My thanks to Nurit Stites for her help with translating this Hebrew inscription.
Notes:
*The Hebrew letters TNZBH (Tav, Nun, Tzadi, Bet, Heh), an abbreviation (similar to R.I.P.) for a traditional quotation from the first book of Samuel, 25:29 - in transliterated Hebrew: "Tehi nishmato tzerurah b'tzrur ha-chayim." (Also "Teheye nishmato tsrurah b'tsror haChayyim." - 'tsror' = pebble)
Kafka died of tuberculosis of the larnyx in a sanatorium in Kierling, on the outskirts of Vienna. His body was returned to Prague, where he was buried on June 11, 1924.
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