Bzenec Jewish Community

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The Jewish community ( Kehillah ) in Bzenec (German Bisenz ), a town in the Okres Hodonín district in the South Moravian region of Jihomoravský kraj in the Czech Republic , was one of the largest Jewish communities in Moravia , especially in the 18th century .

history

The Jewish community, which probably existed as early as the 14th century, is one of the oldest Jewish communities in Moravia. Written evidence about the community does not come from the 16th century. The first rabbi in Bzenec is Moyses ben Jicchak, documented for the year 1589. From 1726 the so-called family law came into force, which was supposed to limit the number of Jewish families, whereby among other things only the eldest son was allowed to marry. Later, however, certain facilities were gradually introduced. Until 1782 the Jewish community was subject to the city of Bzenec under criminal law, otherwise it was under the patronage of the authorities. The Jewish community in Bzenec was one of the largest in Moravia. In 1830 637 Jews lived there and in 1850 their number exceeded 900, which also led to the expansion of the ghetto. The lingua franca was German, which also explains the statistical data from the time, according to which 23 percent of the total population in Bzenec were listed as German-speaking. Classes in the Jewish school were also German.

This trend continued after the collapse of the monarchy and the establishment of Czechoslovakia. In 1919 the Jewish community was united with the city and formed a common political community; the independent Jewish administration that had existed there since 1852 was extinguished. In 1930 the Jewish population was only 138. There was a short-term increase in the Jewish population between the incorporation of the Sudetenland into the German Reich (on October 2, 1938) and the break-up of the rest of the Czech Republic on 15/16. March 1939, when many Jews from the occupied territories wanted to seek refuge in Czechoslovakia, which was not yet occupied at the time.

Shoah

The first German troops came to Bzenec on March 15, 1939. On January 27, 1941, there was a mass deportation of all the city's Jews, first to Uherský Brod and then on January 31, 1943 to Theresienstadt (Transport Cp, 837 people); from there they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau on February 1, 1943 (Transport Cu, 1001 people). After the so-called selection, only 6 people were left; the others were murdered in gas chambers immediately upon arrival. Only two people survived the concentration camps.

Professions, crafts

In addition to trading in various goods, also outside the city (Bzenec was well located on the trade route from Brno to Northern Hungary), Jews were successful in the widespread viticulture in South Moravia (they owned over 20 percent of the vineyards); they were also interested in fruit and vegetables, around 1850 they were engaged in general food production and industry and worked as butchers. They were also artisans - they owned glaziers, furriers, and tailors; Jews were also active in the hotel trade.

Development of the Jewish population

The population of the Jewish community in Kolín developed as follows:

year
number
annotation
around 1585 25 families
1604 67 families (about 400 people)
around 1810/1820   130 families
1830 657 people
1834 772 people equal 27 percent of the population
1848 910 people 1850: 900 people equal ¼ of the population; 1850: over 900 people  
1857 965 people
1869 540 people
1880 272 people
1890 228 people
1900 182 people
1900 416 people (10 percent of the population)
1924 approx. 290 people  
1930 138 people (3 percent of the population)

Rabbi in Bzenec

The following rabbis worked in Bzenec:

  • Moyses ben Jizchak, 1589
  • Mordechai b. Abraham Moders
  • Josef Schalom, 1670–1696
  • Zewi Hirsch b. Jochanan Nikolsburger, 1720
  • David Hamburger, 1722–1752
  • Moses Zewi Hirsch ha-Levi, 1754–1758
  • Reb Wolf
  • Jakob Günsberger
  • Zewi Hirsch Toff, 1840
  • Passover Toff (his son), 1840–1865
  • Nehemias Brüll, 1866-1870
  • Samuel Mühsam , 1872–1877
  • Josef Cohn, 1878–1887
  • N. Taubeles
  • Jakob Spira, 1893-1894
  • Moses Rosenmann, 1894–1897
  • Josef Hoff, 1898–1921

Remarks

  1. ↑ The source starybzenec.cz / ... lists 637 people here.
  2. ↑ a b In D. Alicke (jewische-gemeinden.de / ... ) both the number 182 and 416 people can be found without comment, J. Fiedler ( holocaust.cz / ... ) only lists the number 416 people ( with the percentage); the source starybzenec.cz / ... also names only 416 people with the phrase "beginning of the 20th century".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jiří Fiedler: Židovské památky v Čechách a na Moravě , keyword Bzenec , online at: holocaust.cz / ...
  2. ↑ a b c d e Židovská obec ve Bzenci [Jewish community in Bzenec], compiled from several sources, portal of the “Starý Bzenec” association, online at: starybzenec.cz/zidovska-obec
  3. ↑ a b c M. Stein: Příspěvky k životopisu moravských rabínů , in: Yearbook of Rabbis in Slovakia, 1925-26, Trnava, quoted. after: Hugo Gold: The Jews and Jewish communities in Moravia, Brno 1929. Dějiny Židů ve Bzenci (edited by Josef Hoff), online at: starybzenec.cz / ...
  4. ↑ List of all transports to Theresienstadt (sorted by place of departure) , database of the "Theresienstädter Initiative" and the "Institute Theresienstadt Initiative", online at: katalog.terezinstudies.cz/...from
  5. ↑ List of all transports to Theresienstadt (sorted by place of departure) , database of the "Theresienstadt Initiative" and the "Institute Theresienstadt Initiative", online at: katalog.terezinstudies.cz/...to
  6. ↑ Náhle se započalo všechno měnit , material from the initiative “Zmizelí sousedé” [Disappeared Neighbors] and the project “Pocta obětem” [Honor the Victims] (with the participation of local schools), online at: pocta-obetem.cz/.../ menit
  7. ↑ Bzenečtí židé , material from the “Zmizelí sousedé” [Disappeared Neighbors] initiative and the “Pocta obětem” [Honor the Victims] project (with the participation of local schools), online at: pocta-obetem.cz/.../zide
  8. ^ Theodor Haas: Jews in Moravia - presentation of legal history and statistics with special consideration of the 19th century , Brünn 1908, p. 63; Josef Hoff: History of the Jews in Bisenz , in: Hugo Gold (ed.), The Jews and Jewish communities of Moravia in the past and present , Jüdischer Verlag, Brünn 1929, pp. 119-123; both quoted According to: Klaus-Dieter Alicke: Lexicon of Jewish communities in the German-speaking area , 3 volumes, Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2008, ISBN 978-3-579-08035-2 , keyword Bisenz , online at: jewische-gemeinden.de / ...
  9. ↑ Něco z historie , material from the “Zmizelí sousedé” [Disappeared Neighbors] initiative and the “Pocta obětem” [Honor the Victims] project (with the participation of local schools), online at: pocta-obetem.cz/.../historie

See also