Jewish community in Náchod

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The Jewish community of Náchod (Czech Židovská obec Náchod ) in the East Bohemian city of Náchod was one of the oldest rural Jewish communities in the Kingdom of Bohemia and the largest in the old Bohemian region of Königgrätzer . After the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, it continued to exist. In 1942–1945 it was largely wiped out by the Holocaust . After the Second World War, it was re-established by the few survivors in 1946 under the name "Israelská náboženská obec Náchod" ( Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Nachod ) and the concentration camp survivor Rudolf Beck was elected mayor of the community. The deputy mayor was Hanuš Goldschmid , who emigrated to Palestine in 1939 and returned to Náchod after the end of the war. During the communist rule , the Nachod Israelitische Kultusgemeinde was dissolved in the late 1960s.

history

The first Jews are said to have settled in Náchod, which was founded in 1254, at the end of the 13th century. It is assumed that they have already settled in the nearby market town of Provodov , whose market was transferred to Politz under King Ottokar II Přemysl . The first Jew known by name to live in Náchod is said to have been a Muněk Šťastný, which is documented for the year 1435; a Jew Ruben is known for the year 1455. In 1491 the Jew Mojžíš (Moses) bought a house in Náchod. The Jews at that time had the same rights as the Christian citizens. During the reign of the Taborite and robber baron Jan Kolda of Žampach they were treated mildly. On the other hand, from 1456 onwards, the Nachod reign was oppressed by the landlord Georg von Podiebrad , who became King of Bohemia in 1458. In the 16th century the number of Jews living in Náchod increased significantly. They were expelled by Johann von Pernstein in 1541 , but were allowed to return after two years. Then they bought land along the southern city wall, where they settled. There they built the first synagogue and a school as well as a mikveh . In 1551 the Náchod city council transferred the office of Scholzen (Rychtář) to the Jew Marek over his co-religionists. The fees to be paid were to be paid to the city or to the rulers who resided at Náchod Castle. There is evidence of a Jewish school in Náchod from 1577, which was headed by Salomon Hořovský. Since the synagogue was in a poor structural condition, it was demolished in 1601 and a new stone built in the neighborhood. Subsequently, the Jewish community between Náchod and the old town acquired the place “nad hamry” (iron hammer mill) as a burial place. Until then, the dead had to be transferred to the Prague Jewish Cemetery . When during the Thirty Years' War the Jews purchased individual desolate houses outside the Judengasse with the consent of the city council, the imperial general Octavio Piccolomini , who had received the Náchod rule from the emperor in 1634 for his services in the war , decreed that the Jews should not buy any houses outside their Judengasse allowed to.

On May 1, 1663, a fire destroyed almost the entire city. Since it should have broken out in the house of the Jew Eliáš Březnický (Elias Presnitz) , most of the Jews had to leave the city temporarily. Duchess Maria Benigna von Piccolomini , widow of General Piccolomini, forbade Jews to build or buy new houses. The city of Náchod protested against this strict decision, which saw its responsibilities restricted. She decided that the Jews could continue to buy land and houses. In a letter dated October 10, 1664, signed by Michael Löwit (h) (Michal Lewit) Jakob Faischl (Jakub Faišl) , Faltin Herschl (Heršl) , Samuel Lazar, Moses Jakob (Mojžíš Jakub) , the Jewish community requested, among others permission to build houses with two rooms each. With the mediation of the city, the Duchess wrote to authorize the construction of ten houses with only one room each.

In the execution of the imperial decree of 1727, according to which the Jews were to be assigned their own residential areas, Octavio Piccolomini , to whom the rule of Náchod had passed in 1742 , requested the city of Náchod on April 8, 1744 to separate the residential areas immediately. It was not realized until the years 1748–1750. After that, the Jews were only allowed to live in the Jewish Alley (Židovská ulice) . In 1753 the district was provided with a closed fence and gate. On the square in front of the old synagogue, a community hall and a well were built to supply the Jewish residents with drinking water. In 1773 there were 23 houses in Jüdische Gasse. These had to be numbered with Roman numerals to distinguish them from the Christian houses . In 1776, the Náchod City Council approved the construction of a new synagogue, which was built within the city walls near the Horská brána (Upper Gate) . For the year 1793 286 Jews are recorded in Náchod, which corresponds to one sixth of the total population. That was the highest number within the Königgrätzer Kreis. During the reign of Emperor Joseph II , the Náchod Jews also gained greater freedom in the practice of religion through the tolerance patent .

Náchod and its vicinity achieved great economic success in the 19th century through Jewish textile companies. These included the companies Mautner , Schur , Goldschmid , Oberländer , Pick, Doctor , Lederer & Stránský and Katzau . Presumably that is why there was anti-Jewish riots in the 1890s. This was preceded by the anti-Jewish essay “Práva židů jindy a nyní” (The rights of the Jews then and now) in the weekly “Ratibor” from October 1888, which was probably written by the archiver Jan Karel Hraše. He accused the Jewish minority, among other things, of the fact that most of them spoke German in public and that lessons were also held in German in the school of the Jewish community. The request was rejected by the then community leader Jakub / Jakob Pick. At that time, the Jewish community of Náchod included the surrounding villages of Böhmisch Skalitz , Braunau , Wekelsdorf and Eipel . In 1890 it consisted of 630 members. After some Czech Jews had immigrated at the beginning of the 20th century, relations between the Czech and Jewish residents were revived, some of whom were now communicating in Czech in public. In 1904 they opened the restaurant "Port Artur", which they used as a meeting place.

After Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918, the German Jewish school was dissolved in 1919. The industrialist Gustav Schur, the manufacturer Josef Lederer and the merchant Richard Lewith subsequently worked as head of the Jewish community . For the most part, the Jewish residents took an active part in the city's political and social life. However, there were disagreements between the Zionists and the supporters of assimilation . In 1922 the Jewish community founded the sports club "Makabi". In the hall of the poor and old people's home founded by Moritz Jakob Oberländer in 1906, lectures and other events by the Jewish community took place, including in 1930 on the occasion of the 85th birthday of President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk . After his death in 1937, a funeral service was held in the Synagogue in Náchod, which was organized by Rabbi Dr. Kurzweil was directed. In 1930 the Jewish community consisted of 293 members.

Soon after the establishment of the Protectorate , Jewish citizens were discriminated against and isolated. From the autumn of 1940 they had to submit proof of Aryan status. With the exception of the “Port Artur” bar, they were denied access to inns and other public facilities. From 1942 onwards, under the government commissioner Hans Keil, all official correspondence had to be in German. On December 14, 1942, more than 220 Jewish people were transported in a collective transport to the Theresienstadt concentration camp , where several of them were killed. The remainder were deported to other concentration camps, mainly to Auschwitz-Birkenau , from 1943 to 1944. Only 15 of them survived the concentration camp. Both the old and the new Jewish cemetery, which was laid out in 1925, were devastated in 1943. The tombstones were sold or used as paving stones in road construction.

After the Second World War, the Jewish community of Náchod was re-established by the few survivors in 1946 under the name “Israelská náboženská obec Náchod” and dissolved at the end of the 1960s.

Personalities

Rabbi (not complete)
  • Tobia Horschitz
  • Blumenau Mosque (1780)
  • 1845-18 ?? Jonas Julius Wiesner (* 1814 in Náchod; died May 14, 1889 in Kolín ), rabbi and author of writings on Judaism
  • Ascher Sulzbach-Rosenfeld
  • 1890-1892: Eduard Ezekiel Goitein ; * August 27, 1864 in Högyész ; † 1914 in Burgkunstadt , p. 225
  • 1892–1898: Hirsch / Zvi Goitein ; * 1863 in Högyész; † August 29, 1903 in Copenhagen , p. 226.
  • 1898–1902: Heinrich Brody , p. 206.
  • 1906–1928: Gustav Safe ; emigrated to Palestine in December 1939; In 1947 he returned to Prague and became chairman of the Czech state rabbinate.
  • 1931–? Dr. C. Hugo Stránský
  • 1937–? Dr. Amusement
Community leaders and board members (selection)
  • Isaak Mautner (1824–1901), textile entrepreneur
  • Jakub (Jakob) Pick, textile entrepreneur
  • Max Michael Goldschmid (t) (born October 8, 1847 in Náchod, † 1911 in Náchod), textile entrepreneur, father of Hanuš Goldschmid
  • Moritz Schur (1860–1933), textile entrepreneur
  • Gustav Schur († 1935), co-owner of the Isák ( Isaak ) Schur textile company or textile company , community leader 1933–1935
  • Hanuš Goldschmid (1891–1966), community leader from October 1935; emigrated to Palestine in 1939.
  • Hanuš Goldschmid, mayor of the community after returning from Palestine in 1947; emigrated to Brazil after the February revolution in 1948
  • Rudolf Beck (1900–1988), 1947 until the dissolution at the end of the 1960s community leader
Significant members (selection)
  • Zacharias Lazarus, settled in Breslau in 1657 , where he became the leaseholder of the Breslau Mint; founded the modern Jewish community in Breslau; the first place of worship was in his house.
  • Adolf Neu (born August 17, 1877 in Klínec ; † December 17, 1942 together with his wife Anna, née Traube in Auschwitz concentration camp ), cantor as well as religion and German teacher. One of his students in the 1930s was the later Nachoder writer Josef Škvorecký , who among other things in his work "Sedmiramenný svícen" lovingly portrayed Adolf Neu as "Teacher Katz".
  • Vítězslav ( Sigi ) Gross (born October 12, 1909 in Boskowitz ; † November 15, 1941 in Mauthausen concentration camp ). After attending the higher rabbinical school, he worked in Nachod as a senior cantor and religion teacher from 1938 . On August 31, 1941, after the fire in the Welzel warehouse or warehouse (požar Welzelova skladiště), he was arrested and held hostage on the orders of the Gestapo . On September 9, 1941, he was brought to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and, after a few weeks, deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he died on November 15, 1941 after being tortured.

See also

literature

  • Lydia Baštecká, Ivana Ebelová: Náchod . Náchod 2004, ISBN 80-7106-674-5 , pp. 55, 59, 79, 102, 125f., 191f., 221f., 232-240
  • Jan Karel Hraše: Dějiny Náchoda 1620–1740 . Náchod 1994, ISBN 80-900041-8-0 , pp. 322-332
  • Alena Čtvrtečková: Osudy židovských rodin z Náchodska 1938–1945 . Nakladatelství Bor, Liberec 2010, ISBN 978-80-86807-82-9
  • Rudolf M. Wlaschek: On the history of the Jews in Northeast Bohemia with special consideration of the southern Giant Mountains foreland . Marburg / Lahn 1987, ISBN 3879692017 digitized version

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alena Čtvrtečková: Osudy židovských rodin z Náchodska 1938–1945 , pp. 74, 135, 198–200, 270f.
  2. ↑ Probably came from Horschitz . In any case, there was a Jewish community there with a cemetery laid out in 1678. See [1] accessed May 1, 2017
  3. ↑ WIESNER, Jonas Julius, Dr. Retrieved December 13, 2019 .
  4. ↑ online, accessed March 28, 2017 ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.davidkultur.at
  5. ↑ online.pdf
  6. ↑ online  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.or-zse.hu  
  7. ↑ online  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.or-zse.hu  
  8. ↑ Věra Vlčková (Ed.): Doufám, dokud Dýcham .... ISBN 80-239-5807-0 , p. 112
  9. ↑ Biographical data and portrait, accessed March 28, 2017 ( Memento of the original from March 29, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jewishmuseum.cz
  10. ↑ Alena Čtvrtečková: Osudy židovských rodin z Náchodska 1938–1945 , pp. 270f.
  11. ↑ Alena Čtvrtečková: Osudy židovských rodin z Náchodska 1938–1945 , pp. 270f.
  12. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated August 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed June 4, 2017  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sztetl.org.pl
  13. ↑ Alena Čtvrtečková: Osudy židovských rodin z Náchodska 1938–1945 , p. 438f and Věra Vlčková (ed.): Doufám, dokud Dýcham .... , ISBN 80-239-5807-0 , p. 112
  14. ↑ Alena Čtvrtečková: Osudy židovských rodin z Náchodska 1938–1945 , pp. 275f.
  15. ↑ Entry on gedenkstaetten.at accessed May 03, 2017