Bzenec Jewish Quarter
The Jewish Quarter in Bzenec (German Bisenz), a town in the Okres Hodonín district in the South Moravian Jihomoravský kraj region in the Czech Republic , was in the center of the town. Both the Jewish ghetto and the Jewish community played an important role in the past, which is also evident from the fact that the historian Tomáš Pešina z Čechorodu referred to Bzenex as nidus judaeorum (i.e. the Jewish nest) in his chronicle .
history
Although the former ghetto has only been occupied since the 16th century, its beginnings - as well as the development of the Jewish community and the Bzenec synagogue - are believed to be traced back to the 14th century.
According to the land registry of 1604, 32 Jewish houses were known in the ghetto that year, but only 21 houses left in the middle of the 17th century (in the northwestern part of the city between the main square and the castle). Later, however, Jews also settled on the western side of what was then Dolní náměstí (today: náměstí Svobody) and along the road leading to Vracov . In the second half of the 18th century there were already 63 houses with Jewish residents in the ghetto (according to another source: 93 Jewish houses in 1777) and by the beginning of the 19th century there were 88 houses. For a fee, Jews were also allowed to go about their business directly in the market and in other streets outside the ghetto and owned houses, small shops, butchers, etc.
The Bzenec synagogue , in which the Jewish religious school was temporarily located, and the "hospital" on the market square also belonged to the ghetto . While Hebrew and religious instruction took place in the synagogue, the community in Židovská ulice (Jewish Street) also had its own four-class general elementary school from 1899, a gift from a banker from Vienna who was born in Bzenec. At the end of the 19th century it was attended by around 140 students, the language of instruction was German. Outside the ghetto there are vineyards that were allowed to be bought and operated by Jews due to old privileges. In the second half of the 17th century there were already 97 vineyard sites in Jewish ownership, about 20 percent of the total area in Bzenec.
The substance of the quarter was partially or completely destroyed by armed conflicts and major fires (which could possibly explain the very different information on the number of Jewish houses). The consequences of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) were visible for a long time: in 1655, 25 Jewish settlements in the community were reported as devastated. Almost all Jewish houses were also destroyed during the conflagration of 1777. A part of this area has nevertheless been partially preserved.
location
The ghetto was located in the center of the old town between the market square (or Dolní náměstí, today náměstí Svobody) and the Bzenec Castle in the north-west: it was delimited by the (present-day) streets Krále Vladislava, Žerotínova, Krátká and Zámecká.
The Jewish cemetery is outside the actual Jewish quarter.
Remarks
- ↑ This is the so-called "horenské právo" (or ius montium , German wine law ), which has been regulating the norms and legal issues in the area of viticulture in Bohemia since around 1281.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f M. Stein: Příspěvky k životopisu moravských rabínů , ročenka svazu rabínů na Slovensku, r. 1925–26 Trnava, citováno podle: Hugo Gold: The Jews and Jewish communities in Moravia, Brno 1929. Dějiny Židů ve Bzenci (Zpracoval Josef Hoff), dostupné na: starybzenec.cz / ...
- ↑ a b c d e f Židovská obec ve Bzenci [Jewish community in Bzenec], compilation based on several biographies, portal of the “Starý Bzenec” association, online at: starybzenec.cz/zidovska-obec
- ↑ a b c Jiří Fiedler: Židovské památky v Čechách a na Moravě , keyword Bzenec , online at: holocaust.cz / ...
- ↑ a b c d 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 / ... jewish-gemeinden.de / ...
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Paměti města Bzence. IV. Bzenec majetkem rozličných šlechtických rodů , portal of the “Starý Bzenec” civil association, online at: starybzenec.cz / ...
See also
Coordinates: 48 ° 58 ′ 13 ″ N , 17 ° 16 ′ 31 ″ E