Joachim Astel
Joachim Astel , also Jáchym Astel , (born November 1, 1901 in Przemyśl ; † June 24, 1942 Auschwitz concentration camp ) was the last rabbi in Kroměříž ( East Moravia ).
Life
Joachim Astel, who was trained as a rabbi, came from Galicia, Poland . His parents were Moses Astel and Miriam, née Goldberg; however, he was able to learn the Czech language quickly. He studied at Oxford and was interested in mathematics and chemistry. As a rabbi, Astel first worked in Tachov (1931-1933), from 1934 he was a rabbi in Kroměříž until his arrest, in this capacity, however - like his predecessors - he regularly visited the nearby community of Přerov , where there was no rabbi.
In 1942 a complaint was filed against Joachim Astel for raising chickens to be used in soups (which was forbidden for Jews). The town's mayor, Hans Humplík, ordered a house search to confirm this. Astel was arrested and transferred to Přerov, where he was interrogated by the Gestapo and immediately deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp . Joachim Astel died there only a short time after his arrival. His family probably did not know anything about his fate, because only two days after his death, transports to the Theresienstadt concentration camp began in Kroměříž , with which his wife and two sons were deported.
The Jewish community in Kroměříž, first mentioned in 1322, is one of the oldest in Europe. At the end of the 19th century it still had around 800 members and had three synagogues during the existence of the community; however, it shrank to less than 400 around 1930, when Astel became rabbi there. The members of the Jewish ghetto were all deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942 and then to other concentration camps, where 259 people were murdered.
Stumbling block
On November 6, 2017, in front of the former Jewish town hall (community center) in Moravcova ulice 259, where the Astel family lived, a stumbling block was laid for Joachim Astel, his wife Frima Astelová and his sons Jonathan and Schmarjahu Astel, who were also in the concentration camp Auschwitz and were murdered there in 1944. The stumbling block for Joachim Astel has the following inscription (with a translation)
|
ZDE ŽIL |
HERE LIVED |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joachim Astel , Yad Vashem database, online at: yvng.yadvashem.org/
- ↑ a b c d Poslední kroměřížský rabín a jeho blízcí mají své "komy zmizelých " , iDNES portal from November 5, 2017, online at: zlin.idnes.cz / ...
- ↑ Pavel Frýda: Tachau Synagogue (Tachov-synagoga) - Ze života tachovské kehily , portal “Zaniklé obce a objekty”, online at: zanikleobce.cz/...1456371
- ↑ Ignaz Briess: Vzpomínky na přerovské ghetto , in: Sborník Státního okresního archivu Přerov 2000 - SUPPLEMENTUM 2, page 18, ISBN 80-238-6001-1 , online at: archives.cz/web / ...
- ↑ a b Dlažební kostky v Kroměříži připomínají oběti nacistického tažení proti Židům , report of the Czech Radio, online at: rozhlas.cz / ...
- ↑ Kromeriz , The Museum of The Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot, Beit Hatfutsot Databases, online at: dbs.bh.org.il / ...
- ↑ Jan Vondrášek: Kroměříž uctí památku posledního městského rabína a jeho rodinykomy zmizelých , portal of the town of Kroměříž, online at: mesto-kromeriz.cz / ... ( Memento from February 9, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Pavel Frýda: Kroměříž-synagoga (Kremsier Synagogue) - Kroměřížská synagoga a zdejší židovské obyvatelstvo , portal “Zaniklé obce a objekty”, online at: zanikleobce.cz/...1446491
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Astel, Joachim |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Astel, Jáchym |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czechoslovak rabbi of Polish origin |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 1, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Przemyśl |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 24, 1942 |
| Place of death | Auschwitz concentration camp |