JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. KARLOVY VARY/CZECH REPUBLIC

MONUMENT WHERE WAS THE SYNAGOGUE.

Sunday, Kislev 11, 5777. December 11, 2016.

Shalom! World.

Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) is a famous spa town in western Bohemia prohibited Jews from residing in the town until the 1840s when Jewish population grew rapidly. The Synagogue that accomodated 2.000 worshippers, designed by Edwin Oels Oppler, was built in 1877. A popular Jewish resort and meeting place for rabbis and communal leaders, all but four Jews left during the Sudeten crisis in 1937.

THE NEW SYNAGOGUE

Jewish population: No Jews in 1868; 1,069 in 1890; 1,600 in 1910; 2,650 in 1921; and 2,120 in 1930 (8.9% of the total) with a additional 292 in the industrial area of Rybare (Fischern). Jewish settlement was prohibited from 1499 to 1793. Up 1848 Jewish residence was contested in litigation initiated by non-Jewish merchants. Authorities generally sided with the Jews. Jews living in the nearby communities of Becov (Petschau; 18 in 1930), Luka (Luck; 21 in 1930), and Hroznetin did business in Karlovy vary nonetheless. After 1793, Jewish peddlers were permitted in the town. Jews could use the spa during the official season and sick persons in the winter on doctors orders. A needy Jewish patients hostel was founded in 1847, the first such Jewish institution. Jews began to settle after 1848. 

MEMORIAL KARL MARX

Authorization to form a congregation came in 1868 with a Synagogue accommodating 2,000 opened in 1877. Rabbi Ignaz Ziegler officiated from 1888 to 1938 when he fled. In the second half of the 19th century, the Moser family's glass-work factory began. The 12th and 13th Zionist Congresses were held in 1921 and 1923. All but four Jews left in 1938. The Synagogue was destroyed on November 10, 1938. A community reconstituted in 1945, mostly about 400 Jews from Sub-Carpathian Ruthenia including the members of the congregation and old-age home in Marianbad. A communal center with a Synagogue, mikveh, and reading room was built. A Holocaust Memorial was erected in 1956 on the site of the destroyed Synagogue demolished in 1983. 

The heart of this resort town lies with its twelve hot mineral springs. A favorite vacation spot for ryalty and the rich, a drink of  the hot water tis said to aid in digestive disorders. 

The Jewish Cemetery

HRBITOV ZYDOWSKI

Cemetery: 900 meters NNE of main mineral spring "Vridlo" in Hrbitovni Street. Population is 10 - 100 Jews.

Jewish cemetery originated in 1869. Moser family and prominent visitors to the spa from various countries are buried in the still active but unlandmarked cemetery. The Jewish community is Conservative or Reform/Progressive.

The suburban hillside, separate but near other cemeteries, has Czech sign and Hebrew mentioning the Jewish Community. Reached by turning directly off a public road, acess is open to all during regulated hours. A continuous masonry wall, a continuous fence, and locking gate surround. Size of cemetery before and after WWII: about 1 ha. 500-1000 gravestones, all in original location with less than 25% toppled or broken, date from 1869-20th century. The cemetery is divided into special section: children and Russian grave.

TAHARA

The marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone flat  shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, multi-stone monuments, or obelisks have Hebrew, German, Czech, Russian, and Hungarian inscriptions. Some have iron decorations or lettering, bronze decorations or lettering, portraits on stones, and/or metal fences around graves. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims and Jewish soldiers. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. Within the limits of the cemetery are a pre-burial house, an ohel, a well, and a caretaker's house. The Jewish community of Karlovy Vary owns the Jewish cemetery.

Frequently, organized Jewish group tours or pilgrimage group, organized individual tours, private visitors, and local residents stop. Vandalism occured prior to World War II and since. Local non-Jewsih residents and Jewish groups within country re-erected stones, patched broken stones, cleared vegetation, fixed wall, fixing of gate, and new roof on ceremonial hall, mostly in 1985-91. Karlovy Vary Jewish Congregation pays a regular caretaker. Weather erosion and vegetation are slight treats. Vegetation overgrowth seasonally prevent access.  

Shalom! Aleichem.

Cultural Support:  Jacob Jr. B.A.C.E., avec L'Integration d'Association avec Israel et dans le Monde/Cz .