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This project seeks to collect all of the Jewish families from the District of Klatovy in Bohemia, Czech Republic.
KLATOVY (Ger. Klattau), town in S.W. Bohemia, Czech Republic. One Jewess is mentioned in Klatovy in the early 14th century; although no further documentary evidence exists, it is assumed that there was a community there until the 16th century. In the 18th century the seat of the Klatovy district rabbinate was in *Pobezovice (Ronsperg). After 1867, Jews mainly from nearby Strazov, Janovice, and Svihov established a congregation in Klatovy, opened a cemetery, and dedicated a synagogue in 1873. There were 1,345 Jews living in the district in 1869 and 1,305 in 1881. In the town itself the community numbered 724 (108 families) in 1893, with Jews in 14 villages affiliated to it. At the end of the 19th century Jews established more than three-quarters of the town's factories. Antisemitic riots occurred on three occasions: in connection with the *Hilsner blood-libel trial in 1899; when a Jewish youth was accused of defiling the statue of a saint; and later in 1919. Between the world wars Klatovy's Jewish population fluctuated; while the town continued to attract Jews from the countryside, many others moved to the larger cities. In 1930 the community numbered 344 (2.4% of the total population). At the time of the Sudeten crisis (Fall 1938), many Jews from the southwestern Bohemian border found refuge in Klatovy. The synagogue was plundered by Czech Fascists on July 15, 1941. The mayor had the attackers arrested and intended to bring them to trial, but they were released as a result of German pressure. The synagogue building was put at the disposal of the local museum. In the fall of 1942 the Germans deported all Jews from Klatovy and district to the extermination camps and none returned. The synagogue equipment was sent to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague. Both the cemetery and synagogue existed in the early 1970s. The Czech-language author František *Gottlieb originated from Klatovy. The chief rabbi of Bohemia-Moravia, Gustav Sicher (1880–1960), was born there, as was the Czech-Jewish poet Karel Fleischmann (1897–1944) who perished in Birkenau. A memorial for Nazi victims was dedicated in the cemetery in 1989.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
M. Steiner, in: YIVOA, 12 (1958/59), 247–58; Germ Jud, 2 (1968), 403. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Fiedler, Jewish Sights of Bohemia and Moravia (1991), 175.
Additional sources:
www.yadvashem.org lists 458 persons with a connection to Klatovy.
www.jewishgen.org lists 663 entries in the Online Worldwide Burial Registry for Klatovy.
www.chewra.com lists 675 names in the database of the town of Klatovy. These are basically tombstone inscription citations with some photographs.
The town official website at www.klatovy.cz offers quite a lot of data, hundreds of photographs, both modern and historical, and some information on the history of the town. Available text in English.
The International Jewish Cemetery Project provides a section on the town of Klatovy at this location:
http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/czech-republic/klatovy.html
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Bruml family Tree by Helen Rose Klausner
The Rise and Fall of a Jewish Community in Bohemia by Max Steiner
in 2010, my wife, Toba, and I along with our guide, Julius Muller from Prague, visited several towns in the Klatovy District. The following document: https://tinyurl.com/bohemiatrip2010th contains a guidebook prepared by Julius, photos from the cemeteries in the district and more. Please feel free to share.
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I would like to suggest that we form an email group for the Klatovy district so that we can share more readily information about our families' histories and other relevant information such as data sources, etc. If interested, please contact me at thausner@gmail.com and let me know which towns you are interested in. I have family from Nahosice, Nyrany, Meclov, Osvračín/Wostraschin, Puclice/Putzlitz, and Stankov.