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This project seeks to collect all of the Jewish families from the town of Údlice (Eidlitz) in Bohemia, Czech Republic.
Useful information about the Udlice Jewish cemetary could be found in the following link: http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/czech-republic/udlice.html
About the jewish community: UDLICE (Czech Údlice; Ger. Eidlitz), village in N.W. Bohemia, Czech Republic. It is assumed that the Jewish community of Udlice was founded by refugees who fled from the nearby community of *Chomutov (Komotau) when the *Hussites attacked it in 1421. Eleven families were recorded in 1570 and the oldest gravestone (still extant until the Holocaust) dated from 1572. The ḥevra kaddisha was founded in 1680. The synagogue was rebuilt in 1694 and again in 1782. Judah Loew b. Isaac Lipschitz, the author of Hanhagot Adam (Fuerth, 1691) was rabbi in the 17th century. In 1724 the community numbered 76 families; 15 houses owned by the local lord were given to 24 heads of families in 1727; in 1815 they were destroyed by fire. The community numbered 597 in 1809, and in 1824, 111 families (481 persons) lived in 40 houses. In 1840 the synagogue was rebuilt in Reform style. (It was demolished in the 1920s and services were held in the school.) After 1848 the community diminished rapidly, most of its members moving to Chomutov and until 1869 returning to Udlice only for services. Only 150 Jews (9.2% of the total population) were left in Udlice in 1880 and these had declined to 21 (1.02%) in 1910; by 1926 only two families remained. Under Nazi occupation, both cemeteries and the school were destroyed. The memory of the community is perpetuated in the family name "Eidlitz."
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Krakauer, in; H. Gold (ed.), Die Juden und Judengemeinden Boehmens in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart (1934), 130–3. [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0020_...]
Udlice is located approximately 3 miles (5km) from the town of Chomutov. Until 1918 it was part of the Austrian Empire. During the interwar period, and between the end of World War II and 1993, it was part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945 Udlice was one of the municipalities in the Sudeten Region.
It is thought that the founders of the Jewish community of Udlice were Jewish refugees from Chomutov who left in 1421 as a result Hussite attacks (the Hussites were a social and Czech-nationalist movement founded by Jan Hus that arose during the 15th century). A record from 1570 mentions 11 Jewish families living in Udlice. A tombstone dating from 1572 was still standing in the Jewish cemetery, and legible, until the 1940s.
In 1604 the Jews of the town lived in 23 houses. In 1724 there were 76 Jewish families living in Udlice. In 1727 the local ruler granted 15 houses to 24 of the families. In order to limit the number of the Jewish families living in the village, the Jews were prevented from expanding their houses. All Jews living in the village, with the exception of the rabbi, the teacher, the shohet (butcher) and the hospital attendant, paid a protection fee to the local owner.
At first, religious services were held in a private home. A synagogue was built at the end of the 17th century and renovated in 1782. A hospital was opened in 1727 and a record from that year mentions the rabbi's home, which was located near the beit midrash.
A number of anti-Semitic riots broke out in 1736, and students from Chomutov destroyed tombstones and vandalized the synagogue. A fire that broke out in 1815 destroyed the Jewish street, as well as part of the synagogue.
In 1809 the Jewish community numbered 597. By 1824 there were 111 Jewish families living in 40 houses. In 1858 there were 647 Jews living in Udlice.
The Jewish street was paved in 1837. Shortly thereafter, in 1840, the synagogue was renovated; fixed seats were installed, a bimah was built in front of the Holy Ark, a women’s gallery was added, as well as a gallery for the choir. A Jewish elementary school, in which the language of instruction was German, was established during the 1820s. Isak Gerseus was the school's principal until his death in 1863. In 1844 the community also opened a religious school, which taught Hebrew, the Bible, and prayers in German translation. Rabbi Israel Weiss, who was also a certified teacher, began teaching at the school in 1847. The synagogue was ultimately torn down during the 1920s, at which point services were held in the school.
The community's rabbis included the district rabbi, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Lipschitz, who wrote Hanhagot Adam. Rabbi Lipschitz died in 1710 and was buried in Udlice. Other rabbis who served the community included Rabbi Abraham Loebl, mentioned in documents from 1718, who bought a house in the village in 1750, Rabbi Israel Stern (1811-1831), and Rabbi Markus Fuerth (appointed in 1831). The last rabbi to serve Udlice was Rabbi Israel Weiss, who began after Rabbi Fuerth's death and served until 1907; Edmund Kohn served as the last head of the community. During the mid-19th century a new Jewish community was beginning to be established at Chomutov. As Chomutov's community went through the process of organizing itself, it was affiliated with the community of Udlice; Rabbi Weiss served as the spiritual leader of both communities.
After the emancipation of Jews throughout the Austrian Empire in 1848, and the subsequent removal of residence restrictions, Jews in rural areas began moving to larger towns and cities, seeking greater economic and educational opportunities. By 1880 the number of Jews living in Udlice had dropped to to 150 (9% of the total population), and by 1921 only 21 Jews remained in the village (1% of the total). Five years later, in 1926 only 2 Jewish families remained. In 1890 the community ceased to function independently, and became affiliated with the community of Chomutov.
THE HOLOCAUST
After the Munich Agreement of September, 1938 the Republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved and the Sudeten Region, which included Udlice, was annexed to Nazi Germany. Shortly thereafter, the region of Bohemia and Moravia was occupied by the Nazis, and became a protectorate of the Third Reich, ushering in a period of discrimination and violence against the Jews living there. Beginning at the end of 1941 Jews throughout the region were deported to the Terezin (Theresienstadt) Ghetto. From there they were sent to concentration and death camps, where most perished.
Both of Udlice's Jewish cemeteries were destroyed by the Nazis, as was the school building.