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This project seeks to collect all of the Jewish families from the town of Roudnice nad Labem (Raudnitz an der Elbe) in Bohemia, Czech Republic.
Roudnice nad Labem is a town on the left bank of the Elbe River. It has a population of approximately 13 500 and covers an area of 16,67 km². The town is situated near the site of Říp, notable for its connection with the legend of Praotec Čech. Source: Wikipedia November 6, 2016.
From the International Jewish Cemetery Project:
"Roudnice nad Labem is a small town on the river Labe with about 13 500 inhabitants on its 16.67 km². The town is situated near the famous hill Říp and one of the oldest Czech towns. The original name Rúdnik / Rúdnica was given to it because of the red colored water spring in this area. The first written documentation dates from 1167 and 1176. The bridge over the river Labe was the third oldest bridge made of stone in Czech Republic and was the first bridge to connect both banks of the river. The entirely stone Baroque castle dominates Roudnice nad Labem and was the property of Lobkowicz family town photos.. [February 2009]
CEMETERY: Old Jewish Cemetery epitaphs. Most of the epitaphs look as though they are in Hebrew or YiddishGabriel Deutsch, 1816-2/10/1894___ZieroleEva Ross or RosslGottlieb Brode emetery photos The Jewish cemetery in Roudnice dates back into the Middle Ages.The first site occupied by local Jews was south of the chateau in an area known as the Horse Market. The first Jewish cemetery was located there.Building the Capucin monastery at the beginning of the 17th century led to the forced removal of the Jewish residents, who were re-settled beyond the “Hassa Gate” on the site of what are now Třebízského Street and Havlíčkova Street. In addition to houses, a synagogue [photos], school and spital [?] were built here, and a new cemetery was established with Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo-Classical headstones.At the same time, several gravestones from the cemetery near chateau were also brought there.
During the communist regime, ownership of the synagogue was appropriated by the Czech state and rebuilt completely in the 1950's so none of the original architectural elements were preserved. A new ceiling was built in the main sanctuary, and none of the original components or design elements were retained, nor were the furnishings and hardware. All windows, doors and even the facade were replaced or rebuilt. Only in one small section can any of the original facade decoration be seen. In 1998, ownership of the property was returned to the Jewish community of Usti nad Labem. The buildings have been unoccupied since 1991. The condition has deteriorated steadily and was worsened by the devastating floods of August, 2002. The Jewish community of Usti nad Labem tried unsuccessfully for years to find someone to rent the building and partner in its repairs. The estimated cost of repairing the building was $660,000. The building was sold for $30,000. Most of the proceeds will go toward the restoration of the Jewish Town Hall in Usti nad Labem, and approximately $6,000 will be given to the Federation toward its ongoing effort to save the new Jewish cemetery of Roudnice nad Labem.Any individuals or groups interested in sponsoring a commemorative plaque to be placed at the site may e-mail: lfeder@yahoo.com to make arrangements to save the new Jewish cemetery of Roudnice nad Labem. A detailed memorial is planned at the site when restoration is complete. While the synagogue cannot be restored, the cemetery can. Scroll down to see photos of the New Cemetery: The new Jewish cemetery in June 2002 after an initial clean up by the Federation of Jewish Communities which removed extensive debris and garbage from the site; The only surviving photo of the Ceremonial Hall. The original plans for the building's construction have been preserved.; and The Ceremonial Hall shell in June 2002 before repairs were made to prevent the collapse of the surviving structure. more cemetery photos [January 2009] ROUDNICE NAD LABEM: (I) US Commission No. CZCE000308
Alternate name: Raudnitz a.d. Elbe in German. [Alternate names: Roudnice nad Labem [Cz], Raudnitz an der Elbe [Ger], Roudnice na Labe, Roudnice, Raudnitz] Town is located in Bohemia, Litomerice. at 50°25' N, 14°15' E , 14 km SE of Litomerice, 17 km NW of Melnik, and 25 miles NNW of Praha (Prague). The old cemetery is located 900 meters W of chateau in Trebizskeho St. Present town population is 5,000-25,000 with fewer than 10 Jews. Town: Mayor A. Rous and Vice-mayor Mr. Valek, Mestsky Urad, namesti 1, 413 01 Roudnice nad Labem; tel. 0411/2483. Regional: Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, Na valech 525/10, 412 01 Litomerice; tel. 0416/2332 or 3371 and Zidovska nabozenksa obec, Moskevska 26, 400 01 Usti nad Labem; tel. 047/227-10 and Pamatkovy ustav, Hradiste 4, 400 01 Usti nad Labem; tel. 047/233-03 or 231-64. Interested: Vlastivedne Muzeum, Mirove namesti 1, 412 01 Litomerice; tel. 0416/2019 and Jewish Congregation: Ms. Jana Wolfova, Zidovska Nabozenska Obec v Praze, Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-69-25.
Earliest known Jewish community was second half of 16th century. 1930 Jewish population was 166. Pogrom occurred in 1541. Old ghetto with synagogue and cemetery pulled down about 1614-1615 and new ghetto founded. Saxon soldiers burned down ghetto in 1631. One-third of Jewish inhabitants died during 1713 plague epidemic. Peak Jewish population was before mid-19th century with 176 families permitted. Later, Jews moved to big towns. Josef Deutsch (d.1826-buried here), Albert Kohn (1811-1870-buried here) and other famous rabbis; native town of Austrian writer Seligman Heller (1831-1890); Slovak opera singer Mirko Pick-Horsky (1878-1945); and of Czech writer Arthur Breisky (1885-1910). The Jewish cemetery [Republic landmark of 1st Category] originated probably in 1613 with last known Conservative or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial in 1896. The isolated urban/suburban flat land on a hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with permission via a continuous masonry wall, a continuous fence, and locking gate surround. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.4469 ha.
100-500 stones, most in original location, date from probably 1611 and were transferred from old cemetery in 19th century. The marble, granite and sandstone tombstones rough stones or boulders, flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, multi-stone monuments or obelisks have Hebrew, German and Czech inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves or structures. The municipality probably owns the site used only as a Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural gardens, residential and car-sheds. Occasionally, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred occasionally 1945-1991. Local/municipal authorities did restoration in 1992. Now, authorities occasionally clean or clear. Moderate threat: pollution. Slight threat: uncontrolled access, vegetation, vandalism and existing nearby development.
Jan Marek, Na hranici 208, 405 05 Decin; tel. and fax: 041223-662 or 28-090 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on November 1992. Documentation: censuses of 1570, 1592, 1849, and 1930; Hugo Gold: Die Juden und Judengemeinden Bohemens 1934); Prokop F. Masner: articles in journal Prodripsky kraj, 1934-35, 1938, and 1941; Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980); and research notes of Statni Zidovske Muzeum Praha. The site was not visited. Mestsky Urad personnel and other inhabitants of Roudnice n. L. in 1992 were interviewed. ROUDNICE NAD LABEM II: US Commission No. CZCE000309
The new cemetery is located 1800 meters W of bridge in Hrbitovni Street. The unlandmarked cemetery originated in 1890 with last known Jewish burial probably before 1943. The suburban agricultural flat land, separate but near cemeteries, has a sign or plaque in Hebrew mentioning Jews and Jewish symbols on gate or wall. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall without gate. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is 0.5055 ha.
20-100 stones, few in original location, date from 1890-20th century. The marble, granite and iron finely smoothed and inscribed stones, multi-stone monuments or obelisks have Hebrew and Czech inscriptions. Some have metal fences around graves. The cemetery has special section for children but no known mass graves. Within the limits of the site is a pre-burial house ruin with Hebrew and Czech wall inscriptions. The municipality probably owns the site used only as a Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are agricultural. Occasionally, private visitors and local residents stop. Vandalism occurred frequently 1945-1991 with large representative ceremonial hall burned between 1986 and 1988. There is no maintenance. Serious threats: weather erosion, pollution, vegetation, and proposed nearby development. Slight threat: existing nearby development.
Jan Marek, Na hranici 208, 405 05 Decin; tel. and fax for messages: 0412/23-662 or 28-090 and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on 29 November 1992. Documentation: censuses of 1570, 1592, 1849, and 1930; Hugo Gold: Die Juden und Judengemeinden Bohemens (1934); Prokop F. Masner: articles in journal Prodripsky kraj, 1934-35, 1938, and 1941; Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980). Other documentation exists but was inaccesible. The site was not visited. Mestsky Urad personnel and other inhabitants of Roudnice n. L. (1992) were interviewed. Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 July 2015 13:07." Accessed November 6, 2016.
A lengthy yizkor article on the Jewish presence in the town is available on Jewish Gen. Here: http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/bohemia/boh522.html
The Jewish Virtual Library has duplicated an article from the 1908 Jewish Encyclopedia about this town. Here: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0017...
The site http://www.chewra.com offers a database of epitaphs on grave markers in the town cemetery. Over 1300 stones are listed.
A large collection of data for Jewish History, and specific towns and residents, photos, descriptive material is available at the Beit Hatfutsoth site here: https://dbs.bh.org.il/ . As of 2020 this site has been rebuilt and transformed into a wondrous and immense collection of data easily accessible in English called the ANU Museum of the Jewish People. Link: https://dbs.anumuseum.org.il /
The Torah Story:
From Congregation in Chicago area that has a Torah Scroll from Roudnice.
The Beth Am Czech Torah Story
In 1987, the membership of Congregation Beth Am, then in Wheeling Illinois, learned that scrolls were available to congregations in need of them, through the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust in London. The congregation’s founder had visited London and had seen the scrolls at the Trust. Later, the congregation’s president began negotiations to acquire one of the scrolls. Each donation of $10 purchased a tiny envelope with a silver footprint on it. The envelope could be printed with the name of someone being honored or memorialized and it was placed on the map. The footprints stretched from Czechoslovakia to London and across the ocean to Chicago. The goal was to collect $700 to pay for the donation required for a scroll.
Some investigation went into the history of the scrolls. A fund was established under the Title “Footsteps to Freedom”. A wall was converted into a map of Europe, the Atlantic Ocean and the United States. Czechoslovakia, England and Chicago were highlighted on the map.
Constant publicity within the congregation, cantor’s articles, etc. was utilized to gain the attention of the members. Everyone was extremely excited about the project. In the end, a total of over $5,000 was donated; some to be used for the donation to the Trust, some to be used to dress the scroll and some went to an ongoing project for a new ark. Cantor Arnold E. Schultz and his wife Susan went to England as part of a visit to friends who live there and the scroll from Kojetine was picked up.
This scroll, written in 1840, was transported back to Chicago with the help of British Airways who donated a seat for the scroll so that it would not travel as freight. When the scroll was picked up in London, Mrs. Shafer, the trustee, was handed a check for $2,000.
On a Shabbat a few weeks after the scroll came to Beth Am, the entire congregation along with visiting Survivors filled the sanctuary to overflowing. When the time came for the Torah service, the undressed scroll was brought down the center aisle by the Cantor and then passed hand to hand past presidents to the current president and then to the Rabbi who placed the mantle onto the scroll. Not a dry eye could be found in the entire sanctuary. Everyone wept for the souls who were lost from that town. Later, a speaker from the local Holocaust foundation spoke of her time as a teenager in Prague before and after the Nazi onslaught. As time went on, more and more information was gathered about the town, its inhabitants and the fate of those Jews. With help from contacts both in London and in Washington D.C., a picture was formed of the town’s history and those souls who lived there during the war. A great deal of research went into this particular scroll and its former owners. The congregation made a concerted effort to not forget that this scroll was special. Children vie for the honor of reading from this scroll on their B’nei Mitzvah. Since the scroll is difficult to read, students must try extra hard to gain enough skill to do it honor. At every service, when mourner’s kaddish is read, the “Jews of Kojetine” are added to the list of those names read out for Yahrtzeits and S’loshim. The students in the school are exposed to the history of that scroll as part of the curriculum. The Cantor relates the history of the Czech scrolls and the history of the Jews of Kojetine. The list of names and ages of the people from that town along with their occupations are handed out and the children see the names of children their own age that perished. The impression those 58 names make is so much greater than a nameless 6 million. Students who wish to “twin” their B’nei Mitzvah with one of those children from Kojetine, in addition to the proper Hebrew skills, are required to write a biography of that person as if they lived, thus giving life to an innocent that perished.When the congregation moved to a much larger building in Buffalo Grove, a village contiguous to Wheeling, a Yahrtzeit alcove was built to house the Yahrtzeit lights.
In that alcove is a section on the Jews of Kojetine including the certificate from the Scrolls Trust, a photograph of the interior of the Kojetine sanctuary circa 1930, a plaque commemorating the deportation of the Jews and a listing the names of those who perished.
Each June, on a Friday night closest to the date of the deportation, the congregation remembers the people of Kojetine. Fifty-eight Yahrtzeit candles are placed in the front of the sanctuary and the first fifty-eight people who arrive are each given a card with the name and age of someone from that town that perished. Those people light a candle prior to the beginning of Shabbat services. During the service, the scroll is removed from the ark and read and the story of the Jews of Kojetine is related including any recent information that had come to light during the previous year. At the time of the mourners kaddish, with the reading of Yahrtzeit names and those who died in the past month, each person with a card stands and reads aloud the name and age written there.
Cantor Schultz has lectured to the members of the Cantors Assembly, the worldwide organization of Conservative cantors, on the Czech scrolls and how to research and use them.
In early 2001, friends in London discovered a scroll at a closing home for Jewish elderly that was marked for burial. A request was made of the Scrolls Trust for Beth Am to acquire that scroll as well and, with the proper donation, that acquisition was approved. Once that scroll was brought to the congregation, a member who is a professor of history at a local college, embarked over a summer to research the history of that town, Roudnice. With help from Yad Vashem and the curator of the museum in Roudnice, a picture of the history of the Jews of Roudnice and their experiences during the Holocaust was developed including a detailed history of the deportation and the fate of those people. Both of the Czech scrolls and the people from the towns from which they came, are constantly remembered by the members at Beth Am. The people of Beth Am have adopted the scrolls from the towns with great history but no congregants. This insures that those souls and their history will not be forgotten and the congregation that now keeps the scrolls in trust will be enriched with that history. Cantor Schultz is now semi-retired and holds the position of “Emeritus” at Beth Am, but he is still very much involved in the Czech scrolls and continues to lecture the children each year on their history. Cantor Schultz also continues to lecture on the Czech scrolls to organizations in the United States. *** This was taken from “www.JudaicResources.com“.
Roudnice Nad Labem
The history of Jewish people living in Roudnice is a story of oppression and destruction. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon theme throughout Jewish history. Jewish life in Rounice was first established in 1541. However, by 1592 only fourteen total Jewish families were living in Roudnice. Although Jews were given some liberties, such as being granted a charter, it did not take long after for the development and implementation of Jewish ghettos to take hold in Roudnice.
By 1615 Jewish people began to be displaced, and religious buildings were taken away, the only Jewish synagogue and cemetery torn down and replaced by the monastery. Jewish people were then kicked out of their homes and forced into a different ghetto. Today it is Havlickova Street west of the Chateau and the bridge over the Elbe River. After being transplanted into their new homes, the 30 years of war brought great suffering to the Jewish community.
Most of the 30-Year War devastation took place in Bohemia and Moravia. Jews were burdened with tax burdens, needing money to sustain themselves throughout the war. However, the Jewish community was able to create a new Jewish cemetery to bury all their loved ones lost before and during the war. Tombs were transferred over from the original cemetery to their previous Ghetto.
Then in 1631, mass devastation took hold of their daily lives when Saxons burned down their Ghetto. During that time, there were 90 Jewish people left within that Ghetto. Twenty years later, in 1651, the population grew to 218 Jewish people living in tight conditions with 23 houses split amongst themselves. The rebuilding of the Ghetto and synagogue took place. By 1675, a synagogue was rebuilt with 350 seats.
In 1713 a plague ravaged the community, killing one-third of the Jewish population. By 1724 the Jewish community had 448 people, and the East portion of the Ghetto was abolished. Unfortunately, a massacre took place in 1744, killing many in the Jewish community. The remaining community built a synagogue. However, it was ultimately torn down in the mid-1800s due to the construction of a railroad. By then, the Jewish population had declined as people moved to larger cities. Nevertheless, 176 Jewish families remained in Roudnice.
In 1853 the community rebuilt the synagogue on the North side of Havlickova Street, which was partly built on the site of the second synagogue. They then built a new Cemetery located 1 km west of the second cemetery and 1800 meters west of the bridge on Hrbitovni Street. This cemetery was completed by 1896.
From 1902 to 1930, the Jewish population declined rapidly. The community went from 448 Jewish persons to 166 Jewish persons, 1.7% of the total population of Roudnice within this period. Then the Second World War broke out, leading to catastrophic devastation for the Jewish community of Roudnice. The Holocaust led to most Jews being deported Kladno (February 6-12, 1942). Other groups of Jews from Roudnice were transported to Terezin or Prague.
During this time of displacement, Jews were identified by the lists compiled by the Roudnice community. Roudnice Jews, after Tezein, were deported elsewhere: Izbicka, Gleiwitz, Trawniki, Zamosc, Blechhamer, Kavencin, and Raasika. Approximately 76 perished during this time period. The Nazis destroyed the new cemetery built in 1896. However, luckily there was minimal damage to the synagogue.
After the Holocaust, the Jewish community in Roudnice consists of only a few Jews. The synagogue was used as a boarding house and school in 1953. Currently, the synagogue is closed and in need of repairs. However, there is hope, since the end of communism in 1989, to restore the synagogue and make it a Jewish Museum.
Both cemeteries are in the process of being restored. Both are proclaimed historical landmarks. City Hall manages the new cemetery—many cases of vandalism to the new cemetery during the Communist regime. One long original Jewish street and its building remain intact. Unfortunately, a large majority of the Jewish street was destroyed in 1973.