Jewish Families from Kojetín, Moravia, Czech Republic

KOJETIN (Czech Kojetín; Ger. Kojetein; Heb. גויט״ן ,גוט״ן), town in central Moravia, Czech Republic. Jews apparently lived in Kojetin from the 13th century, but their first documented mention dates from 1566, when 52 families lived in the Judengasse. The consecration of a cemetery is recorded in 1574. The synagogue, then seating 300, was renovated in 1614 (and restored again in 1718). In 1657 only 16 houses were owned by Jews, but the community absorbed many refugees from the Chmielnicki massacres (1648) and some of those expelled from Vienna (1670). The Minhag Polin, the Polish prayer rite, was introduced in Kojetin in 1648. When the Jews were segregated in a special sector of the town in 1727, 500 of them lived in 40 houses. Kojetin was then in the possession of the Prague archbishop, who treated the Jewish community fairly. There was a scandal in Kojetin, echoed in rabbinical literature of the period, when a Frankist was accused of making the sign of the cross when blessing the community. The Familiants Law allotted 76 Jewish families to Kojetin in 1798. In 1829 there were 443 Jews in the town, living in 45 houses. The community flourished in the 19th century but began to decline after 1860 when many of its members were attracted to the larger cities. It numbered 162 in 1869.

Only 72 Jews (1.1% of the total population), 30 of them of declared Jewish nationality, were left in the town in 1930. The remnant of the community was deported to Nazi extermination camps in 1942 and the synagogue equipment transferred to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague. A small congregation, affiliated with Olomouc, was established after World War II. The burial hall in the cemetery was still standing in 1970.

Among the rabbis who officiated in Kojetin were Eleazer Fleckeles (1779–83), Jacob Bruell (1843–89), and Richard Feder (1903–06). Several Jewish families – Goitein, Guttein, Kojeteiner, etc. – took their names from the town. The scholar David Kaufmann was a native of Kojetin.

Record books for Kojetin

• Fond 1073
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 803 N 1844-1879 (i) (births)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 804 O 1844-1869 (i) (marriages)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 805 O 1847-1874 (marriages)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 806 Z 1844-1846 (i) (deaths)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 807 Z 1846-1874 (deaths)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 808 N 1784-1844 (i) O 1785-1842 Z 1784-1844 (births, marriages, deaths)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 809 N 1874-1894 (i), 1918-1940, 1942-1944 O 1875-1894 (i 1876-1888), 1918-1940, 1942-1944 Z 1875-1894 (i 1876-1888), 1918-1944 (births, marriages, deaths)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 810 NOZ 1846 (index)
• HBMa Fond 1073 Inv. 811 NOZ 1846-1934 (index)
• Fond 241
• HBM Fond 241 Inv. 961 N 1846 - 1874 (births)

The Jews of Kojetin

History of the Jews in Kojetin

In 1829 the following persons held Familianten status in Kojetin:

1. Jakob Arely
2. Jelinek Singer
3. Isak Gramisch
4. Israel Grünhut
5. Jakob Haas
6. Isak Sonnenschein
7. Markus Schmeidler
8. Zacharias Polak
9. Philipp Liebmann
10. Michael Deutsch
11. Hermann Seidl
12. Isak Seidl
13. Hermann Steiner
14. Bernhard Gutmann
15. Salomon König
16. Jakob Fuchs
17. Jakob Gramisch
18. Bernard Kaufmann
19. Pinkas Kirschner
20. Bernard Kurz
21. Isak Zimlich
22. Samuel Kaufmann
23. Jakob Löwenthal
24. Jakob Reichsfeld
25. Jakob Turadt
26. Abraham Liebmann
27. Aron Löwenthal
28. Lazar Pollak
29. Jakob Seidl
30. Isak Blum
31. Philipp Langer
32. Markus Weiskopf
33. Jakob Zimlich
34. Markus Schiller
35. Wolf Löwenthal
36. Lazar Gottlieb
37. Moses Stern
38. Jakob Löwenthal
39. Samuel Kurz
40. Joseph König
41. Lazar Weiskopf
42. Ludwig Hochberg
43. Michel Sonne
44. Isak Kaufmann
45. Isak Eisler
46. Markus Kaufmann
47. Israel Bick
48. Jakob Klopfer
49. Jakob Hausner
50. Löbl Langer
51. Moses Krasny
52. Jakob Sonne
53. Jakob Blum
54. Bernard Schmeidler
55. Isak Stern
56. Jakob Brunner
57. Jakob Hausner
58. Markus Steiner
59. Jonas Schiller
60. Markus Krasny
61. Samuel Hochberg
62. Simon Löwy
63. Joachim Sauerbrunn
64. Abraham Zimlich
65. Joachim Pollak
66. Jakob Glückselig
67. Abraham Schiller
68. Joseph Vogl
69. Moses Brunner
70. Abraham Gramisch
71. Jakob Seidl
72. Aron Kirschner
73. Markus Eisler
74. Joachim Langer
75. Jakob Pfefferkorn
76. Löbl Schein

Photos from Kojetin Cemetery can be found at JOWBR