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This project seeks to reconstruct the Jewish population of Prague in the late 18th and 19th centuries. In the public tree on Geni, it is possible to link up all of the major Prague families. You can find a list of Prague Jewish surnames from Alexander Beider's work. See also the Jewish Prague FTDNA Project.
You will notice that many of the Prague surnames are rather uncommon today, but very distinctive for Prague, such as the possessive patro- and matronymics -- ones that end in -eles, like Abeles, Duschenes, Fleckeles, Jeiteles, Karpeles, Pascheles, Pereles, Schefteles, Schifferes, Sekeles, Taubeles, Wedeles, Zodekes. See below (in "Other Resources") for further discussion of Jewish names, and the 1788 law that changed many of them.
A look at the Prague 1794 census shows that these were mostly not very large families, maybe 5-10 separate families with the same last name, and so presumably closely related (siblings, cousins, uncles).
When you look at the Prague conscription database (also here) or the Census of the Prague Population you see many of the children from the 1794 census listed as adults with their families. The problem is matching them up because names are often repeated. Especially female names were quite restricted at that time, so half of the girls in 1794 seem to be named Sara, Judith or Rebeka. But even if a direct match cannot be found, it is possible on geni to enter in the families as relatives until the right link is discovered. For example, I entered in members of the Zeltmacher family. In the 1794 census there are basically three families, perhaps brothers, Juda, Dawid and Moises. Both Dawid and Moises have boys named Joachim. In the Prague conscription database we find the two Joachims, born 1776 and 1789, and can trace their families down several generations in that database. But we cannot tell which one is which. I set up hypothetical brothers of Dawid and Moises, named "?", and place these identified Joachims under them until we can tell which one goes where. That way the whole family is visible to anyone looking at the tree, even though it is not yet clear how all the pieces fit together. We know that they are pieces of the same puzzle! Once we have the Familianten records available, we will be able to sort this out and correct the tree.
Birth, death and marriage records for Prague are available at http://www.badatelna.eu/fond/1073/ and http://www.badatelna.eu/fond/241/. Go to Getting Started With Czech-Jewish Genealogy for instructions on how to navigate the site. Marriages from 1717-1814 are at http://www.badatelna.eu/fond/291/inventar/
Search the JewishGen Austria-Czech SIG for Prague marriages and cemetery records.
Books recording the names of Familianten in Bohemia, and some for Moravia, are also now available from Badatelna/Fond/2098. Familianten were the first-born sons who were permitted to marry and have children under the limits on "tolerated" Jewish families in Bohemia and Moravia, set out in the 1726 Familiant Law. An index of the Prague Familianten is on GenTeam.
Cemetery records from the Old Olsany (Wolschan) cemetery (Prague Wolschaner Friedhof) in Prague Zizkov are available in a 216-image file at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xk88bjyeevov0xa/y7lcq4x85E. [Burial?] dates are written using Hebrew calendar without the thousands (thus using only 3 digits), called לפרט קטן ("minor era"). A few also appear in Gregorian. There is a Hebrew-to-Gregorian calendar converter online.
The Jewish Theological Seminary has three death registers, whose informative images download slowly:
The Jewish Museum of Prague has a collection of notes from Simon Hock listing graves in the old cemetery of Prague. Jewish Museum of Prague -- Notes to Simon Hock's book on inscriptions from the old cemetery See the blog by Marilyn Robinson for links, or search "Jmenný rejstřík ke Starému židovskému hřbitovu v Praze" at the Jewish Museum of Prague. An attempt to start transcribing the Hock and Popper sources is at Old Prague Cemetery.
Other Resources
Regarding surnames, the Jewish name law of January 15, 1788 required that Jews take German names -- that is, names conforming to the rules of written German (see "Änderungen der Familienommen der Prager Juden im Jahre 1788" in Photos and Documents connected with this Project page). For Jews in Czech-speaking villages who had Czech family names, complying was easy: it was enough to change Votický to Wotitzky; Jelínek (the Czech form of Herschel / Hirschel) to Jelline; Polák to Pollak (Germans and German-speaking Jews used "Polack" for immigrants from Poland, not Polák / Pollak). Names such as Kohn, Israel, Salomon, Levi and its variants (but not the Czech "Lev"), met the new law's requirement whether as surnames or as first names, so did not have to be changed. Thus there was usually no reason to have to change one's family name. Regarding first names, the new law gave a list of allowed names. Those with disallowed first names had to choose a new one. For example, the first name "Herschel" was not on the "allowed" list. Typical German first names such as Hermann or Heinrich were at first disallowed, but some years later, eventually permitted. "Simche" was not allowed, but Simon or Samuel or Salamon were; "Sisel" was not allowed, but Sara or Susana were (those who had a name that they did not like also took advantage of the opportunity presented by the new Jewish name law). In contrast to Germany, Jews in the Habsburg Empire could freely choose their civil names (apart from non-permitted first names and spellings). The rule well-known from Germany -- "Der Name als Stigma / the name as a stigma" -- did not apply in the Habsburg Empire. (Thanks to H.P. Grab)
Death notices from Prager Tagblatt, online for 1877-1938, are now indexed and available from GenTeam. These notices often provide names of spouses, children and their spouses (with maiden names), siblings and their spouses (with maiden names), and grandchildren, making them a real goldmine of information.
The inventories of the Jewish population in Bohemia 1723-1811. Also search the census database at http://jewish-inventories.cz/
1729 Census of Prague Jewish Families
Die Familien Prags by Simon Hock -- listings are in Hebrew; an Introduction in German appears on Image 451 of 453 in the pdf file, and displays in reverse page-order through Image 416.
The Prague City Archives has a collection of old books with records of local Jewish matters. Search for "Liber Judeorum" or "Kniha židovská bílá" in Municipal Chronicles at http://katalog.ahmp.cz/pragapublica/ (Select Municipal Chronicles near the bottom of the second column. In the upper right search "Liber Judeorum" or "Kniha židovská bílá"). For Liber judeorum albus 10 and the index of books 41-44 see https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m0ozvyn1krg9jyw/AABYdutcGQn-bTlUx2sRUZiV....
For further hints on how to conduct research on Czech-Jewish ancestry, see Getting Started With Czech-Jewish Genealogy.
My hope is that we will get access to the data that will allow us to reconstruct centuries of Jewish family history in Prague. Because Prague Jews used surnames before Jews from the outlying communities, we can sometimes trace back several centuries. Using the cemetery data, census data, conscriptions, Familianten, vital records, obituaries, and Holocaust databases, it should ultimately be possible to trace 400 years of history for some families, from the time of the Maharal up to the Holocaust.
Subject: Post-war death declarations From: randols@bslaw.net Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 15:04:09 -0800 X-Message-Number: 3
The first part (A-K) of Lenka Matusikova's new database of Prague post-war death declarations is now online at https://digi.nacr.cz/prohlaseni/
Randy Schoenberg Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CA
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Below is a list of profiles, one per family name, from which you can enter the tree:
- Simon Löb Abeles
- Isak Abner
- Isak Afners (1788-1843)
- Joachim Altschul (1765-1837)
- Pesachia Apotheker
- Mendl Auerbach (1750)
- Simon Ausch (1795)
- Jakob Austerlitz (1774)
- Lazar Samuel Bacher (1779)
- Isak Bachrach
- Israel Bakofen (1796-1861)
- Aron Barbier (1780-1847)
- David Barmeles
- Abraham Basch (1767)
- Löb Bass
- Jacob Bassevi von Treuenberg (1570-1634)
- Juda Bauch <father of Abraham Bauch ( - 1707)>
- Josef Bauer (1797)
- Adam Beihilf (1808)
- Simon Bendiner (1787-1871)
- Shmuel Berlin
- Ignaz Beständig (1785)
- Wolf Bidschof
- Markus Bindeles (1777)
- Samuel Bischitz
- Bernard Blumberger
- Isaac Bondi (1678-1750)
- Abraham Boskowitz (1766)
- Naphtali Brandeis (1786)
- Isak Breininger
- Löbel Bresnitz
- Abraham Brisker
- Abraham Brod (1754)
- Cheiem Bunim (1755)
- Abraham Bunzl (1775)
- Joachim Burger (1763)
- Laser Buries
- Joachim Busch (1756)
- Isaak Buth
- Wolf Chajes
- Löw Deckelmacher
- Elias Dewidels (1787)
- Abraham Doktor (1765-1855)
- Aron Dormitzer (1779-1845)
- Markus Dringeles (1772)
- Moses Drucker
- Abraham Duschenes (1759-1829)
- Barbara Dworeles (1766)
- Mathias Eckstein
- Markus Edeles (1774)
- Moses Ederer (1789-1867)
- Jacob Eger (1773-1852)
- Salomon Eidlitz (1796)
- Samuel Elbogen (1781)
- Samuel Enseles
- Ephraim Epstein (1773)
- Jakob Erlines (1790)
- Josef Esroger (1789)
- Ignatz Falkeles (1798)
- Löwi Fanta (1773)
- Nathan Felkeles (1752)
- David Fischel (1787-1854)
- Eleazar Flekeles (1754-1826)
- Juda Foges (1740)
- Moses Frankl (1784)
- Samson Freiberg (1798-1866)
- Moses Freund (1777-1849)
- Nathan Friedland ( - 1712)
- Isak Fröscheles
- Samuel Fürth (1618-1640)
- Samuel Gabriel
- Salman Gardeles (1750)
- Isak Gehengmacher (1791)
- Abraham Gerscheles (1765)
- David Gerstel (1787)
- Samuel Seligmann Gibianer (1781-1856)
- Bezalel Gitschin
- Jakob Goldschmied (1784)
- Herschman Gollerstepper
- Michael Goschler (1768)
- Gabriel Gottheim (1754-1822)
- Jacob Grab (1774)
- Simon Graetz (1783-1855)
- Isak Graf (1775)
- Löw Gröger (Greger) (1777)
- David Grotte (1757)
- Joseph Grünfeld (before 1731 - )
- Markus Grünhut (1781-1858)
- Wolf Günzburg (1771)
- Koppelmann Gumperles (1790)
- Löwi Guth (1753-1816)
- Juda Gutkind
- Samuel Habern (1751)
- Markus Halberstadt (1763)
- Abraham Hamburger
- Abraham Harpner
- Nesanel Heid
- Lewi Hekelmacher
- Selig Beer Hirsch (1767)
- Simon Hock (1815-1887)
- Moses Hönigsberg (1787)
- Aaron Meshulam Horowitz (1470-1545)
- Wolff Hoschkes
- Abraham Löb Hutschnürl
- Jonathan Hutter (1761)
- Jakob Illem
- Selke Ippen
- Lazar Itzeles (1761)
- Markus Jacheles
- David Jampeles
- Abraham Janowitzer (1767)
- Samuel Jeiteles (1775)
- David Jenikauer (1755)
- Aron Jeral
- Lazar Jerik
- Simon Jerusalem (1769-1831)
- Lewy Jisternitz (1764)
- Jonathan Jitschin
- Joseph Joel (-1799)
- Isak Jochowitz
- Isak Jontof (1747)
- Isak Joss (1761)
- Abraham Judeles
- Michael Jurist (1711-1816)
- Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
- Jakob Kalmus (1760-1802)
- Samuel Kantor (1796)
- Markus Kapper (1796)
- Joachim Karpeles (1750-1831)
- Moses Kassowitz (1756)
- Jakob Kauders (1784)
- Filipp Kersch (1784)
- Beer Ketzeles
- Simon Kindeles (1776)
- Salomon Kisch (1734)
- Moses Klaber (1761)
- Isak Klapp (1799-1865)
- Baruch Klapper (1764)]
- Jakob Kleiderhändler
- Moses Klemperer (1771)
- Samuel Klinenberg
- Nathan Kneipeles (1785)
- Simon Knina (1775)
- Rafael Kohn (1768)
- David Kollin (1776)
- Izak Koppeles (1776)
- Eva Koref (1765)
- Gabriel Koschler (1766)
- Loeb Koten
- Gabriel Kremsier
- Löbl Küche (1775)
- David Kuh (1767)
- Löwy Kuranda (1781)
- Jacob Lagus (1817)
- Simon von Lämel (1766-1845)
- Josef Langendorf (1793-1866)
- Joachim Laserles
- Simon Lasch (1796)
- Hirsch Lazarus (1762)
- Joachim Lederer
- Michael Leitmeritz (1775)
- Moses Leipen (1783)
- Elias Libochowitz
- Abraham Lichtenstadt (1791)
- Abraham Lieben (1764)
- Simon Lieberles (1780-1855)
- Moises Lilles (1788)
- Moses Lion (1783)
- Löb Linzer
- Abraham Lippmann
- Salomon Lissa
- Abraham Litten (1790)
- Yehuda Loew "Maharal" (1512-1609)
- Isak Lotz (1751)
- Josua Lowositz (1765)
- Herrmann Lucka (1790)
- David Mameles
- Jakob Mandeles
- Hirsch Margoliot (-1740)
- Elias Marle
- Simon Matzka (1770)
- Löb Mechokek
- Jakob Meisterles (1789-1858)
- Herschmann Melis (1795)
- Moses Mendeles (1767)
- Abraham Mendelinkes
- Jacob Merores
- Michael Metzeles (1752)
- Herschmann Miecholup (1777)
- Simon Mirowitz (1765)
- Moshe Mischeles
- Josef Mislap (1789)
- Simon Moscheles (1786)
- Gabriel Muneles (1790)
- Gabriel Nachod (1776-1849)
- Bermann Nagelstock (1758-1853)
- Abraham Natscheradetz (1790)
- Salamon Nefeles (1768)
- Joseph Neuern (1758-1832)
- Isak Neugröschl
- Simon Neustadtl (1772-1836)
- Abraham Nevekluf (1771)
- Isaac Österreicher (-1829)
- Jakob Ofner (1792)
- Joachim Olber
- Abraham Onef (1741-1816)
- Aron Osers (1762)
- Daniel Pan (1799)
- Simon Parkus (1745)
- Gabriel Pascheles (1783)
- Ascher Paweles
- Salomon Pereles (1785)
- David Perlhefter (1763)
- Nathan Persek (1775)
- Joel Petschau (1766)
- Markus Petschirstecker
- Gerschon Pick (1763)
- Moses Pintschow
- Jakob Pisek (1762)
- Jakob Pisling (1787)
- Wolf Pitzker (1763)
- Isak Pivany
- Simon Plohn (1788)
- Rebeka Podiebrad (1782)
- Elias Pohl (1764-1832)
- Gabriel Popper (1805-1883)
- Simon Porges (1802)
- Abraham Postelberg (-1741)
- Gottlieb Preissler (1796)
- Isak Premsler
- Abraham Pressburg (1765)
- Gabriel Pressburger (1780)
- Moses Presseles
- Jakob Pressnitz
- Löb Priwes
- Moses Prokurator (1760)
- Joachim Prossnitz (1766)
- Loeb Protiwin
- Salomon Pschotsch
- Aron Przibram (1781)
- David Radnitz (1817-1892)
- Simon Ramschak
- Salamon Raudnitz (1780)
- Abigail Rausnitz (1772)
- Wolf Reach (1803)
- Salomon Rechnowa
- Moses Redesch (1759)
- Samuel Reiniger (1788)
- Salomon Reiss
- Isaac Relines
- Israel Rie (1779-1826)
- Israel Riemer
- Juda Rosenberg (1783)
- Jakob Saar (1796)
- Abraham Sattler (1779)
- Ephraim Schablin (1771)
- Simon Schak (1787)
- Wolf Schalek (1782-1860)
- Salamon Schapp (1793)
- Hersch Scheberles
- Benjamin Schefteles (1757)
- Gabriel Schertitz
- Moses Schewes (1766)
- Jakob Schifferes
- Josef Schirmer
- Ezechiel Schlesinger
- Markus Schlosser (1789-1865)
- Markus Schmelkes (1792-1849)
- David Schneider (1770)
- David Schnürdreher (1795)
- David Schöpkes
- Juda Schorsch (1765)
- Elias Schreiber
- Moses Schüttenhofen (1761)
- Abraham Isak Schütz (1787-1855)
- Wolf Schulhof (1790)
- Salmen Schuster (1725)
- Herschmann Schwabach
- Emanuel Schwarz (1770)
- Moses Sekeles (1792)
- Isak Senders (1818)
- Moyses Simches
- Wolf Similes (1794)
- Israel Slatkes (1796)
- Josef Slonitz (1786-1864)
- Gabriel Sobotka
- Salomon Spielmann (1775)
- Josef Stein (1796)
- Lazar Wolf Steinitz (1773-1859)
- Seligmann Stösseles (1794)
- Abraham Straschitz (1759)
- David Stummes
- Israel Tachau (1789-1859)
- Joachim Tandeles (1763)
- Herschmann Taubeles (1762)
- Isak Taussig (1777)
- Isack Tedesko
- Jakob Teller
- Raphael Teltsch
- Seligmann Teplitz (1771)
- Moritz Teweles (1820-1898)
- Jakob Thalem (1761)
- Jonas Thein (1765)
- Salamon Wolf Thias (1787)
- Markus Thorsch (1770-1819)
- Isak Todres (1798)
- Efraim Tomers (1763)
- Isak Trebitsch (1777)
- David Tritsch (1789)
- Ephraim Tschap
- Aaron Tultes
- Isak Turnau (1770)
- Salomon Tuschkau (1765)
- Enoch Unger (1778-1866)
- Abraham Utitz (1800-1873)
- Simon Wahle (1782-1847)
- Samuel Wallerstein (1777-1837)
- Jonas Wantoch
- Löb Warter
- Elias Wedeles (1775)
- Philipp Wehle (1770)
- Abraham Weil (1766)
- Jakob Weiseles (1803)
- Bermann Weltsch (1770)
- Abraham Wien (1768)
- Ephraim Wiener (1791 - 1866)
- Salomon Wilhartitz (1782-1852)
- Joseph Winternitz (1772)
- Salomon Wittelshöfer (1779)
- Jakob Wohl (1781-1864)
- Emanuel Worlik (1775)
- Wolf Zappert
- Moritz Zdekauer (1770-1845)
- Abraham Žebrak (1758)
- Abraham Zeckendorf (1802)
- Juda Zeitmacher (1761)
- Hirsch Zigeuner
- David Zlonitz
- Wolf Zodex (1761)
- Salomon Zuckermann (1778)
- Lazar Zweibrück (1776)