Follow
This project seeks to collect all of the Jewish families from the town of Litoměřice (Leitmeritz) in Bohemia, Czech Republic
Litoměřice (Czech pronunciation: [%CB%88l%C9%AAtom%C9%B2%C9%9Br%CC%9D%C9%AAts%C9%9B]; German: Leitmeritz) is a town at the junction of the rivers Elbe (Czech: Labe) and Ohře (German: Eger) in the north part of the Czech Republic, approximately 64 km (40 mi) northwest of Prague. Litomerice regional information [February 2009]
CEMETERY: US Commission No. CZCE000304 [Used the cemetery at Lovosice] Alternate name: Leitmeritz in German. Litomerice is located in Bohemia, Litomerice at 50º32 14º08, 15 km SSE of Usti nad Labem and 52 km NNW of Praha. Cemetery: 900 m W of the main square. Present town population is 25,000-100,000 with fewer than 10 Jews. Town: Mestsky Urad, Mirove namesti, 412 01 Litomerice; tel. 0416/2806; Director member of town council: PhDr. J.Smetana. Regional: Okresni Urad, Referat Kultury, Na valech 525/10, 412 01 Litomerice; tel. 0416/2019; Zidovska Nabozenska Obec, Moskevska 26, 400 01 Usti nad Labem; tel. 047/227-10. Interested: Vlastivedne Muzeum, Mirove namesti 1, 412 01 Litomerice; tel. 0416/2019. Key-holder and caretaker: Mestska hrbitovni sprava, (Custodian of Municipal Cemetery), 412 01 Litomerice Earliest known Jewish community was probably late 14th century. 1930 Jewish population was 425 people. A pogrom and banishing of Jewish community occurred in 1541 when both synagogue and cemetery ceased to exist. 1-2 families permitted since second half of 18th century. Jews moved from surrounding villages to Litomerice after 1848. Congregation originated in 1863. Jewish population peaked about 1900. Expulsion of Jewish inhabitants by Nazis was in 1938; forced labor camp (branch of Flossenburg Camp) with crematorium existed in suburb in 1944-45. Inmates of Terezin ghetto were sent to work to local rocket armory. The unlandmarked Jewish cemetery originated in 1876-1878 (Jewish part) with last known Conservative or Progressive/Reform Jewish burial in 1987. The flat suburban, part of a municipal cemetery, has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a continuous masonry wall and locking gate. The size of cemetery before WWII and currently is approximately 0.045 ha s (Jewish part of municipal cemetery) but individual Jewish burials are in other parts of the cemetery.
20-100 stones are all in original locations. The late 19th-20th century marble, granite, slate, and cement finely smoothed and inscribed stones or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew, German and Czech inscriptions. Some tombstones have bronze decorations or lettering and/or other metallic elements. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Holocaust victims in Jewish portion but no known mass graves or structures (Jewish part). The municipality owns Jewish cemetery property. Adjacent properties are non-Jewish parts of cemetery. Occasionally, Jewish or non-Jewish private visitors and local residents stop. Vandalism occurred occasionally 1945-1991. Individuals or groups of non-Jewish origin and local/municipal authorities did restoration occasionally. Now, authorities occasionally clean or clear. The caretaker of municipal cemeteries is paid by a local contribution. Slight threat: vegetation and vandalism.
Jan Marek, Na hranici 208, 405 05 Decin; tel. and fax for messages: 0412/23-622 or 28-090; and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on 29 November 1992. Documentation: Census of 14th-20th centuries. Die Juden un Judengemeinden Bohemens. (1934); Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries of Bohemia and Moravia (1980). The site was not visited. Dr. J. Smetana and Dr. Kolek from Muzeum and inhabitants of Litomerice were interviewed in 1992. Last Updated on Saturday, 06 December 2014 22:13. Accessed February 9, 2017
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 /