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This project seeks to collect all of the Jewish families from the village of Svojšín (Schweißing) in Bohemia, Czech Republic.
Svojšín is a village and municipality in Tachov District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. The municipality covers an area of 13.55 square kilometres, and has a population of 460. Wikipedia.
Alternate name: Schweissing in German. Svojsin is located in Bohemia, Tachov at 49º46 12º55, 9 km WNW of Stribro; 17 km ESE of Tachov. Cemetery: 2.5 km W of Svojsin; cadastre of Rebri (Ger.: Leiter) 500 m NW of Rebri. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews. Town: Obecni urad, 349 56 Svojsin; tel. 0183/931-12. Regional: Okresni Urad, Referat Kultury, 347 01 Tachov cp. 1326; tel. 0184/3560; and Zidovska Nabozenska Obec, Smetanovy sady 5, 301 37 Plzen; tel. 019/357 49. Interested: Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-06-34, or 231-07-85. Okresni Muzeum, trida Miru 447, 347 01 Tachov; tel. 0184/2172. Zdenek Prochazka, Vodni 18, 334 01 Domazlice; tel. 0189/2332.
Earliest known Jewish community was 1660. 1930 Jewish population was 11 in Svojsin, 2 in Oselin, and 0 in Rebri. Congregation for surrounding villages. Peak Jewish population was in first half of 19th century (17 families in Svojsin permitted). In second half of 19th century, Jews moved to big towns. Independent congregation disbanded in early 20th century. The Jewish cemetery originated in 1660 with last known Conservative Jewish burial at beginning of 20th century. Stribro (German: Mies) before 1900; Oselin (German: Oschelin); probably Cebiv (German: Zebau) (9 km; 2 km; and 10km away) used this unlandmarked cemetery. The wooded and isolated hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by crossing private property forest, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall and non-locking gate. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is approximately 0.12 ha.
100-500 stones date from 1743-20th century. The marble, granite and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew and German inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves or structures. The owner of the cemetery property is Statni lesy [State Forests] in Stribro. The property now is Jewish cemetery and forest. Adjacent properties are forest. Rarely, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred frequently 1945-1991 with no maintenance. Moderate threat: pollution. Slight threats: weather erosion and existing nearby development.
Peter Braun, Komenskeho 43, 323 13 Plzen; tel. 019/52-15-58; Rudolf Loewy, Jesenicka 33, 323 23 Plzen; tel. 019/52-06-84; and Jiri Fieldler, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on 1 September 1992. Documentation: Jahrbuch fur die israelische Cultusgemeinden Bohemens (1893-1894); Die Juden und Judengemeinden Bohemens. (1934); notes of Statni Zidovske Muzeum (reserch in 1965); cadastre of 1838-1858. The site was not visited. Vladimir Postl, Rebri 19, 349 56 Svojsin were interviewed in 1992. Last Updated on Friday, 27 February 2009 16:43. International Jewish Cemetery Project.