Nová Cerekev

Jews in Nová Cerekev

The Jewish community in Nová Cerekev was established around the year 1690, when there is also a record of a prayer house. In 1723, Nová Cerekev was home to six Jewish families. Their numbers began to increase in the first half of the 19th century: By 1840 the town was home to 21 families, and in 1849 it was 30 families (160 individuals, roughly 13 percent of the total population). This number remained constant until the late 1880s. Next to the synagogue once stood the rabbinical house, the ritual bath, a Jewish school and (until 1903) a Jewish hospital. In 1840, the town was home to 14 Jewish buildings. The single-floor houses on the northern side of Rubeš Street have been partially preserved in their original form. Together with the synagogue, they form a picturesque architectural reminder of local Jewish life. The community was home to an active chevra kadisha and an Orphan Society, and the members of the Zion Choral Society sang during religious services. In 1895 Nová Cerekev was home to 109 Jews. By 1900 this number declined to 63 persons, and in 1930 it was 20. In 1893 the local Jewish community was merged with the Pelhřimov community and reclassified as a prayer society. During the German occupation, 19 of Nová Cerekev’s Jewish citizens were deported via Pelhřimov to the Nazi extermination camps. None survived.