Úštěk

Jews in Úštěk

According to tradition, Jews were living in Úštěk as far back as during the local rule of John II of Michalovice, who in 1327 received a royal privilege from John of Luxembourg to allow them to settle on his estate. In 1475, the Úštěk estate was acquired by the Sezima of Ústí family, under whose rule the town prospered economically. In 1518, there is mention of a small Jewish enclave consisting of one small street and eight buildings in the “Bohemian suburb”. By the 16th century, the Jewish cemetery located on Hangman’s Hill (Šibeniční vrch) across Úštěk Creek had been established as well. In 1618, the Sezima family joined the rebellion of the Bohemian Estates. As a result, their estate was confiscated in 1620 by Emperor Ferdinand II, who gave it to the Jesuits from the Clementinum in Prague’s Old Town. The Jesuits proved to be good administrators of their newly acquired property. In 1649, all of the Jewish community’s obligations were precisely defined by written contract. In 1815, Úštěk was home to seven Jewish families (45 individuals). In 1850, this figure was 10 families (73 individuals) and in 1870 it was 161 Jewish inhabitants. The local Jewish community reached its peak in 1893, when the town and its surroundings were home to 192 Jews. In the modern era, Úštěk’s Jews were engaged primarily in the sale of hops, which was of excellent quality in the region. As late as during the 1930s, the Úštěk Jewish community had 68 members. After the occupation of the Sudetenland in October 1938, most of the local Jews fled to Prague. Some of them succeeded in escaping abroad, while the rest were killed in the Nazi extermination camps.