Alternate names: Mladá Vožice [Cz], Jung Woschitz [Ger], Malé Vožice, Jungwoschitz. 49°32' N, 14°49' E, in S Bohemia, 41 miles SSE of Praha (Prague), 10 miles NE of Tábor.
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 832: "Mlada Vozice".
- JewishGen Austria-Czech SIG
The town in the South Bohemian Region about 17 km NE of Tábor originated from a settlement around a royal castle built on a hill and known to have two churches as early as Charles IV's period. According to local resources, the castle was constructed by Prince Spytihněv's order to house silver from the nearby mines. One of the earliest owners of the town might have been [1273 written document] Stanimír z Vožice (Ztanimirum de Bazychce). The town then belonged to several dynasties, one of which gave the town its coat of arms: a tower set on fortification walls with two coats of arms on the sides. Vožice goods probably were owned by the royal chamber but were frequently pawned or lent to feudal lords for services to the king. One of the first, Vilém of Vožice, possessed the estate until1318. From 1318 to 1425 Vožice was owned by the following houses: lords of Landštejn, Janovice, Orlík, Prague and Ronov. In March 1420, after the Battle of Sudoměř, Vožice was occupied by about 2000 horsemen led by Mikeš Divůček of Jemniště, master of the Kutná Hora mint. On Good Friday 1420, Jan Žižka attacked the town and set it afire. Many lords were captured or killed, but those who escaped to the castle got away with their lives. Žižka also seized a lot of horses.In September 1425 commander Jan Hvězda of Vícemilice aka Bzdinka conquered the castle after 5 weeks' besiegement, had the castle destroyed and the town was attached to Vlašim. Mladá Vožice was then owned by many feudal houses. In 1678 the Küenburgs, who adjoined other smaller possessions in the area, established it a hereditary estate. Long before 1848 up to the 1960s German was spoken among the wealthy while Czech was only spoken by the common people striving to make a decent living.As early as late 18th and early 19th centuries but the highlight came after the events of 1848, Czech nationalism developed. After 1860, teachers and clerks arrived after the school enlargement and establishment of a regional office, tax office and financial pension control. In 1862 the choir Vlastislav was founded by the patriotic teacher Čeňek Sedmík. At that time a Reading Club strived in the town but later it ceased to exist. Obviously, the national and cultural initiatives came mainly from the immigrant intelligence. For example, the local theatre club established in 1865 was run by educated people including immigrants.In 1875, the Voluntary Fire Brigade was established and expanded with a large fire brigade garage in 1945 and presently four large fire engines. The magazine Vožičan (Vožice citizen) was issued in 1884 and the young generation published the hand-written magazine Potěr (Spawn). 1885 marked the founding of the gymnastics organization Sokol. There was a district court in Mladá Vožice, a forestry administration office, a tax office, a gendarme office, a financial pension control, a chemist, two physicians, two veterinarians and a gelder, a notary, two lawyers, two taxis, two hotels, 6 pubs, and 3 cartmen as well as an almshouse, a charity hospital, an orphanage, a post office and the movie theater plus four small savings banks and four insurance representatives. Mladá Vožice held annual markets, monthly markets and cattle markets, and Thursday piglet markets. The citizens of Mladá Vožice and surroundings were employed mainly on the royal estate, at the sawmill, brickyard, brewery and fish hatchery, other farms in the area, local distilleries, the Vožice quarry, slaughterhouse, agricultural cooperative and granary, mills, state stud farm or were employed in the forest administration. After 1918 there were also two car repair services, a hosiery mill, laundry and pressing shop as well as a steam power plant. By 1945 there were 74 various craftsmen and 37 various shops in the town, a small furniture factory, and two building companies. Mladá Vožice citizens made a living by cutting wood for households, bringing water from the fountains, and picking fruit. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, they went to work to the gold mine Roudný. Apart from the above mentioned jobs they found seasonal and round-the-year ones all over the republic and before around Austria-Hungary. The town and neighbourhood of Mladá Vožice was a purely agricultural area until late 1945 when industrialization began. Until 1947 Mladá Vožice had been a court district in the politcal district of Tábor that occupied an area of 268 sq km and had 17422 inhabitants in 141 villages and remote settlements, associated in 39 political municipalities, two towns (Mladá Vožice and Miličín) and one township Kamberk (formerly Zlaté Hory, before that Kamberk). Since 1949, after the change in the political and state system, Mladá Vožice was included in the newly established district of Votice in Prague region. After 1960 Mladá Vožice fell under the district of Tábor in South Bohemian Region.In 1975-1980 small villages and hamlets were unified with the town of Mladá Vožice under one town council like between 1945-1990) but after 1989 some of the villages recovered their independence. Source: Wikipedia. [February 2009]
website in Czech with photo: "The [landmarked] cemetery is located on the edge of the forest between the villages and Vilice Elbančice, north of Mlada Vožice. Founded before 1723, today, the area of the cemetery contains about 180 tombstones or partial matzevot, the oldest dating from the mid-18th century, the newest from the late 1930s. During WWI, two haličtí refugees were buried. Among the last were buried in April 1942 wereVodičková Marta, born in 1904 in Benesova, but lived in in house number 235, and in July 1942, widower Adolf Vodicka, born in 1871 in the town history Part of modern tombstones after WWII were stolen. Before restoration in the mid 1990s, the cemetery was very overgrown with dense vegetation, almost impenetrable. The enclosing wall was collapsing in many places and left the memorial hall just a framework. In 1996 - 2002 the cemetery was cleaned, and the enclosing wall of the morgue fixed, most tombs built, so now only continuous maintenance of the entire complex is required.:" [September 2011]
map and photos: "The town Mladá Vožice lies about 18 km NE of the town Tábor on the left bank of the Blanice river below the ruins of the Šelmberk castle. The town is sometimes called "Czech Salzburg" due to the face of this countryside, which resembles to the area around the town Salzburg (Austria). The history of the town dates back to the 13th century. In 1420 the Hussites won in one of the first battles. After the Thirty Years' War, the town and its surroundings declined. Development started after the foundation of the Czechoslovak Republic (1918). The originally Renaissance chateau...was rebuilt into the Baroque style in 1735 and ... reconstructed in the Classicism style (1764 - 1797). Baroque St. Martin's Church was founded between 1764 - 1797. The single-aisled church, which has a semi-circular presbytery, was built on the foundations of the older sacral building. The neighbouring originally Late-Gothic bell tower was reconstructed into the present appearance at the beginning of the 20th century. The regional museum is located in the house of birth of the historian and chronicler August Sedláček. The memorial hall of the painter and puppeteer Ota Bubeníček, who is buried in Mladá Vožice, is located in the town hall. The Baroque Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which stands on the knoll on the outskirts of Mladá Vožice, dominates the town. The Jewish cemetery... can be found about 3 km northwest of the town near the small village Elbančice." [February 2009] NEARBY: ruins of the Šelmberk castle, small village Ratibořské Hory, town Pacov and small town Chýnov
US Commission No. CZCE000366
Alternate names: Mladá Vožice [Cz], Jung Woschitz [Ger], Malé Vožice, Jungwoschitz. Mlada Vozice is located in Bohemia, Tabor at 49°32' N, 14°49' E, in S Bohemia, 41 miles SSE of Praha (Prague), 10 miles NE of Tábor. Cemetery: 4 km N on the cadastre of Belec, near the road between the settlement Elbancice and the village Vilice. Present town population is 1,000-5,000 with than 10 Jews.
- Town: Mestky urad, 391 43 Mlada Vozice.
- Regional: 1. Jewish Congregation: ZNO Praha (Ms. Jana Wolfova), Maislova 18, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/2318664; 2. Okresni Urad-Referat Kultury, Palackeho 350; tel. 0361/22646.
- Interested: Husitske Muzeum, namesti Mikulase z Husi 44, 390 01 Tabor, tel 0361/22242 and Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/2310634.
Earliest known Jewish community was 1701. Jewish population: 63 (in 1930). Peak Jewish population was in 1880 with 152 people. Later, Jews moved to big towns. The Jewish cemetery originated before 1723 with last known Jewish burial before 1943. The Conservative or Progressive/Reform used this probably landmarked cemetery as did Zlate Hory (formerly Kamberk/Ger: Kamberg, 4 km away), Oldrichov (Ger: Ullershof, 7 km away) in 18th century, and Bendovo Zahori in 19th century (7 km away). The wooded flat isolated site without sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall and non-locking gate. The pre- and post-WWII size of cemetery is about 0.28 ha.
100-500 stones date from 1786-20th century. The granite, limestone and sandstone flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones, double tombstones or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew, German and Czech inscriptions. Some have metal fences around graves. Within the limits of the site is a pre-burial house with wall inscriptions but no known mass graves. Praha Jewish community owns cemetery. Adjacent properties are forest. Frequently, private visitors and local residents stop. Vandalism occurred during World War II, occasionally 1945-1991 with no maintenance. Moderate threat: uncontrolled access and pollution. Slight threat: weather erosion, vegetation, existing and proposed nearby development.
Ladislav Mertl, Mgr. of Geography, Kubanske namesti 1322/17, Praha 10-Vrsovice; tel. 02/743213; and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed the survey in August 1992. Documentation: 1. Augustin Sedlacek: Minulost mesta Mlade Vozice...(1870); 2. Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980); 3. Notes of Statni Zidovske Muzeum Praha; 4. Vestnik ZNO, 1986, No. 10; and 5. Censuses of 1723, 1880, 1930, and 1991. Other documentation exists but was inaccessible: records No. 26, 35, 36, 41, 59, and 60 in archives of Prague Jewish Congregation. Mertl visited site on July 18, 1992. No interviews