town image cemetery, image, The village is named after the river of the same name. According to the 1910 Austrian census, the town had 2,853 inhabitants, 2,759 of whom had permanent residence . Census asked people for their native language, 2,754 (99.8%) were German-speaking. Jews were not allowed to declare Yiddish so most of them thus declared German as their native language . Religious groups: Roman Catholics with 2,779 (97.4%), followed by the Jews with 58 (2%). The 17th century cemetery is located close to the town fortification. Town Osoblaha (Hotzenplotz in German) was hardly damaged in April 1945. The cemetery is one of the few historic landmarks remaining. Time Magazine article [February 2009]
US Commission No. CZCE000141
Alternate names: Osoblaha [Cz], Hotzenplotz [Ger], Hotz'plotz , האָצ׳פּלאָץ[Yid], Osobłaga [Pol]. Osoblaha is located in Silesia, Bruntal at 50°17' N, 17°43' E , 90 km N of Olomouc, 25 miles NNW of Opava (Troppau), on the Polish border. Cemetery: 0.3 km NE. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
- Town: magistrate Jiri Franc, Obecni urad, 793 99 Osoblaha; tel. 0652/92131.
- Regional: Engineer Zdenek Zilka, Okresni Urad Referat Kultury, 792 01 Bruntal; tel. 0646/2621.
- Interested: Okresni Vlastivedne Muzeum, Director PhDr. Tomas Niesner zamek, 792 01 Bruntal; tel. 0646/2794. Key holder: Obecni Urad Osoblaha.
Earliest known Jewish community was 1334. 1930 Jewish population was 13. The Jewish community ceased in 1890. Rabbi Baruch Bendit ben Selomo from Brody lived here. The Jewish cemetery originated in 15th century. Buried in the cemetery are Baruch Bendit ben Selmo from Brody, +1713 with last known Conservative Jewish burial in 1930s or 1940s. Landmarked: (Nr. 150 N.M.) Vidnava used cemetery. The isolated suburban, rural (agricultural) hillside has no sign or marker. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall without gate. The approximate size of cemetery before WWII was about 0.25 ha s and is now about 0.18 ha.
100-500 stones, all in original location, date from second half of the 17th-20th centuries. The marble and granite flat shaped stones, finely smoothed and inscribed stones and flat stones with carved relief decoration have Hebrew and German inscriptions. Some tombstones have traces of painting on their surfaces. The cemetery contains no special memorial monuments or known mass graves. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Olomouc Jewish community owns the Jewish cemetery. Adjacent properties are commercial or industrial. The boundaries are smaller than 1939 because of agriculture. Rarely, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred during World War II and 1945-1981. Local/municipal authorities did restoration in 1980s and now occasionally clean or clear. Serious threat: uncontrolled access, vegetation and vandalism. Moderate threat: pollution. Slight threats: weather erosion, existing and proposed nearby development.
Engineer arch. Jaroslav Klenovsky, Zebetinska 13, 623 00 Brno; tel. 0 completed survey on 1.3.1992. Documentation: Herman. Other exisiting documentation was not used. Klenovsky visited the site. No interviews.
http://www.giotto.org/jesse/czech.html Photo in "A photographic essay of abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Europe" by Ruth Gruber [September 2002]