used the cemetery at Udlice before the local cemetery was founded. town website [February 2009]
US Comm. no. CZCE000215
Alternate name of town is Billentz (German). Located in Chomutov, Bohemia at 50÷25 13÷31, 8 km SE of Chomutov, 45 km SW of Usti nad Labem. Cemetery: 0.15 km. N of Bilence. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Obecni urad, 431 42 Blience.
- Regional: 1. ZNO (Jewish Congregation), Moskevska 26, 400 01 Usti nad Labem and 2. Okresni Urad, referat kultury, 430 00 Chomutov.
- Also interested: 1. Okresni museum, (dr. Samsulova), Palackeho 86, 430 01 Chomutov, tel. 0396/5993 and 2. Statni Zidovske museum, Jacymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1, tel. 02/231-06-34 or 231-07-85. Mr. Kovarik and his daughter, Mrs. Hostalkova, 431 42 Bielncev.
The earliest Jewish community dates from the early 18th century but allegedly from the 16th century. 1921 census Jewish population was 16 and one in 1930. Jews moved to Chomutov and other towns after 1848. Birthplace of "Imperial Councilor" Moritz von Hahn in 1840. The Jewish cemetery was established either before 1842 (or possibly in 1724) with last known Conservative or Reform Jewish burial in first third of the 20th century. Chomutov, about 8 km away, used this cemetery before 1892. The cemetery is not protected. The isolated flat suburban cemetery has no sign. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open with no wall, fence, or gate. Size of cemetery before and after WWII is 1318 sq. meters.
No stones are visible. Stones been removed from the cemetery are incorporated into roads or structures in Bilence, in a private collection, and situated a little bit out of the cemetery's original area. Tombstones in the cemetery date from 1880 to 20th century. The granite and sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones and multi-stone monuments have Hebrew and/or German inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. The municipality probably owns the property now used for agriculture (crops or animal grazing.) Properties adjacent are agricultural and "like a dump." Rarely, private visitors stop. The cemetery was vandalized in 1938 by the Nazis and during WWII, between 1945 and ten years ago, and occasionally in the last ten years. No maintenance or care. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. The land is now a part of a very neglected agricultural land so threats are in accordance.
Ladislav Mertl, Mgr. of Geography, Kubanske nam. 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 on 17 May 1992 using the following documentation: 1. Jews of Czechoslovakia I (1968); 2. Notes of Mr. Seifert (address: 431 42 Bielence 94); 3. inhabitant of local synagogue building (1982); 4. castre of 1842, 1859 [a public record, survey or map of the value, extent, and ownership of land as a basis of taxation]; and 5. Censuses of 1724, 1921, 1930, 1991. Ladislav Mertl visited on 17 May 1992 and interviewed Mr. Kovarik and his daughter, Mrs. Hostalkova, 431 42 Bielence.