BILOVEC: US Comm. no. CZCE000059
Alternate/former German name of town is Novy Jicin [NOTE: ?2009: not likely. That's another town nearby:] in Silesia is at 49÷46 18÷02, 20 km SW of Ostrava. Cemetery: 1.5 km. to the E on Fucikova Street. Present total town population: 5,000- 25,000; current Jewish population under 10.
- Town: magistrate ing. Tomas Klos, Mestsky urad, 743 01 Bilovec, tel. 0655/2140.
- Local: dr. Petr Stanovsky, Mestsky urad-referat kultury, 743 01 Bilovec, tel. 0655/2140.
- Regional: ing. Lubomir Manula, Okresni urad-referat kultury, 741 00 Novy Jicin, tel. 0656/22431.
- Interested: Okresni vlastivedne muzeum, dir. Augustin Danek, zamek, 741 00 Novy Jicin, tel. 0656/20708.
Earliest known Jewish community in town: second half of the 19th century. 1930 Jewish population (census) was 64. A Jewish community existed from about 1900. [Contradiction?] Jewish cemetery was established in 1876 with last known Conservative Jewish burial before 1942. The cemetery is not protected. The suburban hillside, separate, but near other cemeteries, has no sign. Reached by turning directly off a public road, access is open via a continuous fence and a gate that locks. The size of cemetery before and after WWII is 80x50 meters.
1-20 gravestones in original location with 50-75% of surviving stones toppled or broken date from the 1880s to 20th century. The granite finely smoothed tombstones have Hebrew, German, and/or Czech inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. The municipality probably owns the property used for Jewish cemetery purposes only. Properties adjacent are residential. Occasionally, private visitors stop. The cemetery was vandalized prior to World War II, during World War II by the Nazis, and between 1945 and ten years ago. Care includes clearing of vegetation by Jewish groups within country in 1970s and 1980s. Care now is occasional clearing or cleaning by individuals. Within the limits of the cemetery are no structures. Security (uncontrolled access), vandalism, weather erosion, pollution, and incompatible nearby development are moderate threats. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a constant problem, disturbing graves.
Eng. Arch. Jaroslav Klenovsky, Zebetinska 13, 623 00 Brno, tel. 0 completed survey on 3 January 1992 using Jan Herman: Jewish Cemeteries in Bohemia and Moravia (1980.). Other documentation exists but is too old to use for the survey. Klenovsky visited the site in 1990.