49°36′10″N 13°20′2″E, 1 mi south of Plzeň and 59 mi SW of Praha. Unter-Lukawitz, Unterlukawitz [Germ] and Dolní Lukavice [Czech] is a village and municipality covers 7.23 sq mi and had a 2006 population of 815.
website in Czech with photo: unlandmarked and freely accessible cemetery. "Jewish settlement dates from the early 17th century. In the center of the village 100 m west of the church, is a 19th century synagogue, now a still inhabited dwelling house. The cemetery is located NE of the village of Dolni Lukavice on the slope above the road next to the municipal cemetery. Ground plan of the cemetery is irregular, elongated in the direction east-west. The cemetery was reportedly established in the late 15th century. The total 239 visible gravestones are mostly standing. In the cemetery are also two smaller monuments to Holocaust victims, one near the gate and the second on a slope in the eastern part of the cemetery. The oldest legible tombstones are from the 1770s, the newest of the early 20th century. The cemetery represents a cross section of several styles, both in terms of cultural-historical and epigraphic. Most are sandstone, subject to very rapid erosion. Most ivy and vegetation has been removed; most inscriptions on sandstone tombstones are from the 19th century. Older tombstones (sandstone with predominantly ferric inlay), are carved with deeper and larger letters. The cemetery enclosing wall of quarry stone with an entrance gate and former gravedigger house (currently used for recreational housing). At the entrance to the cemetery is a granite memorial plaque dedicated to victims of the Shoah." town website for Jewish cemetery and Jewish history. [September 2011]
Contact email and photo town website. In 1615 Jáchym Loubský of Luby and at Řenče annexed the village to his estates and took part in 1618 to 1620 in the Estates Uprising. He owned the villages Horní and Dolní Lukavice, Lišice, Háje, Osek, Libakovice, Plevňov, Knije, Krasavce, a deserted village Lomy, the village Snopoušov and Vodokrty with a yard and part of the village Předenice. In 1900, Dolni Lukavice had 122 houses, 866 inhabitants and a brewery. Haydn Festival takes place at the chateau annually. Today 168 houses and 457 inhabitants are in Dolní Lukavice with a local authority, parish, school, post office, pub, a few shops, and a cooperative farm . A large village square with a church on the south side then a chateau area with a built-up especially along the street to Horní Lukavice. New houses are built at the outskirts, especially in direction to Přeštice in front of the the farm. At the north border on the hill isa well preseerved old Jewish cemetery, dating probably back to the end of the 15th century, with the tombs dating from the 1 th century. A big jewish community lived in the village from the 17th century, maximum around 1837 with 240 persons or 25% of all inhabitants. A synagogue from mid-19th century is now a residence at no. 93. Behind the cemetery is an small, old-time timbered cottage. cemetery photo and photos. [February 2009]
US Commission No. CZCE000328
Alternate German name: Unter-Lukawitz. The town is in Bohemia, Plzen-jih (Pilsen-South) at 49º36 13º22, 3 km NNE of Prestice and 15 km SS of Pilsen. The cemetery is located 700 meters N of chateau, near the road leading to Lisice. Present town population is under 1,000 with no Jews.
- Town: Obecni urad, 334 44 Dolni Lukavice; tel. 0194/823-96.
- Regional: Okresni urad Plzen-jih, Referat Kultury, Radobycicka 14 317 07 Plzen, and Zidovska Nabozenska Obec, Smetanovy sady 5, 301 37 Plzen; tel. 019/357-49.
- Interested: Statni Zidovske Muzeum, Jachymova 3, 110 01 Praha 1; tel. 02/231-06-34 or 231-07-85. Okresni Muzeum, 336 01 Blovice 148; tel. 0185/157. Jiri Bednar, Dvorakova 47, 320 04 Plzen
The rulebook (statute) of the congregation is dated 1772, but the congregation was older. 1930 Jewish population was 7. The largest Jewish population was in the mid-19th century when 41 families (approximately 250 persons) were permitted. In the second half of the 19th century, they moved to big towns. The independent congregation disbanded probably in the late 19th century. Allegedly, unlandmarked Jewish cemetery originated in the late 15th century with last known Conservative Jewish burial in the early 20th century. Before 1907, Prestice, Dnesice and probably Luzany (before 1907) used the cemetery. Prestice is 3 km from the cemetery, Dnesice is 6 km, and Luzany is 7 km. The rural hillside, separate but near other cemeteries, has no sign. Reached directly off a public road, access is open to all via a broken masonry wall with non-locking gate. Both before and after World War II, the cemetery size was 0.1834 ha.
20-100 gravestones, all in original locations and less than 25% toppled or broken, date from 1711-20th century. Stones were stolen from the cemetery. The marble, granite and sandstone flat shaped, finely smoothed and inscribed, double tombstones, or multi-stone monuments have Hebrew, German and Czech inscriptions. The cemetery contains no known mass graves. Pilsen Jewish community owns cemetery. Adjacent property is agricultural and the communal cemetery. Rarely, private visitors stop. Vandalism occurred between 1945 and 1882 but not since. In 1988 and 1992, local non-Jewish residents and a group of 15 persons with Rabbi Goldste from Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue in London reerected stones and cleared vegetation. Now, there is occasional clearing or cleaning by individuals with no caretaker or structures. Security is a serious threat due to a devastated wall. Vandalism is also a serious threat. Vegetation is a moderate threat and weather erosion and pollution are slight threats.
Dr. Peter Braun, Komenskeho 43, 323 13 Plzen; tel. 019/52-15-58, and Rudolf Lowy, Jesenicka 33, 323 23 Plzen; tel. 019/52-06-84, and Jiri Fiedler, z"l, Brdickova 1916, 155 00 Praha 5; tel. 02/55-33-40 completed survey on September 1, 1992. Documentation: the Censuses of 1830, 1849 and 1930. Also used was Juden und Judengameinden Bohemens..(1934), Jewish Cemeteries.. by Jan Herman (1980), and an article in "Vestnik prazske ZNO" (1937), and the notes of the Statni Zikovske Muzeum Praha. The cemetery was visited in April 1992.